This amateur film shows pupils from Percy Hedley School in Newcastle on a youth hostelling holiday in Norfolk in 1974. The film opens showing a Trust House Forte motorway service station, a girl in a wheelchair is being pushed along a perimeter path which goes around the building. In the car park are two mini-buses one blue and one white from Percy Hedley School. The white bus is from the charity the Variety Club of Great Britain, on the side of the bus are the words, ‘Variety Club Sunshine...

This amateur film shows pupils from Percy Hedley School in Newcastle on a youth hostelling holiday in Norfolk in 1974. The film opens showing a Trust House Forte motorway service station, a girl in a wheelchair is being pushed along a perimeter path which goes around the building. In the car park are two mini-buses one blue and one white from Percy Hedley School. The white bus is from the charity the Variety Club of Great Britain, on the side of the bus are the words, ‘Variety Club Sunshine Coach’ on the driver’s door, ‘Presented by Fred Pontin’. Fred Pontin ran Pontin’s holiday camps a business similar to the well-known Butlin’s holiday destinations. Staff and pupils prepare to leave the service area. A change of location and a sign on a single-story building reads ‘Toilets and Picnic Area’ The school group gather around a circular table made of stone and concrete for a picnic, a caravan is parked nearby. Staff use a small portable table to prepare food and hot drinks. A small group of pupils and staff walk on the open grassland near the picnic area. Others gather around the tables where soft drinks and other snacks have been prepared. General views show staff attending to the children, traffic speeds past on a nearby road. The hostelling group poses for the camera [over exposed, washed-out picture], they all wave at the camera. A change of location follows with a member of staff talking to a male pupil who sits in a wheelchair. They stand next to a stone and brick-built building, one of the school buses is parked nearby, ‘Percy Hedley School’ is written on the passenger side door. The hostellers are at Walsingham Youth Hostel in Norfolk, just north of Fakenham, a sign appears on one of the buildings. The group gathers outside as they prepare to head off on a trip. One of the buses has to negotiate a tight corner into a narrow lane just outside the hostel. The bus turns into one of the main streets, then the film changes location to a cliff-top car park near the sea as the group gathers together. A couple of staff walk along a cliff-top path fenced off from the edge of the cliff. Some of the pupils stay near to the buses, while others enjoy an impromptu game of football on open grassland nearby. One boy has fallen backward out of his wheelchair on the uneven sand and grass. Unharmed he starts to get back into the chair, a member of staff holds the chair for him. General views show the football kick about, nobody however has seen the sign which reads, ’CUDC Football and Cricket Not Allowed’. Onboard one of the mini-buses staff members prepare sandwiches and hot drinks. They work on a table and have a small gas stove to heat water. The next view shows the hostellers sitting near the buses enjoying drinks and snacks. The film moves on to a view of a church, followed by a view of a busy street. A girl from the group is pushed along in her wheelchair along the pavement towards the camera. A view follows inside the church, where the same girl her helper has come to explore. Others negotiate the pavements and busy streets in town; A view down a narrow street reveals the tall clock tower of a church. Another view shows a narrow street and narrow pavements as a wheelchair user and the helper who pushes dodge the traffic. From a distance, the film shows a pier extending into the sea. The camera moves round to show the Melbourne Hotel and its ground-floor cafeteria. General views show some of the school group on a promenade path above the beach, walking towards the camera. General views show two seagulls on the cliff edge, a man takes photographs of them as he sits in the long grass nearby. A change of view shows the hostellers as they make their way down a tree-lined path towards the remains of a large abbey or cathedral window in the distance. They follow the path around a lawn, past trees, and through an archway in a wall. A brief view inside a building shows a carving of a female figure attached to a wall. The view changes to a sign outside mounted on a wooden support which reads.’ The Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham’. The Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham is a place of Christian worship, hospitality, and recreation at the heart of the Shrine is the Holy House. The visitors gather in a walled area near the sign, not far from the road. A view follows of presumably a statue of Our Lady, mounted on a high plinth or column. A sandy path to a beach follows,a notice from the National Trust stands next to the path which reads, ‘National Trust - Bathing Can Be Dangerous At All Stages of the Tide. It Is Unwise To Cross This Channel. Danger of Explosives Leave Strange Objects Alone. Report Them To The Police. Please Take Your Litter Home’. The hostellers gather on the beach and walk along the sand in what seems to be cold windy weather. However, this doesn’t stop the appearance of a ball and the start of another kick about, hampered by wind and pools of water. Groups of the holidaymakers gather near their respective buses, everyone is wrapped up in waterproofs The film cuts back to the beach and two of the school group run out to the waves in the sea. Disheveled and wet the two girls, probably staff, walk towards the camera and return to one of the buses. A general view shows a view of the car park and a pier out into the sea. Another change of view as, one of the school buses appears in the car park of, ‘Thomas’s Super Revolving Bingo’ hall. A general view of a beach follows on a dull and overcast day, followed by a view of a promenade just above the beach. Members of the hostelling group head towards a nearby fairground. The next view shows them along the same route but heading towards the camera. Back in the car park, the staff gather together between two parked buses, chatting and drinking tea. The view changes to another car park and a couple of pupils are wheeled across the wet tarmac. Another attraction is advertised on large hoarding attached to a building. It reads, ‘Bottons 20th Century Amusements’. The main attraction for the whole group is the dodgem cars. Staff and pupils test their skills, the light on the rink is quite dull and the cars have headlights switched on. On the waltzers pupils, along with a member of staff, wait for the ride to start. The camera picks out the tower that provides the helter-skelter ride in the distance. Others try another roundabout with chairs that revolve on their own axis as well as revolving around a central pole. General views follow of the school staff and pupils enjoying various rides at the fair, including a chair-a-plane ride and a roller coaster which includes a water splash. The holidaymakers watch others take the water splash while waiting in a queue. A girl and the member of staff get off the ride, another pupil greets them. The staff member shows her how wet he got from the water splash. Another ride attracting attention is one that goes into a tunnel entrance above which is the word ‘Fairyland’. The cars that take them into the tunnel are brightly coloured and imaginative designs based on animals. One of the school pupils riding alone emerges from the ride’s exit and smiles at the camera, a brief view of a roundabout ride ends the film.