An amateur film made by Chris Anderson along with his sisters Susan and Carol that looks at their home town of Bishop Auckland. The films shows many of the town attractions and shopping facilities as well as sporting and leisure activities. The final part of the film highlights the educational facilities available, from infants to adults. The film opens with views of the busy shopping precinct of Newgate Street in Bishop Auckland. These scenes are intercut with panoramic views across a...

An amateur film made by Chris Anderson along with his sisters Susan and Carol that looks at their home town of Bishop Auckland. The films shows many of the town attractions and shopping facilities as well as sporting and leisure activities. The final part of the film highlights the educational facilities available, from infants to adults. The film opens with views of the busy shopping precinct of Newgate Street in Bishop Auckland. These scenes are intercut with panoramic views across a suburban housing estate with the town centre in the near distance. Title: Bishop Auckland [over animated postcodes] Title: A Myth of the South Travelling shot along the outskirts of the town. Pedestrians and traffic are moving along Newgate Street. Credit: By Chris Anderson General views of a busy shopping street, and the exterior of the local Woolworths on Newgate Street next door to John Temple. Inside the store, customers peruse the display of vinyl records. A banner hanging down from ceiling promotes 10% off marked prices. A young cashier looks over at the camera. Customers walk around the store. Outside the store, pedestrians walk past, including a young woman in yellow pushing a pram. General exterior view of Doggarts department store on Market Place with Leigh’s The Shoe Centre next door on the corner of Newgate Street. The film documents shop signs for the Co-Op, Burton’s Tailoring and Smith’s Cleaners. The sequence ends with a travelling shot along Newgate Street towards the Hinton’s department store. The film changes to show the clock above the entrance of Auckland Castle and people walking through the gateway towards Market Place. A sign points in the direction of the castle itself. General views follow of its exterior including the Chapel of St Peter and the Screen Wall. A sign on a gate promotes the National Garden’s Scheme at Auckland Castle opening on Sunday 14th July 1974. A crowd of young people walk down a steep embankment towards the River Gaunless below surrounded by trees. Children in swimming costumes paddle and play in the water while an older woman sits on the bank watching with a toddler by her side. General views of Auckland Castle Deer House nearby follow. Back at Market Place,  a number of red United double-decker buses drive past pedestrian and shoppers at the market. Overhead shot of the market below. Women shoppers browse clothing stalls for sales on the market. General exterior view of the United Automobile Services Ltd building. Passengers board another United double-decker bus that is travelling to Tow Law. Another bus passes. Travelling shot from the top-deck of another bus along Newgate Street. A female conductor collects fares. More general views of passengers getting onto various buses, which then drive out of Market Place. General view of a railway signal box at Bishop Auckland East and the railway station nearby. A diesel passenger trains passes along the line. The next sequences record sports enjoyed around the town. General view of the entrance gates to the Bishop Auckland AFC [Associated Football Club] pitch, their name painted on the door. A door nearby has a shield embossed onto it for the supporters club. The teams walk onto the field and a football match takes place. A small crowd watches the game from stands behind one of the goals. Men play a round of golf at a local course.  A cricket match is underway with a ball being bowled, hit and fielders chasing after it. Spectators seated on benches nearby watch with players watching from a pavilion. Two boys play a game of tennis while on a nearby green older people play a game of bowls, watched by men from a bench.  Outside of town a stone bridge crosses the River Wear. A man walks along the river bank, a car crosses the bridge and a woman sits nearby beside her car reading. Next, there are views of the Woodhouse Close Leisure Complex, inside and outside the Woodhouse Close Branch Library, and the Odeon Cinema on Tenters Street where the Steve McQueen movie Papillion is currently playing. On a playing field a man plays a game of cricket with two boys; nearby other children play on swings in a playground. Another father and son team play football on the grass while nearby two boys fly a kite. The film changes to show a school road sign followed by views of the exterior of Woodhouse Close County Infants School. Colourful paintings hang from the inside of one of the classrooms. Children come out of school carrying their school books. Exterior views follow of Woodhouse Close County Junior School. On the school playing field a ground of children run around while a number of others paint or draw on chairs set up nearby. A boy carries a box and two others carry a wooden gymnastic beam back towards the school building. The children leave at the end of the school day. A wooden sign for Woodhouse Close Secondary School is followed by views of the school buildings. Overhead view of the sports field where three boys in uniform kick around a football. General views record the outside of Bishop Auckland Technical College. Back to the Market Place next and views of Bishop Auckland Town Hall. A general view of Bishop Auckland document a high-rise building in the middle distance. Panoramic views over Bishop Auckland and a travelling shot down a busy shopping street end the film.  End credit: Sound recordist Susan and Chris Anderson End credit: Narrated by Carol Wilson End credit: Produced by Chris Anderson Title: The End