Metadata
WORK ID: NEFA 19267 (Master Record)
| Title | Year | Date |
| STOCK SHOTS: NEWCASTLE AND GATESHEAD | 1960s | 1960-01-01 |
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Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Colour Sound: Silent Duration: 4 mins 46 secs Credits: Organisations: Turners Film Productions Genre: Sponsored Subject: ARCHITECTURE URBAN LIFE |
| Summary Various stock shots of Newcastle, Gateshead and the surrounding areas produced by Turners Film Productions highlighting some of the modern architectural styles of the mid 1960s. |
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Description
Various stock shots of Newcastle, Gateshead and the surrounding areas produced by Turners Film Productions highlighting some of the modern architectural styles of the mid 1960s.
The film opens with low angle shots of Trinity Square multi-storey car park, Gateshead, designed by Rodney Gordon for Owen Luder Partnership.
This is followed by general views of a modern housing estate, possibly filmed at Peterlee.
Views of the British Gas Research Centre at Killingworth, designed by Ryder &...
Various stock shots of Newcastle, Gateshead and the surrounding areas produced by Turners Film Productions highlighting some of the modern architectural styles of the mid 1960s.
The film opens with low angle shots of Trinity Square multi-storey car park, Gateshead, designed by Rodney Gordon for Owen Luder Partnership.
This is followed by general views of a modern housing estate, possibly filmed at Peterlee.
Views of the British Gas Research Centre at Killingworth, designed by Ryder & Yates.
Various views of Newcastle Civic Centre, designed by city architect George Kenyon.
A woman helps two small children into the back of a Mini, which is parked outside a large suburban house.
Views of Newcastle Quayside with the Tyne Bridge in the background.
Crowds of people walk along a busy Newcastle city street. Traffic moves through the intersection of Northumberland Street, New Bridge Street West and Blackett Street in Newcastle. Looking west along Blackett Street, the Golden Lady Clock hangs outside Northern Goldsmiths on the corner of Pilgrim Street and Blackett Street.
The film ends with views of Grey’s Monument and surrounding streets with passing buses, traffic and pedestrians.
Context
On 14th November 1968 the imposing Newcastle Civic Centre was formally opened by King Olav V of Norway, perfectly fitting for a building that resonates with Scandinavian influence and bears a resemblance to the City Halls of Stockholm and Oslo. The occasion was marked by a flypast by the Royal Air Force and Pathé News described the “Magnificent Civic Centre” as “A building of architectural beauty and tasteful decoration.”
Northern symbols infuse the design and decoration of this grand...
On 14th November 1968 the imposing Newcastle Civic Centre was formally opened by King Olav V of Norway, perfectly fitting for a building that resonates with Scandinavian influence and bears a resemblance to the City Halls of Stockholm and Oslo. The occasion was marked by a flypast by the Royal Air Force and Pathé News described the “Magnificent Civic Centre” as “A building of architectural beauty and tasteful decoration.”
Northern symbols infuse the design and decoration of this grand post-war civic architecture; no more so than in David Wynne’s huge cast bronze exterior sculptures of the River God Tyne and the five Swans in Flight, a motif that originates in a Danish poem celebrating the free community of the five Nordic countries. Although the building appears to echo T. Dan Smith’s “Brasilia of the North” ambitions, the city’s fourth town hall dates from the early 1950s and a design by Newcastle City architect, George Kenyon. Its concrete structure is externally finished in white Portland stone ashlar (in a city full of sandstone), Cornish granite, Broughton Moor stone, handmade bricks and Norwegian Otta slate. The interior also boasts luxurious materials such as Portuguese marble, English oak, walnut, Italian travertine and aged copper finishing. Kenyon said in a BBC interview that he “attempted in the building to impart an affinity […] to the region.” Everywhere, there are touches of the region’s history, with suggestions in the architecture of the baronial halls of Northumberland, and the medieval castle which gave Newcastle its name. Extraordinary examples of artists’ work and high quality craftsmanship are integrated into the architecture. Glass screens in the entrance hall are by New Zealand artist John Hutton, engraved in representations of the history of invention in the Tyneside area by Stephenson, Parsons, Swann and Armstrong. Two superb abstract glazed murals by Victor Pasmore feature in the rates hall. An Aubusson tapestry by John Piper hangs on the north wall of the banqueting hall, and murals by Elizabeth Wise decorate the marriage suite. The strong maritime heritage of Tyneside is reflected in the two sea-horse motif of the city’s coat-of-arms, which is repeated in the carpets, woven by Mackays in Durham, the crystal chandeliers, and the iconic copper green Civic Centre tower, crowned with twelve identical stylised seahorse heads, cast in the sculpture department of Newcastle College of Art. A carillon in the tower, incorporating 25 bells with a combined weight of 22 tonnes, plays Tyneside tunes four times a day. Surfacing from an age of austerity, the total construction cost was £4,855,000. The Newcastle public (and rate payers) not surprisingly began to refer to their new civic centre as “wonderland”. |
