This film was made by John Scorer who was born in 1931 in the Willington Quay area and spent most of his life in the parish of Cullercoats on the North East coast where he lived with his mother. A scholarly gentleman who was well-loved by those who knew him, John taught RE at Marden Bridge Middle School in Whitley Bay but had many hobbies and interests, film making included. John had a passion for historical costume which he enjoyed sharing with others by staging exhibitions in unlikely...

This film was made by John Scorer who was born in 1931 in the Willington Quay area and spent most of his life in the parish of Cullercoats on the North East coast where he lived with his mother. A scholarly gentleman who was well-loved by those who knew him, John taught RE at Marden Bridge Middle School in Whitley Bay but had many hobbies and interests, film making included. John had a passion for historical costume which he enjoyed sharing with others by staging exhibitions in unlikely venues such as Killhope lead mining museum and at his local Womens Institute. As well as collecting costume, John was also an avid sewer and often took apart the costumes in order that he could recreate them for local dramatics groups. John had a love of the outdoors and along with his mother would spend the entire summer holidays in Swaledale, North Yorkshire, taking a taxi there and back each year. John was a very modest filmmaker and did not seek recognition for the films he made, but they provide a fascinating insight into one man’s personal interests and work. This film captures one of his many trips to Reeth in Swaledale. John passed away on 11 January 2018 aged 87 years. (1)

The introduction of 16mm film in 1923 opened up the world of filmmaking for the first time to non-professionals and was popular for non-theatrical productions (for instance, industrial and educational films). Eastman Kodak first developed this film format and pioneered accessible and affordable film technology during the early 20th century. Kodak had vastly improved the safety of its products too, with new-fire resistant acetate rolls of film meaning that amateur filmmakers could enjoy a cigarette whilst projecting their home movies without fear of causing an inferno.

By the mid-1930s, a German observer estimated that the British amateur cine scene had around 250,000 hobby filmmakers and about 3000 to 4000 of those people was a member of an amateur cine club; the home movie craze had taken hold of Britain. By 1965, amateur film equipment had become increasingly smaller, lighter, cheaper and easier to use, leading to increased popularity of home movie making and screening.

The children take part in traditional May Day festivities and stage a PE demonstration with the aid of a teacher. May Day is a public holiday usually celebrated on 1st May or the first Monday of May. The spring bank holiday on the first Monday in May was created in 1978, but May Day itself (1st May) is not a public holiday in England, unless it falls on a Monday. As the children are in school in this film and it was filmed one year after the bank holiday was introduced, it is likely these festivities were shot on 1st May, which in 1979 fell on a Tuesday. The bank holiday would have been celebrated the following Monday with all public schools closing in honour of the day’s celebrations.

May Day is an ancient pagan festival particular to the Northern Hemisphere and acts as a traditional spring holiday in many cultures celebrating the start of pastoral summer. In Europe, May Day festivities involve dances, singing, and food, and in England the traditional rites include the crowning of a May Queen and celebrations involving a maypole being wrapped in ribbons.

The origin of the practice of wrapping a tall pole in ribbons cannot be pinpointed to a specific time and place, it is commonly agreed by historians that the Maypole began as a part of the pagan May Day festival known as ‘Beltane’ in the UK and Ireland and ‘Walpurgis’ in European countries. The Maypole dance symbolises fertility and the union of the masculine and feminine. The phallic pole is traditionally made from a young tree and represents masculinity, and the ribbon dancing and pole wrapping represent femininity. The rite is practiced in the hope of bringing fertility to the land, livestock and people living off it.

The 1973 British folk horror film The Wicker Man, directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee, explores these pagan May Day themes but adds a horror twist to the traditions. On the fictional Hebridean island Summerisle, the locals believe the failure of a harvest requires a human sacrifice to ensure the following harvest will be bountiful. A devout Christian policeman from the mainland is sent to investigate the disappearance of a young girl from the island who he comes to believe is to be this human sacrifice. He is horrified firstly that the islanders have turned their backs on Christianity and practice Paganism instead, and secondly on learning that it will actually be himself who will be the human sacrifice on May Day.  

In The Wicker Man, the religious policeman is shocked that the school children are taught of the phallic symbolism of the maypole. Maypole dances have been considered scandalous at various points throughout history, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries. The dances were banned in 1644 by Oliver Cromwell who described them as “a Heathenish vanity, generally abused to superstition and wickedness.” The earliest records of the maypole dances dates back to the 14th century and it was a well-established tradition in Britain by the 15th century.

In the late 19th century, May Day was chosen as the date for International Workers' Day (IWD) by the Socialists and Communists of the Second International. IWD commemorates the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labour demonstration on 4th May 1886 at Haymarket Square in Chicago, known as the Haymarket Affair or Haymarket Massacre. What began as a peaceful protest in support of workers striking for an eight-hour work day, ended with the death of eight workers by police and a retaliatory dynamite bomb thrown at the police, killing seven police officers and at least four civilians.

In the background of the film the turret of St Paul’s Church in Whitley Bay can be seen peeking above the houses. The Neo-Gothic church was built in 1864 by architect Anthony Salvin in the Early English Style. The church boasts impressive stained glass windows, one of which includes motifs from the Arts and Crafts Movement, a trend in the decorative and fine arts that began in Britain around 1880. The movement was philosophically socialist and anti-industrial and prioritised traditional, simple craftsmanship over complex Victorian mass production which it was believed alienated the skilled worker and decreased quality of products. Key players of the movement included designer William Morris, architect Augustus Pugin and writer John Ruskin.