This comic amateur public information film made for the Durham City Council is used to raise public awareness about litter in Durham and encourage people to put rubbish in the bin when using public spaces, particularly as the picturesque city was such a magnet for visitors. The national litter problem was originally highlighted by the National Federation of Women’s Institutes in 1954, and the campaign ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ ran from 1955. Please Keep Durham Tidy was certainly ahead of the game...

This comic amateur public information film made for the Durham City Council is used to raise public awareness about litter in Durham and encourage people to put rubbish in the bin when using public spaces, particularly as the picturesque city was such a magnet for visitors.
The national litter problem was originally highlighted by the National Federation of Women’s Institutes in 1954, and the campaign ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ ran from 1955. Please Keep Durham Tidy was certainly ahead of the game in tackling locally the escalating national problem and health hazard. By 1958 the government passed the Litter Act with fines in place for untidy offenders. With the Central Office of Information as sponsor, many public information films and short ‘fillers’ were made for the anti-litter campaign in the late 1960s and 1970s, screened at the cinema, and on TV, often with celebrity endorsements from the likes of Abba, Marc Bolan, Roy Hudd and Morecambe and Wise. These were credited with changing attitudes. Young children were targeted through cartoons featuring Dusty the Kangaroo. Not surprisingly, the campaign had taken on a bigger environmental and ecological role by the 1990s.
This educational film was discovered in the collections of David Williams, senior lecturer in film and television at Bede College, Durham University, from 1964. It’s possible it was filmed by himself or by students he tutored as part of a film production course. Williams was a collector of postcards of Durham, film historian, an expert on early cinema exhibition and silent film, and passionate about everything to do with the silver screen. Williams instigated the first Young People’s Video Festival and chaired its operation for 20 years, was made a Fellow of the Royal Television Society in 2000 and awarded an MBE for services to media studies in the North East in the 2011 New Year’s Honours. Born in Leicester, he had early memories of watching Coventry, 25 miles away, burn after bomb raids during World War Two and his first job was as a clerk, conscripted to the army. He died in 2013 at the age of 80.
During the 1950’s Britain had become one of the most urbanised and industrialised countries in the world. The reliance on coal for heating and energy generation resulted in harmful atmospheric pollution . There are also some thoughts that the 1950’s and 1960’s was the ‘golden age of consumerism’ as goods became less expensive and some products began to be sold on a large scale after the war . With the increase of consumerism, there would be more litter on the streets and harmful waste to dispose of.
Additionally, Britain had been affected by World War Two, so to keep morale up there will have been campaigns to get Britain back to normal. At this time, some rationing was still in place and the economy was slowly starting to recover. It was a time of slow change that led to the rapid changes of the 60s. There were some benefits like a higher demand for skilled labour which meant higher wage packets and more affluence, and there was also a newfound freedom for many. As Harold Macmillan said “some of our people have never had it so good” .
Another aspect of British life during the 50s were the small businesses that are briefly shown in the footage. The majority of shops in cities and towns were mainly family run businesses that were traditional in character. For example, this normally included independent butchers, bakers, grocers, greengrocers, and ironmongers . The life of the 50s was generally a lot simpler and more localised than it is now, with everything that you needed in your own local town. American style self-service supermarkets were, however, on the horizon for towns and cities throughout Britain, the first already opened in London when this film was made.
The Durham City Council was established in 1888 and started out with a small conservative majority. Currently the council is made up of an elected assembly of 126 councillors and its aims are to promote the interests of the county .
The film credits note the assistance of Durham Rotary and Round Table. Rotary clubs were originally an American idea, the first formed by a Chicago attorney with three business associates on 23 February 1905 to recreate the spirit of small town communities. They were closed ‘service’ clubs made up of prominent business and professional men, meeting in rotation at each member’s place of business. Their intention was to create closer contacts for new professionals, and use business activism to tackle local problems and strengthen community, whether through raising funds or using their own skills and experience. The Round Table was an off-shoot club for younger men of the town. The Rotary became an international association in 1912. However, the first women members were not admitted until 1987, although challenges against discrimination picked up steam in the 1970s. Wives had always contributed to Rotary club activities.
Two specific places of importance shown within the film are the Durham Market Place and the Durham Castle and Cathedral. Durham cathedral was built in the late 11th and 12th centuries and lay within the precinct of the Castle. The cathedral was first constructed on the orders of William the Conqueror. The location of the castle and cathedral is on a peninsula formed by a bend in the River Wear that constitutes a natural line of defence . Durham Castle and Cathedral are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site of religious and historical significance as well as a destination for tourists.
In contemporary Durham, Market Place is considered the ‘beating heart of Durham’ with over 50 independent traders offering a range of goods . This is a place where the majority of traders source their goods locally, keeping the feeling of a strong community unit.
Amateur films are frequently defined as ‘polished short works aimed at an audience of fellow amateurs and members of the public’. The amateur film making process was criticised originally by film critics however “this genre of film cinema still became a number one favourite in living rooms of every household ” and offers people a glimpse of the past. This film was shot using 16mm Kodachrome film, a reversal film stock, which was on the market in 1935, praised for its rich colours and used by both affluent amateurs and professionals. It’s an example of how capable amateurs were also commissioned to make films for professional, educational, promotional or municipal purposes.
https://www.le.ac.uk/emoha/community/resources/postwar/Britain%20in%201950.pdf
https://www.historycrunch.com/history-of-consumerism.html#/
https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-dusty-no-12-dusty-says-keep-britain-tidy-1978-online
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/films/1964to1979/filmpage_keepit.htm
https://www.retrowow.co.uk/50s.html
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/britain-1950
https://www.durham.gov.uk/aboutus
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/370/
http://www.durhammarkets.co.uk/about-us