Founded in Sunderland in 1806, Vaux Brewery was a major employer in the city for almost 200 years, right up until its much lamented closure in 1999. Just a few years later, the north east also lost The Queen pub on Easington Road, Hartlepool which was closed in 2001 and was subsequently demolished. Vaux was the first UK brewery to brew a wheat beer, however its most iconic output was the North Eastern-style brown ale, Double Maxim, which gets a namecheck in this film. Maxim was first brewed...

Founded in Sunderland in 1806, Vaux Brewery was a major employer in the city for almost 200 years, right up until its much lamented closure in 1999. Just a few years later, the north east also lost The Queen pub on Easington Road, Hartlepool which was closed in 2001 and was subsequently demolished.

Vaux was the first UK brewery to brew a wheat beer, however its most iconic output was the North Eastern-style brown ale, Double Maxim, which gets a namecheck in this film. Maxim was first brewed in 1901, its namesake being the return of the Maxim Gun detachment from the Boer War, commanded by Colonel Ernest Vaux. The strength of Maxim was increased in 1938 whereupon it was renamed Double Maxim and is now considered one of the oldest surviving beers in the UK.

Vaux fans are in luck however, as in January 2019 it was announced that the Vaux brand is being revived by four local lads from Sunderland. While the rights to famous Vaux tipples such as Samson and Double Maxim were bought by former Vaux directors who opened Maxim Brewery after the 1999 closure, the new incarnation of Vaux will revive other classic beers but the main focus will be on creating new beers in the pioneering spirit of the original Vaux brewers. (Ledwith)

The film features local Hartlepool beat band, The Hartbeats. A double pun on the ‘Hart’ in Hartlepool and also the surname of founder and lead guitarist George Hart, the band formed in 1961 by Hart, John Rogan and Brian "Smirky" Moon, with additional members Roly Thompson, Brian Gibson and  John Hart joining later. (Laundon) Reminiscing about the 1960s music scene in Hartlepool in a 2010 interview, Roly remembered how in those days you could go out seven nights a week if you liked as there was always live entertainment. (Hartlepool Mail)

The style of music the band play for punters at The Queen, known as Beat, British Beat or Merseybeat (named after bands beside the River Mersey – most famously Liverpool’s Beatles), is a popular genre that developed in the UK in the early 1960s and is the British interpretation of American Rock'n'Roll, Rhythm & Blues and Skiffle. The most distinctive characteristic of beat music is the strong 4/4 beat, which uses a backbeat common to rock and roll and rhythm and blues. Other famous beat bands include Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Searchers, The Animals, The Hollies, The Kinks, The Small Faces, and, not forgetting, The Rolling Stones.

The influence of the Beatles is evident in The Hartbeats, not just in their 4/4 music and mop top haircuts, but also in their trendy Mod fashions. If the Teddy Boys epitomise 1950s subculture, it is the Mods which epitomise it of the 1960s. The term ‘Mod’ derives from the modernist jazz the early Mods listened to, as opposed the trad jazz favoured by the less stylish beatniks. The Mod style of dress, characterised by the short Italian, or ‘Roman’ jackets, nicknamed ‘bum-freezers’ due to their length; narrow trousers and pointed shoes, came to be known as Italian style and was popularised by Cecil Gee from 1956. Italian style was ‘cool, modern, sharp’ with an emphasis on ‘Less is More’. (Polhemus) Though less visible in this very short clip, photographs of the band in the 1960s on Stan Laudon’s fan page clearly show them wearing these popular bum freezer jackets, tapered trousers and rounded collars, making them the epitome of mid-60s mod cool. The young lasses clapping along in the audience are equally as fashionable as the lads in the band, with their bobbed and beehived hair, heavy eyeliner, pale lipstick and ‘little girl’ lace Peter Pan collared mini dresses à la 60s fashion icons Pattie Boyd and Marianne Faithfull.

This is just one Vaux commercial of many presented by Kent Walton (1917-2003), best remembered as the main commentator on ITV's coverage of British professional wrestling between1955-1988. He may seem older than the mods and 'dolly birds' he laughs with in the pub, but Walton was also pretty cool himself at the time, having acted as a judge on Thank Your Lucky Stars on ITV during the early 1960s and also as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg and for a while presenting music TV shows, Honey Hit Parade and Cool for Cats.

References:

Ledwith, Gavin. “Legendary Vaux brewing name set for Sunderland return.” Sunderland Echo (February 2019) https://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/legendary-vaux-brewing-name-set-for-sunderland-return-1-9590081

Polhemus, Ted. Street Style. London: PYMCA, 2010. Print.

“The beat goes on for Hartbeats,” Hartlepool Mail, 2010 https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/the-beat-goes-on-for-hartbeats-1-993085

“The Harts” Stan Laundon http://www.stanlaundon.com/harts.html