An amateur film produced by Donald Oates featuring various North East Centre Caravan Club meetings taking place around the region between 1948 and 1949. Although sites at both Whitley Bay and Gosforth Park in Newcastle feature, the majority of the film takes place at Eshwood Lodge near New Brancepeth in County Durham where the club had a man-made boating lake. The film captures Caravan Club members taking part in sporting activities including a women's tug-o-war and sack races. The film...

An amateur film produced by Donald Oates featuring various North East Centre Caravan Club meetings taking place around the region between 1948 and 1949. Although sites at both Whitley Bay and Gosforth Park in Newcastle feature, the majority of the film takes place at Eshwood Lodge near New Brancepeth in County Durham where the club had a man-made boating lake. The film captures Caravan Club members taking part in sporting activities including a women's tug-o-war and sack races. The film opens with an emblem pin for the Caravan Club. Title: Caravan Club Meet New Brancepeth 1948 Title: Eshwood Lodge Two boys walk out cautiously from behind a parked caravan on a country road. On a boating lake near to the caravan site, gondolas and a rowing boat are in use by both adults and children, watched by families on a raised platform beside the lake. Plants and flowers grow around the perimeter of the lake and a number of couples walk its circuit. A man paddles across the lake in a gondola towards an inflatable raft. A young woman poses with an older man at the caravan park, beside them a younger man with his hands in his pockets. A man holds up cake to a crowd and another man walks hand in hand with a small child through the camp. A car is hooked up to a caravan as a woman rushes past. Title: Caravan Club Opening Meeting Whitley Bay Easter 1949 At the entrance to a caravan park a large sign states the site is for Caravan Club members only. Inside, a caravan and car are parked near the cliff edge. A triangular flag is raised on a pole and two women jump down from a wall. Crowds walk around the caravan site. Two women pose for the camera, one with a handbag under her left arm. Writing on the triangular flag reads ‘N.E. Centre’. Title: Caravan Club Meeting Eshwood July 1949 At the Eshwood caravan meeting a man swings on home-made swings attached to a tree. She sticks her tongue out at the camera. Cars and caravans are parked in a square formation around the field. Children play on a set of swings and a seesaw in the centre of the caravans. Nearby other children play a game of cricket. Some of the adults sit in deck-chairs beside their caravans. A woman steps out of her caravan smiling at the camera. In another part of the camp four small children take part in an egg-and-spoon race watched by a couple sitting on a bench nearby. More children get involved and they all take part in a sack race followed by a differnt type of race whereby each child is blindfolded. A large crowd of adults sit or stand around watching. Adults and children splash about in the water of the boating lake. A man and a boy attempt to stay afloat in the gondola which sinks below the water. A young woman abandons a rowing boat before it also sinks taking with it three of her friends. Everyone swims and splashes about in the water happily. In the middle of the lake a man stands on a small stone, his arms across his chest attempting to keep his balance while around the edge people watch. Title: Caravan Club Rally Gosforth Park September 1949 Beside the stands at Newcastle Racecourse a small crowd gathers as a number of judges watch as a man attaches, drives and finally reverses a caravan into a designated space. A small crowd gather around as wrapped pieces of paper are handed out to a number of individuals. General view from the racecourse stands of the caravan rally. Title: Off to the Rally Caravans and their owners are preparing to set off to a rally. Two men stand beside one of the caravans, the older man takes out a camera. A ‘N.E. Centre’ flag flies from a flagpole, in the background a large number of cars and caravans parked in lines. A view from a nearby hillside shows the caravan site in the distance. A travelling shot through the caravan site follows. An older couple open up and go inside their caravan. Two men paint an exterior wall and are joined by a number of women and children. One of the women pours a drink from a jug for one of the women before taking a large sip from the jug herself.   The boating lake at Eshwood has been drained and men clear the bottom of vegetation and growth while others continue to paint the surrounding wall. Two women watch the men at work. At another part of the lake the concrete bottom is being re-painted. In a field, two groups of women take part in a game of tug-o-war. A crowd watches as husbands offer encouragement and support. Back at the now filled boating lake three women stand at the water’s edge each holding a fishing line. A crowd watches as the women cast their line into the water. One of the women brings up a metal fish attached to a magnet at the end of the line and places it with a number of other metal fish nearby. Back on the caravan field a group of men play a game of quoits while the women take part in sports events including a sack and obstacle race. The women’s race over, the men take part in an obstacle race. The final race features the men wearing blindfolds and wearing reins which are held by their wives. The couples race down the track attempting not to fall over or knock into each other. A young girl poses for the camera. Two babies lay together in a travel crib on the ground beside a car. A crowd stands around a man holding a large decorative cake. A woman then presents the cake to another man and shakes his hand. An older woman hands out small gifts to the children at the camp. The crowd applauds each presentation. Gifts or prizes are then presented to a number of adults, the women curtsey as they collect their item. A decorative metal basket is presented to one woman and the crowd applaud. The film ends as a decorative metal bowl is presented to a man as a prize. Title: The end