This film is part of the Wakefield Museum Collection and consists of a sequence of news items from around the locality including a Fete at County General Hospital, Hovercraft at Nostell, and a New Wholesale Market in Wakefield. Title-Wakefield Amateur Cine Club Title-Presents Newsreel 1970 Title-Fete at County General Hospital There is a large sign for `County Hospital' followed by shots of a grassy area in front of the hospital which has been decorated with bunting. A group of men and...

This film is part of the Wakefield Museum Collection and consists of a sequence of news items from around the locality including a Fete at County General Hospital, Hovercraft at Nostell, and a New Wholesale Market in Wakefield. Title-Wakefield Amateur Cine Club Title-Presents Newsreel 1970 Title-Fete at County General Hospital There is a large sign for `County Hospital' followed by shots of a grassy area in front of the hospital which has been decorated with bunting. A group of men and women sit around smiling and chatting, and there is a brief shot of Craig Douglas who is opening the fete. This is followed by a man with a clip board who makes a speech, and people around start to laugh. Another man takes the first man's place and also makes a speech. In the next scene the Newmarket Colliery Band conducted by Lionel Kirby play for the visitors from the front of the hospital; there are some close-up shots of the musicians. A May pole has been set up and several pairs of girls from a local primary school dance around it in formation. There are shots from around the various stalls at the fete including a flower stall, a garden gnome stall, a Tombola stall and what looks like a cake stall. The voice over informs us that they raised approximately £500. Title-Hovercraft at Nostell. There is a shot from a field at Nostell Priory looking across at a large estate house. A hovercraft is on a section of grass and is having a name put onto the side of it. Some other men work on parts of the vehicle. One of the men sits into it, inflates the base and starts to move along the grass. He moves all over the grass, turning and twisting and sending bits of grass up into the air. The voice over says that it took five months to make the hovercraft, that it is powered by three 250cc engines and need a three and a half tonne lorry to transport it. Title-Christmas Lights (1969). The shots are taken at night and capture a busy street which has lots of coloured lights strung up along the buildings. Title-Lions present new ambulance. A white ambulance is parked with its doors open. The camera goes in closer to focus on a sign which reads `Presented by the Lions Club of Wakefield'. In the next shot the siren is blaring and another sign on the ambulance is visible and reads `City & County Borough of Wakefield, major accident unit'. The following scene is captured from a height looking down onto the hospital car park. A car pulls up and the driver opens the door for Lord St. Oswald who is there to represent the Lions Club. A group of police officers, young naval cadets and other guests have gathered beside the ambulance. Another larger car arrives into the grounds and the Mayor Alderman John H. Taylor gets out and shakes hands with some of the men. There are a few shots of the ambulance driver using the radio in the vehicle as well as shots of the Mayor being shown the inside and all of the equipment. The people gather around the ambulance and one of the men makes a speech. He then hands the keys of the vehicle over to the Mayor and everybody claps. The Mayor then makes a speech. Title-Plant a tree drive. Title-Drive to plant a tree day. A large, yellow unit has been set up in a field and a sign outside tell the tree planters to register there. Men and women and children of all ages walk across the grass and the shot cuts to then digging in the grass and planting trees. Some of them dig, while the others hold the tree and then fill the soil back in. The voice over says that 70 sites in 35 counties were holding drives to plant trees on Saturday 4th November 1969. He also says that the event was launched in January 1969 by Prince Philip. There is a final panning shot taken from the motorway looking across to show the green area where the trees have been planted. Title-Re-shaping continues. A building has the name `J. Pickles & Sons Ltd' on the front, beside the shop demolition is underway. The voice over says that the demolition is underway in Kirkgate to allow the extension of a new shopping development to continue. The camera pulls back to reveal a street with some demolished buildings. One of the buildings beside that shop is being pulled down and is creating a lot of dust. A digger comes into shot and flattens the area. Title-Civic Society in Action. There is a shot of a main street from one end of it looking down towards the other end. A group of people from Civic Society carry trees and large bags of peat moss onto the green spaces of a residential area in Lower Kirkgate. They dig several large holes and then plant the trees in them. They hammer big wooden poles into the ground and tie the trees against them so that they grow straight up. The voice over says that there was a period of drought after this event and most of the trees died! Title-New Wholesale Market. In the middle of a residential area in Jacobswell Lane, another construction site is being worked on to build a new warehouse for the market vendors. The next shot is of a sign which reads `Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable Market for Wakefield Market Traders'. A shot from outside the gates of the grounds shows a warehouse-style building with trucks driving in and out. The voice over says that this new warehouse will be for the use of five fruit and vegetable wholesalers. Inside the warehouse piles of produce stacked up. A man in a white coat sees the camera and starts to comb his hair. Title-New Store in Wakefield. A policeman stands guard outside the main door to a C & A store; there is a sign beside him which reads `Open To-Day 12 Noon'. The next shot is taken from a building across the road and shows the huge crowd of people that have gathered outside. There are more police officers standing around and there is a brief shot of a police officer and another man holding a woman by the arms and bringing her to the front of the queue. Inside the store there are panning shots taking in the customers, the shop assistants and the racks and stands of clothing. There are several small groups of sales assistants standing together and smiling and laughing for the camera. There are lots of clothes from the 1970s on view in this section of the film. The Mayor, Alderman John H. Taylor and the Lady Mayoress come into the store and stand in front of a podium which has been set up in one section of the store. The people in the shop clap for the dignitaries and the Mayoress is given a bunch of flowers. More people take their seats and listen to the Mayor's speech. Visible above him is a clock which reads 11.45 am. The crowd has started to queue up outside the doors and this can be seen from inside the shop looking out. The next few shots are taken from the top of a building across the road looking down onto the street. As soon as the doors are opened the crowd surges forward and rushes in. People come from all sides and from across the road, even walking out in front of moving cars. Following this is a shot of a poster which reads `Borough Constituency of Wakefield Parliamentary Election, Thursday, 18th June 1970'. There is a shot of a polling station and some locals going into it. Title-Square Re-Named. This scene opens with a shot of a large building and flag poles which are on the opposite side of a small park. There are shots taken from all sides of the square which show the buildings, the benches and the traffic driving by. The voice over begins by telling us that Wakefield has been twinned with this city, Castrop-Rauxel in Germany and that on the 17th Aug 1970 the square in Germany was renamed. A group of men and women including the Lord Mayor gather outside a building while the Burgomaster makes a speech. On the wall behind them is a plaque covered by a small, red, velvet curtain which the Mayor opens to reveal the new name for the square. A crowd of local people have gathered around to watch and they clap for the Mayor. Another man from Youth Exchange Party stands at the microphone and makes a speech; he unveils a small plaque on the bench in front of the building. A flag is hoisted up a flag pole and a youth brass band start to play. Title-The End.