This promotional film is a look behind the counter of the Turners stores in Pink Lane and Blackett Street, a Newcastle photographic shop that grew into a film makers' mecca. Includes footage of Newcastle city centre in the 1940s, including the Side, Central Station and the Tyne Bridge. The film was produced by Turners Film Productions company, which operated between the 1930s and 1995. Title: The Busy City Of Newcastle Is The Hub Of The Industrial North East The film opens with a view...

This promotional film is a look behind the counter of the Turners stores in Pink Lane and Blackett Street, a Newcastle photographic shop that grew into a film makers' mecca. Includes footage of Newcastle city centre in the 1940s, including the Side, Central Station and the Tyne Bridge. The film was produced by Turners Film Productions company, which operated between the 1930s and 1995. Title: The Busy City Of Newcastle Is The Hub Of The Industrial North East The film opens with a view of the spires and clock tower of the gothic church of St Thomas The Martyr in the centre of Newcastle, and the South Africa War Memorial on Barras Bridge, a high column that supports a Winged Victory figure. Moving down, there are shots of the busy Haymarket intersection, heavy with traffic and pedestrians, many double decker or trolley buses, cars, and cyclists. A bus passes along Northumberland Street, advertising Newcastle Ales, and people are sitting on benches around the memorial in the foreground. Many of the men are in trilby hats. More buses pass by at the intersection of Claremont Road and Barras Bridge, with the William George Armstrong memorial visible in the background. A young man with a bicycle accompanied by a young woman pass by. Traffic and the William George Armstrong memorial are in the background. A group of three women walk by. Another city centre street scene follows, possibly Blackett Street. Pavements are busy with pedestrians and many buses are on the road. A traffic policeman directs traffic at a busy intersection in the heart of Newcastle. A policeman rides along a street on a horse, past Carricks Café. The camera pans across to show a view west bound down Neville Street towards the Central Station building with its arched entrance and clock. A tram heads towards camera from the direction of the station. There is an elevated view over Quayside of the historic Jacobean, half-timbered merchant’s house known as Bessie Surtees House. Traffic is driving up the Side towards the bridge and the next shot looks down from Side towards the Tyne Bridge. The camera tilts up to reveal the iron arch structure of the bridge. Title: The New Tyne Bridge Is A Landmark Known To Many Travellers Various shots focus on the structure of the Tyne Bridge with low angle shots and details of ironwork. Then, there is a shot of the bridge structure from the pavement, as a number 12 bus advertising Binns drives by. An overhead shot looks across to the High Level railway bridge and down at the Hydraulic Swing Bridge towards the Newcastle quayside of warehouses. A train crosses the High Level Bridge and the camera pans across to a view of Newcastle buildings at the riverside. The Castle Keep appears behind the Moot Hall a Georgian building built in 1812, where the law courts passed sentences. The rear of the building with columns can be seen in this shot and the design of this aspect is thought to be based on the Parthenon in Athens. The spire of the Cathedral Church of St Nicholas is visible in the background. Title: St Nicholas’ Cathedral And The Old Castle Rub Shoulders With Trains And Trolley- Buses There is a view across rooftops towards a steam train as it passes across a railway viaduct. St Nicholas’ Cathedral appears in the background. The camera tracks closer with a low angle shot of steam from the train and the old castle keep. Title: Nature Plays Her Part In Clothing The Many Spacious Parks And Open Spaces There are general views of public parks. Two women walk down a path in a park. Title: The Great North Road Passes Through The City And The Main Line North Is Served By The Central Railway Station Traffic and pedestrians use the Great North Road in Newcastle. A shot towards the portico of the central railway station with Newcastle Cathedral in the background is framed by the cast iron work of the Royal Station Hotel. Title: Almost Under The Station Portico Is Pink Lane “The Home Of Turners” From the clock on the portico of the Central Station, the camera pans down to the traffic passing on Neville Street and a view towards Newcastle Cathedral. The street is busy with buses, cars, a horse and cart in the background. A businessman in a suit and trilby smoking a cigarette runs across the road, dodging traffic. The County Hotel can be seen on the far side of the street. As the camera follows the businessman we arrive at Pink Lane. There is a high angle shot down onto Pink Lane, which is busy with pedestrians. The camera tracks along Pink Lane to Turners, “The Leading Photographic Dealers,” with shop front windows, packed with displays of camera equipment. Several men are standing looking at the displays. A man is standing with a pram near the shop. A general view of pedestrians along the lane closes this section of film. Title: For Everything Photographic and Photographing