A film by the Doncaster Cine Club that shows how the streets of Doncaster city centre once looked, currently looks, and how it will look in the future. The film combines photographic still images of the past with contemporary moving image footage, and later utilizes Doncaster Corporation's plans and designs to predict how future developments will re-shape the city. Sandwiched between the past and future of Doncaster is an event attended by the Princess Anne, where she lays the foundation...

A film by the Doncaster Cine Club that shows how the streets of Doncaster city centre once looked, currently looks, and how it will look in the future. The film combines photographic still images of the past with contemporary moving image footage, and later utilizes Doncaster Corporation's plans and designs to predict how future developments will re-shape the city. Sandwiched between the past and future of Doncaster is an event attended by the Princess Anne, where she lays the foundation stone at the grand opening of the Ripon Training College. The film opens with an expansive view of Doncaster from an elevated perspective, and the modern high rise flats are visible; there are also several buildings under construction. There are then shots of streets in Doncaster, and the filmmaker shows photos from the early 20th and late 19th century, showing how the streets have changed over the years. Some of the streets include buildings with signs the read 'Maurice', 'Carlton caf?', 'Leedsdale & Co Britannia pharmacy' and the 'Grecian rooms Restaurant'. The next sequence shows where an old market place was situated, followed by views of Doncaster Cathedral. Next, shots of the River Don in winter just as the ice is beginning to break are shown. The camera captures bits of ice as they slowly float down the river. More shots show streets in Doncaster and how they have changed, including streets with the Doncaster 'Co-op', The 'Grand theatre', and finally Doncaster station. Title - The laying of the foundation stone of a new block of college buildings (St. Margaret's Hall), Ripon Training College, on 25 September 1950, by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal. The soldiers Guard of Honour are positioned outside the college. HRH The Princess Royal arrives and proceeds with the traditional inspection of the guard. Many students are present for the event and watch the procession of the Royal Party. HRH ceremoniously lays the foundations stone. This is followed by speeches and a presentation. Finally the students watch the Royal Party leave. Shots of a motorway are followed by close ups of different maps of Doncaster, which include the civic centre and the surrounding roads: high street, Printing office street and Duke Street. There are then views of that area from a high vantage point. A digger drives across a construction site, and then a sign placed on a road reads 'Road construction by Prestwich' Macadams LTD Dronfield'. More shots of the construction site in its very early stages; the area is littered with rubble and excavated holes. A billboard reads 'Central shopping precinct - Sir Robert McAlpine & sons LTD'. A man in flat cap walks along a road abreast of a new shopping precinct, and the shell of the building is nearly complete. A shot of the construction site shows a crane above, before there are views of a newly built health clinic. More views of streets with terraced housing and a more modern block of flats. There is then a close up of a floor plan for the flats, and the filmmaker captures a model of what the area will look like in future, which features many of the buildings that were filmed before-hand. Views of high streets are superseded by pictures of what the precinct, and other streets, will look like when the construction work is complete. The following sequence shows rundown buildings in Doncaster city centre, which will eventually be knocked down to make room for the planned buildings, and one street sign shows 'Catherine Street'. The final shot shows two young boys wading in a large puddle on a cleared foundation site.