This amateur film records various activities taking place at Percy Hedley School in Newcastle between 1962 and 1965. The film opens showing children at Percy Hedley School, performing the pantomime Sleeping Beauty at Christmas in 1962. All the actors wear medieval-style costume. Most of the participants sit in a semi-circle, some are in wheelchairs. The performance set changes to a kitchen where a chef hands out dishes of food to waiters dressed in green and white uniforms. The waiters...

This amateur film records various activities taking place at Percy Hedley School in Newcastle between 1962 and 1965. The film opens showing children at Percy Hedley School, performing the pantomime Sleeping Beauty at Christmas in 1962. All the actors wear medieval-style costume. Most of the participants sit in a semi-circle, some are in wheelchairs. The performance set changes to a kitchen where a chef hands out dishes of food to waiters dressed in green and white uniforms. The waiters leave the stage and go behind a curtain. A small child dressed in white appears under the serving table. An item is dropped on the floor and is quickly cleared away by the chef. The film cuts back to the medieval tableau. A girl in a pink dress makes an entrance with the aid of a walking frame. She is followed by a girl dressed in white. A girl in yellow appears on stage and speaks to a royal prince or king who sits nearby. Two figures in black appear, one is pushing another in a wheelchair. The girl in the wheelchair appears to be a witch and wears a black conical hat. She speaks and gesticulates to the assembled characters. A girl dressed in white appears in a wheelchair, in the seat behind her appears to be a wand. The king stands up and speaks. The scene cuts to the witch sitting at a spinning wheel. Next to her a girl stands with a dog, another member of the cast in costume. The girl talks to the witch then sits on a chair next to her. The dog sits next to the girl. The girl pricks her finger on the spinning wheel and falls to the floor. A girl dressed in red rushes to her aid. The scene changes to a wood or forest, where members of the cast, are dressed as animals. Another view follows [quite dark] of the king and others on stage, the film then cuts back to the forest scene where a young man talks to a young boy and an old man in the forest. The young man moves through the forest then into a room where Sleeping Beauty lies on a bed. He approaches her and kisses her hand. She gets up from the bed and stands next to her rescuer. The King and Queen and the dog stand next to the happy couple. Another group of younger children in costume, and for 1964’s Christmas they enact a nativity scene. A general view shows Mary and Joseph and the crib where Jesus lies. The next two sequences also from 1964 show children in infant class and the nursery. In a classroom, a child sits at a table in a chair with a cushioned back. The camera moves round to show two other children at desks. Some chairs have names placed on them, the children smile at the camera A boy and a girl sitting behind desks wave at the camera. The boy wears a pink conical hat. Another boy and two girls sit in front of a window. In another room children try out bits of equipment to play on, in this case they try out a two-person roundabout. A girl plays with a toy cash machine at a table. The next scene also from Christmas1964 shows Santa Claus giving presents to a number of children gathered in a hall. General views show the children and staff gathered together some wear party hats Also from 1964 views follow of the staff room at Christmas where a number of women sit drinking coffee or tea. Everyone is very relaxed; a man joins the gathering and pours himself a hot drink. The film moves outside to a smartly dressed gathering standing along a driveway in front of a large stone house. This section records the official opening of the Percy Hedley Centre Hostel and Workshop on the 25th June 1965. A white car followed by a black limousine drive through the entrance gate and up the driveway. A number of people gather on a covered stage. A man stands at a lectern on the platform and gives a speech. A group of officials including the gentleman who gave the speech walk through the grounds of the old building. He takes a pair of scissors from a boy in a wheelchair, and cuts a white ribbon which crosses the driveway. Inside a workshop a number of people in wheelchairs along with others , work at benches as officials walk round. Also from1965 a group of boys play football in a paved yard A change of view follows as two boys are caught on camera climbing a tree. Another boy along with others in a grassed are tries out his golfing skills. The film moves on to a phantom passenger view from a moving vehicle. A view follows of passengers on a coach. Another view from the phantom passenger shows the bus negotiating the causeway which links the north east mainland to Lindisfarne or Holy Island on July 1st, 1965. The coach is parked and the children and staff from the school get off. A staff member meets another island visitor whose Labrador dog gets welcome attention. A boy in the wheelchair she’s been pushing also greets the dog. More children and staff get off the coach. They congregate outside a general store. Two other children look in the window of another shop. A staff member chooses postcards from a display rack outside the general store. One boy in a wheelchair has acquired a new fishing net. Some of the staff and children stop at the second store. They all move off down a road and past a memorial cross. They all gather on a grassed area near a stone building for a picnic. A view shows more of the island and a bay in the distance, and in the foreground a view of St Cuthbert’s island. Members of staff do some washing up after the picnic, some children help to put some of the utensils back in boxes. A change of location shows children involved in their Junior Sports Event also held in July 1965. The group gathers and sits on the grass next to a wall, overlooked by houses. Some children stand in a line on the field as they prepare to race each other. The children race towards the finishing line, a tape or string held across the finish. One boy holds up an item for the camera, possibly a prize he has won for the race. A group of young children sit on a tarpaulin on the grass and along with a member of staff wave at the camera. A boy in a wheelchair race crosses the finishing line, as others follow on behind. Another wheelchair race starts this time with the occupants being pushed. The winner takes his prize out of a box offered to him by one of the adults. He holds up his prize for the camera. Children at the starting line climb into sacks for a sack race. A boy races ahead and a girl comes second. Another sack race begins, the film the cuts to three members of staff helping one of the competitors into her sack. Despite falling over a few times she wins the race, another girl has to be helped across the finish line. General views show the all children on their day out, some look back at the camera. Another wheelchair race begins, the occupants of the chairs are pushed to the finishing line. A general view shows a nearby church and the small field where all the games have taken place. The view changes to staff members at school carrying equipment and other items to a Bedford mini bus. On another bus a wheelchair and its occupant use a platform lift to get in. The film changes to a view of an ornamental pond or lake where ducks are being fed from the bankside. A change of location follows as a number of staff push wheelchairs along the wide pavement outside Buckingham Palace. This section of the film shows a trip to London on the 21st to the 24th of May 1965. The children relax on the grass in a park. A change of view follows as children in wheelchairs pose for the camera in Downing Street. A view of another London landmark, the fountains in Trafalgar Square is quickly followed by views of Tower Bridge and the Tower of London from the Thames. General views at the end of the film show the school staff and children on a river boat as they sail past other famous London landmarks.