An amateur film produced by Frank Sterrett of apprentices from ICI Billingham taking part in a 10-day residential ‘Discovery Course’ run by the company at Stubb House near the village of Winston in County Durham. Frank was one of three tutors who worked on this outward bounds course and the film captures apprentices taking part in various group exercises and activates both at Stubb House as well as possibly around Upper Teesdale in the North Pennines where the boys go hiking. Outside Stubbs...

An amateur film produced by Frank Sterrett of apprentices from ICI Billingham taking part in a 10-day residential ‘Discovery Course’ run by the company at Stubb House near the village of Winston in County Durham. Frank was one of three tutors who worked on this outward bounds course and the film captures apprentices taking part in various group exercises and activates both at Stubb House as well as possibly around Upper Teesdale in the North Pennines where the boys go hiking. Outside Stubbs House a group of teenage boy stand with their heads bowed, in the doorway of the house three men one of whom is reading off a clipboard. The boy briefly stands together in a field followed by them running around the back of the house, a man in white top and red short watches them pass and joins those at the rear. In a large field the boys wearing swimming trunks or shorts do various exercises such as jumping on the spot and squats. Others lift weights or do steps using a wooden bench. Following their workout, the group make their way through a wooded area to the rear of a building where they are all hoses down with cold water. The boys now changed work together in small groups to tie wooden poles together with ropes to create a platform. They all take part in a race with one of the group sitting on their makeshift platform while the others in their group carry them. Several boys work to build a low wall beside the driveway while others in a field construct a wooden tower, one of the boys climbs to the top. A man stands beside a mini-bus parked in the driveway. Three boys sit under a makeshift shelter chatting with other boys standing over them. Between a set of trees on the field more shelters have been constructed. The film changes to a boy sleeping on the lawn in a sleeping-bag. He is woken by one of his companions. Nearby two boys work to light a fire. A group of boys walk along the driveway towards Stubbs House carrying rucksacks. Inside they sit in chairs relaxing, one of them eats an ice-lolly. In a dinning room they sit around tables eating a meal. Back outside bricks are laid with cement in the wall seen previously, in the field a group of them use ropes and wooden poles to construct another tower and ropeway through the trees. Beside a wooden shed a recently felled tree truck. Back in the field all the boys do a synchronized exercise routine before going for a run around the field. A net has been set up and some of the boys play a game of volleyball. Standing out the front of Stubbs House the boys all dressed in walking gear, some carrying walking sticks, listen to a man speaking with them from the steps. The group head off, each of the boys carrying rucksack’s as well as what appears to be a sleeping bag wrapped in plastic. A phantom car ride to the boys loading their bags into the back of a coach. In the field views of the rope construction built by some of the boys seen earlier of a large log being suspended upright in the air with ropes. On board the bus the boys sit, some waving at the camera. Several boys walk along a moorland road followed by a panoramic view of the surrounding rural landscape. One of the boys appears to stroke an animal or bird followed by them walking beside the rocky shoreline of a river. More views the surrounding hilly landscape and the group walking across moorland eventually arriving at the bus which is parked in a road. Back at Stubbs House some of the boys have built a drawbridge over a stream using wood and ropes which they raise and lower. Nearby in a wooded area a boy jumps down from a wooden wall constructed between two trees. Above a ropeway has also been built in between some of the trees. A group of boys lay on the grass while looking through books showing unknown designs. Nearby an easel has been set up and further away several tents. Some of the boys take part in a race running around the field watched by the contemporaries, others take part in a form of long jump in which they leap over a rope. A relay race follows again with the boys racing around the field. Several boys throw a long-tapered pole, a Caber toss, watched with amusement by an instructor. This is followed by a race in which teams carried a heavy log on which sits one of the group. Another race involves the boys running with sacks on their shoulders. A man stands beside a chalk leader-board, three boys begin a race around the track. In the nearby wooded area other boys swing through the trees on ropes or climb across a rope bridge as part of another race. Several boy pull themselves up the tower seen being built earlier using ropes while other race around the track, a hand holding a stopwatch. Back in the wood’s boys swing through the trees into a cargo net before climbing down to the ground.