A film commissioned by Hartlepool Borough Council Parks Department as part of their campaign for the Northumbria In Bloom and Royal Horticultural Society Britain in Bloom competitions. The film celebrates the private and public gardens, parks, and landscaped streets and promenades of West Hartlepool. A commentary and background music accompanies the film. The film opens with a panoramic view over Hartlepool with a new low-rise housing estate in the foreground. The film cuts to a shot of...

A film commissioned by Hartlepool Borough Council Parks Department as part of their campaign for the Northumbria In Bloom and Royal Horticultural Society Britain in Bloom competitions. The film celebrates the private and public gardens, parks, and landscaped streets and promenades of West Hartlepool. A commentary and background music accompanies the film. The film opens with a panoramic view over Hartlepool with a new low-rise housing estate in the foreground. The film cuts to a shot of waves lapping on a Hartlepool beach, probably Seaton Carew, followed by a general view across Hartlepool Docks and the industrial landscape in the background. Close-ups of flowers set the theme. Title: Hartlepool in Bloom 1971 The Whitbread Trophy, the Percy Boydell Trophy and a trophy for Britain In Bloom are displayed to camera. Close-up of a flower in bloom. Two boys walk through the Burn Valley Gardens and there are various shots of the gardens, including tropical and begonia flower bed. Next, a sign reads West Park. We zoom out to see well kept gardens in a private housing estate. A sign reads “Ward Jackson Park. Bye-Laws In Respect of Pleasure Ground.” A man fishes on the lake in Ward Jackson Park. The camera zooms out to reveal the formal gardens. A carpet bed in the park depicts “Durham Youth Festival 1971” in flowers. There are further shots of the flower beds and casual strollers in the park. A sign on iron railings reads “Serpentine Road.” The camera pans across Serpentine Bank, which was once waste ground, the commentary states, now a rose garden and public park. A street sign reads “Park Square.” A woman, young girl and baby are seated on a park bench. Various shots depict people using the park. A double decker bus passes by. There is a general view across Park Road of the gardens at Serpentine Bank. General views record the surrounding streets. Moving past a roundabout, there is a municipal building in the background. General view of The Clansman on Stockton Street, a public house built as part of Middleton Grange Shopping Centre, with planted lawns, car park in the foreground and dual carriageway beside. Flower boxes stand in the central reservation. The camera pans out to reveal more town buildings, the church tower, and the modern exterior of the College of Further Education in West Hartlepool. Many 1960s cars drive past on the dual carriageway. General view of All Saints Church and burial ground, Stranton. A garden has been planted in the central reservation of a roundabout on Burn Road. The camera circles the roundabout. Industrial chimneys and buildings can be seen in the background. At the junction of York Road and Stockton Road there is another planting scheme. Walled window boxes feature in the central reservation in the south of West Hartlepool. A woman walks past a road sign that reads “Wainfleet Road” in the Hartlepool suburbs. Various shots of the Fens housing estate feature detached houses with neat manicured lawns and roses in flowerbeds. There is a shot of the front garden of the Director of Parks, Hartlepool, followed by one of a sunken garden. A street sign reads “The Cliff” at Seaton Carew. A man and woman are enjoying leisure time here on the seafront promenade, where there are well-tended lawns and flower beds. A road sign reads “Hartlepool (Headland) A1049”. A woman stands on a path on Hartlepool Town Wall, The Headland, and looks over the limestone wall at the beach, where a few people are lounging, children paddling in th esea. There is a general view of Croft Gardens with flower gardens. St Hilda’s Church appears in the background. The camera pans across Croft Gardens with a view of buildings that border the gardens. These include Verrils Fish and Chip Shop, and the Borough Hall. Various shots follow of floral displays in the gardens in front of the Borough Hall, with close-ups of a cherub fountain surrounded by garishly lit flowers. Next, a white grand piano with microphone is set up in the gardens also surrounded by flower displays, lit up at night. Chairs have been placed amidst the flowers and await an audience. More shots of the floral displays and cherub fountain follow. Gardeners tend ferns in the flower beds at Croft Gardens. Close-ups of flowers. There are general views of raised gardens and public buses parked nearby. A red car circles the gardens and drives off towards the seafront. A young woman and child with a bucket and spade walk past. Looking across gardens on the High Street, there is a background view of shipyards and industrial chimneys across the bay in industrial West Hartlepool. A sign in Croft Gardens points to "Fish Quay". A young woman with a child in a pram and a pet dog enjoy the sunshine in the Headland Police Station gardens. She leaves the pram and enters the police station. Close-ups of flowers follow. There is a shot of the Hartlepool (West) War Memorial draped bronze figure of Winged Victory and plaque in Redheugh Gardens. A gardener tends the flower beds. A gardener tends flowerbeds in the Memorial Gardens. There are general views of the gardens bordered by crescents at its northern side. A shot of the gardens looks towards the Headland lighthouse. The final shot is of a man fishing from a rock platform by the sea. Title: The End End Credits: Production - Olive Mavin Photography - Robt. Gilbertson