Filmed report on the threatened closure of Sedgefield Racecourse broadcast on the regional news programme Northern Life on 22 February 1977. Trainers parade the horses in the ring before a race. Brief shot of bookmakers, including John Joyce, advertising their odds. One of the jockeys walks out into the enclosure carrying his saddle. Interview with a man wearing a bowler hat, possibly Frank Scotto (?), the Chairman appointed in 1977. He explains about talks with the council about funding...

Filmed report on the threatened closure of Sedgefield Racecourse broadcast on the regional news programme Northern Life on 22 February 1977. Trainers parade the horses in the ring before a race. Brief shot of bookmakers, including John Joyce, advertising their odds. One of the jockeys walks out into the enclosure carrying his saddle. Interview with a man wearing a bowler hat, possibly Frank Scotto (?), the Chairman appointed in 1977. He explains about talks with the council about funding for Sedgefield Racecourse, rumoured to be on the verge of collapse. The interviewer asks why rate payers should be interested in the possible closure of the racecourse. The Chairman responds that it’s the only racecourse in Durham. His reply plays over general views of the races with quite a large crowd in attendance. A horse is led into the parade ring. A tic tac man signs from a bookmaker’s stand. Some punters are reading up on race form in the newspapers. Horses are led around the parade ring. A bookmaker fills in his ledger at the stand for Dixon and Fraser. Jockeys limber up on the course. The interview continues with the Chairman who says he feels that Sedgefield fills a vital place in the racing calendar.