Metadata
WORK ID: NEFA 22107 (Master Record)
Title | Year | Date |
PICNIC; ROTHBURY SHOW | 1952 | 1952-01-01 |
Details
Original Format: Standard 8 Colour: Black & White Sound: Silent Duration: 5 mins 49 secs Credits: Individual: Raymond James Paiton Genre: Home Movie Subject: Sport Rural Life Family Life |
Summary A home movie made by Raymond James Paiton of a family picnic in the Northumberland countryside followed by show jumping, sheep herding and a hound trail taking place as part of the Rothbury Show. The film also features the family playing with a West Highland Terrier and a man working on a beehive. |
Description
A home movie made by Raymond James Paiton of a family picnic in the Northumberland countryside followed by show jumping, sheep herding and a hound trail taking place as part of the Rothbury Show. The film also features the family playing with a West Highland Terrier and a man working on a beehive.
The film opens on three young women and a fourth older one sitting on the ground on the edge of a field. They smile and laugh at the camera. The film cuts to one of the young women picking flowers...
A home movie made by Raymond James Paiton of a family picnic in the Northumberland countryside followed by show jumping, sheep herding and a hound trail taking place as part of the Rothbury Show. The film also features the family playing with a West Highland Terrier and a man working on a beehive.
The film opens on three young women and a fourth older one sitting on the ground on the edge of a field. They smile and laugh at the camera. The film cuts to one of the young women picking flowers in a meadow.
Back with the group, the woman seen picking flowers now cheekily reveals her leg underneath her dress. She walks towards the camera dancing and performing in front of it.
A view of a kettle sitting on a small stove cuts to a man pouring the boiling water into a tea pot. The older woman pours tea into cups from the tea pot as others around her eat. General views show the group enjoying their picnic eating and sipping tea from cup and saucer. Nearby a West Highland Terrier eats from a plate.
Two of the young women try to climb a tree with one pushing the other from behind. The sequence ends with her jumping down the other side.
The film cuts to show a horse and rider making two failed attempts to jump a fence at a show jumping event. Crowds stand behind a barrier watching as the horse jumps other obstacles around the course. Eventually the horse manages to jump the fence.
In another field a sheep dog herds a number of sheep. A crowd follows a number of dogs and their owners as they make their way to the starting point of a hound trial. The leads are removed the dogs race off across the landscape, the film cuts to the dogs returning and being collected by their owners.
Next, a number of horses and riders trot around the showground seen earlier, watched by crowds standing behind a barrier. Suddenly, the riders jump off their mounts and run to the centre of the showground.
The film changes to show two men and a boy walking through a meadow. In a clearing beside a hill the Highland Terrier seen previously runs around with its owners beside an estate car. A boy kneels down and strokes the dog followed by two of the younger women seen previously posing for the camera, wind blowing through their hair.
The film cuts to a man lifting the top off a beehive followed by honey bees flying in and out of the hive.
The Highland Terrier watches the man seen previously working with the beehive as he crawls through the long grass holding a bee smoker. He stands and looks at the camera. A woman lying on the grass looks at the camera as the Highland Terrier sits by her feet looking across at the man nearby. The film ends with the man crawling through the long grass again watched intently by the dog.
Context
This home movie was made by amateur filmmaker Raymond James Paiton, using an 8mm film stock to capture the memory of a family picnic and shots at the Rothbury Show. Many of his films document car rallies, some hosted with friends, and vintage vehicle restoration, one of his main interests. Both he and his wife Molly (Amelia) were rally drivers. Other home movies in the collection feature family members including Cragside: Town Moor: Beach. The majority of the films were made between 1949 and...
This home movie was made by amateur filmmaker Raymond James Paiton, using an 8mm film stock to capture the memory of a family picnic and shots at the Rothbury Show. Many of his films document car rallies, some hosted with friends, and vintage vehicle restoration, one of his main interests. Both he and his wife Molly (Amelia) were rally drivers. Other home movies in the collection feature family members including Cragside: Town Moor: Beach. The majority of the films were made between 1949 and 1961, a time of rapid change within British society.
Paiton was born in Manchester in 1917 and moved to Newcastle upon Tyne when his father, an engineer, acquired a job at Ferranti in Walkergate, which later became Parsons. He won a scholarship to attend Heaton Grammar School ad studied dentistry at Newcastle University. He married shortly before his military service during World War Two when he was posted to India and Burma to treat British troops. Against orders, he also treated Japanese prisoners of war as he couldn’t bear to see anyone in pain. They made him presents out of old shell cases to thank him. After the war, Raymond and Molly settled into married life in Ponteland and Holmwood, Woodland Park, Wideopen, with two children, Michael and Barbara, who feature in his home movies. He had a dental practice in Wallsend, working until the age of 75. In addition to his filmmaking activities, he restored vintage cars and motorbikes. In the attic of his dental surgery, he discovered and restored a 1909 Wilkinson TAC luxury touring motorcycle produced by Wilkinson Sword before the First World War, which was sold back to the company and displayed at their headquarters. As a musician playing the guitar, clarinet and saxophone he played in a band into his nineties. His son Michael rebelled against following the family tradition of a career in dentistry and became a musician, playing with a then unknown Gordon Sumner (aka Sting) in one local band. Raymond loved to travel around the world, but Northumberland was his favourite place, which can be seen within these films. The 1950s have often been referred to as the ‘Golden Age’. The British economy was starting to recover after the Second World War. The society was thriving and enjoying their newfound security and Britons were generally happier. As shown in this film, people were enjoying the simple freedoms that post-war life had to offer. Fashion was changing too, with young women welcoming the long full skirts of the ‘New Look’ that was a reaction to wartime austerity , One can also gather that the family unit was strong during the 1950s, as this film shows a family enjoying their time together laughing and spending time in nature. One specific event that is shown is the Rothbury Show. Rothbury is a traditional market town of central Northumberland, which is also known as the Capital of Coquetdale. It’s close to the county’s countryside and has many walking and cycling routes to explore and has been referred to as a ‘peaceful haven’ . The Rothbury Show would have been located on the Rothbury racecourse, which was a horse racing venue. The course covered under 1.5 miles in circumference and the races were held over 2 to 3 miles. During both world wars the racecourse was closed and then in the 1960s it was deemed surplus to requirements and marked for closure . Once again, it can be seen how important these amateur films are as it can show us places like the Rothbury Racecourse that are no longer there. In 1932 Kodak introduced standard 8mm film stock during the Great Depression in America as a cheap alternative to 16mm, and this became popular for amateurs. The technology was still relatively expensive, especially before World War Two, so it was usually only accessible to the most affluent in society. Over the next twenty years the 8mm film format, used by Paiton, became more common and was at its height recording special events and family gatherings throughout the 1950s. The use of home movies as a historical primary source is extremely useful as it can show insights into fashion, how cities and towns looked and one can even see how gender roles differ through these films. Even to this day home movies are being made, mostly through everyday devices like our mobile phones but also through video tapes. https://www.historytoday.com/archive/britain-1950 https://www.visitnorthumberland.com/rothbury https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothbury_Racecourse |