This film is one of several made of the Newton Chambers works at Thorncliffe made in 1951 and 1952 – people tended to call Newton Chambers by the names of the place, Thorncliffe. The others include film of the works outings to places like Sheffield, Whitby and Scarborough. In 1953 a film was also commissioned by Newton Chambers, Thorncliffe- a Story of Enterprise in Its Seventh Generation.  There is then a long gap until a further film of Thorncliffe Cricket Club Centenary Match from1970. It...

This film is one of several made of the Newton Chambers works at Thorncliffe made in 1951 and 1952 – people tended to call Newton Chambers by the names of the place, Thorncliffe. The others include film of the works outings to places like Sheffield, Whitby and Scarborough. In 1953 a film was also commissioned by Newton Chambers, Thorncliffe- a Story of Enterprise in Its Seventh Generation.  There is then a long gap until a further film of Thorncliffe Cricket Club Centenary Match from1970. It isn’t known who made the films from 1951 and 1952, but the 1953 film credits “the co-operation of Thorncliffe Photographic Unit”, and other people form the works, and also Fred Moore (later Sir), the managing director, as the writer and Director. So it may be that some of these might have been involved in the making of these slightly earlier and more amateur films.

Around the same time, in the late 1940s and during the 1950s, a number of films were made of steel works located in the Sheffield and Rotherham area of the Don Valley: for example, Men of Steel (1948) and Made in Sheffield (1954). Also two cine clubs were formed at the nearby Stocksbridge Steelworks (Samuel Fox & Co.), by workers at the works: Unit 8, making 8mm films and Vixen films. Both of these were set up by Bill Edgar who also made films independently of these, including YFA include Run (1955), And So to Hell (1956), Detail (1959) and Short Stop (1960), all under Bill’s initials BVE (V for Vincent). However, unlike the Thorncliffe films, these later films by Bill are innovative short fictional films.  See the Context for Short Stop (1960), made in collaboration with John Hoyland, for more on Bill’s films. For more information on Newton Chambers see the Context for Thorncliffe- A Story Of Enterprise In Its Seventh Generation.

The year that this film was made, 1951, was an auspices one for the company, as it was in that year, in February, that the Iron and Steel Act of 1949 finally came into effect that nationalised the industry. This was just prior to a general election that saw Labour lose power, and leading to the re-privatisation of the industry in 1954 – see the Context for The Personal Touch (1949). Among the crowds in this film are the entire intake of High Green School in Sheffield, a South Yorkshire mining community; more than 400 children, there to broaden their horizons.

In part the Festival of Britain was to mark the centenary of the Great Exhibition of 1851, but it was conceived by the Deputy Labour Leader Herbert Morrison and Gerald Barry as giving a post-war lift to British industry and culture, moving it into the modern age.  It was intended to demonstrate Britain's contribution to civilisation, past, present, and future, in the arts, in science and technology, and in industrial design. Gerald Barry described it as "a tonic for the nation".

Although the Festival was popular and made a profit, Winston Churchill was contemptuous of it and the first act of his newly-elected government in October 1951 was an instruction to clear the South Bank site, although the Festival exhibition was scheduled to close at the end of September anyway. Of the various buildings constructed on the South Bank site such as Skylon and the Dome of Discovery, only the Royal Festival Hall remains. But other arts venues have sprung up around it, namely the National Film Theatre (1952) and the Royal National Theatre (1963), Hayward modern art gallery (1968).

WWW In 1951 the Festival of Britain was celebrated in Newton Chambers near Sheffield by the workers of the Steel Plant and the local communities. This week long event had several activities which ended with music and dancing on the final evening. Ted was a school boy at the time and remembers being given half a day off from classes to go and enjoy the events. There were many acts such as tight rope walkers, performing dogs and clowns on funny bikes which the audience had the chance to ride. Other activities included performances from the operatic society, cricket and football matches, cycling races and other exhibitions. After the depression of the war years things were just beginning to become more plentiful so there was much more available such as sweets as they had been rationed during the war. The Festival of Britain became the high point of the revival of the country.   

References

Elliot, B., Thorncliffe: A Short History of Newton Chambers and Co. Ltd. and its People, Newton Chambers and Co., Chapeltown c.1958. (a reference copy is held at Chapeltown Library)

The Festival of Britain in the Regions and Nations