Everything Title: Turners of Newcastle-on-Tyne. A Unique Business Enterprise A street level view of the Turners shop cuts to a close shot of a group of people browsing the display outside. Men walk in and out of the shop with packages. A woman stares at a display. Many pedestrians walk past the camera. An elderly man in trilby hat and overcoat walks out of the shop, smiling, with a package of photographic paper. Another general view of the exterior of the shop and busy lane follows. Title: This Expanding Business Started In 1931 As A Small Chemists Shop Run By J.H. Turner And 1 Assistant Title: Today He Employs Over 150 Persons All Engaged In The Photographic Trade Title: This Busy Shop Headquarters Of The Retail And Post Order Departments Is In One Of The Four Buildings Housing The Turner Organisation A door opens and we glimpse a door plaque for Mr J.H. Turner. Title: “The Brains Behind The Organisation” J.H. Turner, Affectionately Known As “The Boss” J.H. Turner is signing letters at his desk. He is handed a pile of folders with labels such as ”Visual Aids To Education.” A female shop assistant accompanies a woman in a hound tooth coat, smoking a cigarette, to the shop counter and shows her a catalogue. A scene on the shop floor with customers and sales assistants follows. There is a close-up of pages turned of a “Turners Photo Topics” booklet. Another assistant demonstrates a photographic enlarger. Various shots document business in the shop. There are close-ups of a selection of cameras and a demonstration of the fitting of a lens. A sales assistant serves a customer with photographic paper. A close-up on the sales counter shows a sale made, receipt filled out and money counted. A camera is wrapped in brown paper. The camera pans across the shop floor. A customer’s photos are spread on the desk. An assistant offers advice to a customer. Title: Although Our Sales Counters Are Geared For Quick Service- We Encourage Customers To Discuss Their Problems With Our Own Qualified Staff At Their Leisure The film cuts to close-ups of Pathéscope film equipment inside the Turners shop, where a sign advertises Cine Department stock for sale. A man threads a cine-projector with a reel of film. The camera pans across a room in the shop, arranged for film screenings. Patterned curtains part to reveal the projection screen. The film cuts back briefly to the threading of the film, then returns to the parting cinema curtains as the lights go down. The screen shows the opening credits of the film “The First Of The Few” starring Leslie Howard and David Niven, by British Aviation Pictures, distributed by Ealing Distribution Ltd. A man places two empty reels back onto the projection equipment. There is a fade to black. A brief shot of the same projector follows. A female Turners employee checks film orders and runs the film on a hand film winder. Title: Our Retail Camera Business Started In 1931 With A Stock Of One Or Two Simple Items - Now It Has Expanded To This! A quick succession of shots documents the huge variety of photographic stock for sale both on the shop floor and in the storerooms. Mail is delivered and sorted. J. H. Turner works through the mail with his female secretary. Orders are packaged at a long bench. Various shots of the storeroom and the mailroom follow. There is a close-up of a sign for “Mr F.R. Adamson. Secretary” on an office door. In the office a female assistant is operating a switchboard housed in a wooden cabinet. The scene then cuts to a woodworking workshop where a man is making shop shelving and pigeonholes. A caliper is used to measure the diameter of a lens. Men are repairing lens extension rings, a projector, and another is testing electrical equipment. Title: Recently We Have Opened A Splendid New Sales Shop At The Hub Of Newcastle’s Shopping Centre. Grey’s Monument - Blackett Street Tilt down shot of Grey’s Monument, from statue to base. There are various general views of the location of the new Turners shop on Blackett Street and of the exterior façade of the shop building and window displays. Shots of the displays include photographic portraits and cine equipment. There are close-ups of the chrome signs for “Everything,” “Photographic.” Tilt down from the “Turners” shop front sign to the pavement. There are close-ups of the Turners glass door decoration and of the shop floor with inlaid advertising that reads “Turners For Cameras.” A long sequence of shots records the modern shop fittings and interiors. The next scenes document the Turner’s film, photographic and print processing departments. A woman organises numbers of film reels awaiting development. Inside the dark room we can see a dim image of the film development stage. The light goes on. The film is transferred from a drying cabinet to a drum chamber. An employee quality checks fully developed negatives and the orders are separated in box trays. There is a shot inside the large printing darkroom. Employees in another room are washing, drying, and guillotining finished prints for client orders. There is a close-up of wet prints dropping onto a conveyor belt. Overhead shots focus on the women guillotining prints and various areas of the workspace. A close-up shows duplicate prints being checked. The film closes with a close-up of the prints being guillotined.