An amateur film produced by Donald Oates recording a Newcastle Educational Committee visit with school children to rural Northumberland.  [NB: Cuts too fast making film jerky] The film begins with a Newcastle Education Committee bus (Reg. No OTN 112) approaching the camera. The next view shows eager schoolchildren smiling from the windows of the bus, and waving as it drives off. A boy sits on a stone wall facing the camera in front of information boards at Housesteads Roman Fort on the...

An amateur film produced by Donald Oates recording a Newcastle Educational Committee visit with school children to rural Northumberland.  [NB: Cuts too fast making film jerky] The film begins with a Newcastle Education Committee bus (Reg. No OTN 112) approaching the camera. The next view shows eager schoolchildren smiling from the windows of the bus, and waving as it drives off. A boy sits on a stone wall facing the camera in front of information boards at Housesteads Roman Fort on the Roman wall in Northumberland. A view taken across a hillside shows children and teachers exploring the area. The bus moves on along the road to another destination, this time a wooded area next to a stream. The children clamber over rocks onto a pathway, they surround a solitary sheep and begin stroking it. The sheep seems to appreciate the attention, and eventually wanders off across the moorland. A group of older children walk up a hill towards the camera. The group enter a small white painted church. The vicar poses for the camera, standing outside the church next to a tree. The youngsters then congregate outside the perimeter wall of the church. Sheep wander across the road. Another school group wanders down a hill in the road, some carrying sticks. The film cuts to a whitewashed house, the name ‘Causey’ printed on a board above a doorway. The walking group gather outside. On a road a sign warns that motors and cycles must stop. Next, a view of a lake with rowing boats drawn up on the shore. A number of children look curiously around the boats. A pleasure boat draws up to a nearby pier on the lake, and a number of passengers get off. [Dark footage] General view of a forest. Some of the boys climb a tree near the lake. Others clamber up a bank over exposed tree roots and wave from the top of the bank, or run down to the lakeside to throw stones. A girl wanders amongst flowers and vegetation in a formal garden. [Jerky footage] Looking down a hillside the walking group make their way down a steep slope across some tricky terrain. General views follow of ducks or geese on the moorland. The children stop to stroke some young cattle over a fence in a field. They set off again walking along a road, sheep graze on scrubland nearby. A group of pigs are shepherded along a lane by a young girl. A dog retrieves a stick from a river. The walking group relax on an area of grass. A motor launch comes across a lake towards the camera, carrying school children and their teachers. The passengers step off the boat and onto a jetty. Another view shows two of the young walkers standing next to a rocky stream. A view of the lake is taken from a hillside location, one of the schoolboy’s points towards it. Some of the walkers in swimming costumes play near a pool amongst the rocks. The film cuts to hens and young ducklings out on open grassland near a farm. One of the boys feeds the hens with breadcrumbs from a sandwich. A large group of children sit on the pier where pleasure boats take on or let off passengers. The boat arrives and they all get on. The boat pulls away from the pier and heads off across the lake. Brief views follow of the hostels seen earlier and two young girls play with kittens. [Colour] A man and young girl stand next to some flowering tulips. General view of a bed of roses. The film ends with walkers in the distance heading off to the hills.