Amateur film documenting Oakenshaw residents and events in the early 1950s. Footage includes local supporters of Willington AFC in the run up to a match against Saltaire; a women’s charity cricket match in support of the Easington Pit Disaster Fund, 1951; the Durham Miners Gala in 1951 and Coronation celebrations in Oakenshaw in 1953. This film is part of the Newcastle & District Amateur Cinematographers Association (ACA) collection, believed to have been filmed by Keith Venn and George...

Amateur film documenting Oakenshaw residents and events in the early 1950s. Footage includes local supporters of Willington AFC in the run up to a match against Saltaire; a women’s charity cricket match in support of the Easington Pit Disaster Fund, 1951; the Durham Miners Gala in 1951 and Coronation celebrations in Oakenshaw in 1953. This film is part of the Newcastle & District Amateur Cinematographers Association (ACA) collection, believed to have been filmed by Keith Venn and George Coates. A couple are with an older man in a flat cap (Eric Wood) in a field on the fringes of Oakenshaw. The younger man is adjusting the propeller on a model Spitfire, held by the older man. Eric Wood poses with the model aeroplane, then proceeds to fly it. A large group of families, young and old, gather beside some Bond private coaches for a trip to South Shields. An overhead shot of children paddling at a rocky coastline follows. Some Oakenshaw families pose with a giant rosette, held by a young lad in his school cap. These local football supporters wear club scarves, some shaking rattles. Overhead shot of a train just arrived at a station platform. A big crowd of people get off the train on their way to the Willington AFC versus Saltaire football match. The lively group of supporters from Oakenshaw pose for the camera. Queues of football supporters make their way into the ground for the match. Dr Kirk makes a home call and is greeted by a man on the doorstep. She gets back into her car [a Middlesbrough Reg. no. plate XG 9935] parked down a long terrace. Brief shot of an Oakenshaw police sergeant on a bicycle.   Title: Oakenshaw Ladies Effort for the Easington Disaster Fund General view of a cricket pitch. A woman cricketer tosses the coin at the start of a match in aid of the Easington Pit Disaster Fund, 1951. The team of women cricket players from Oakenshaw walk from the club house, smiling at the camera, followed by women helpers and two men in drag. Two umpires pose in their white coats. Some of the cricket action follows with the two men in drag playing, Oakenshaw Colliery is visible in the background (at Willington). Men and women watch the match from a bench. Very brief shot of some spectators beside a pram. Title: Durham Miners Gala 1951 General views of the Durham miners' Gala parade with the banner for Hedleyhope Lodge, passing the County Hotel, a packed street with a policeman amongst the crowds and banners making their way through slowly. People watch from a second floor window. Clement Attlee waves from the balcony at the Royal County Hotel on Old Elvet Street. The parade continues with banners and brass bands. Some of the banners arrive at the old racecourse. Closer shot of the Brancepeth Miners banner. Amongst the Miners Gala crowds, groups of people dance, arms linked together, men and women in party hats. The Brancepeth Miners banner is pictured again. A brass band passes along with crowds following. General view of Durham Castle and Cathedral. The following sequences document the local Oakenshaw Coronation celebrations in June 1953. A man is dressed as a baby in a pram, and is pushed by another man at the head of a parade in the village of Oakenshaw, a band of children in fancy dress in the background and spectators lining the road. On this windy, rainy day in the Wear Valley, a brass band, children and other villagers in fancy dress parade down a street in the town. The parade continues down a cobbled alley between terraces, mine pithead works in the background. [Good close-ups of children in costume.] Adults in costume follow in the procession, including two women dressed as Charlie Chaplin and Groucho Marx, and a jovial woman in striped pyjamas. Group portrait of the celebrating community, adults in the back rows and children in the front. There’s a varied mix of fancy dress, including a lad with a miner’s lamp, and a chimney sweep, with lots of party hats and streamers. The man in a pram carries a Union Jack flag. A boy poses with his highly decorated, mock Coronation carriage. In a back alley, a man takes photographs of women dressed in long, music hall-style dresses with a gaggle of children in costume. Two men pose on the doorstep of a front yard, one with a bandaged head and eye patch. Their house is decorated with a Coronation poster portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Men and women chat casually over their garden gates and look out for the parade to arrive, the terrace decorated in Union Jacks. The procession, including men in drag, arrives in the street, passing slowly by camera. High angle shot of the parade. Group portrait of a small group of the local men, women and children, all in costume.