This film documents the visit of the Lord Mayor of London Sir Frank Bowater to Harrogate in 1939. Title | July 10th 1939 Title | Harrogate welcomes the Lord Mayor of London on the Occasion of the Opening of the Extension to the Royal Baths. Title | Photographed by A.R. Baines Harrogate The film opens in colour with the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Frank Bowater, in full robes and fur lining, talking to various dignitaries. The film then cuts to a train pulling into a station, where a red carpet...

This film documents the visit of the Lord Mayor of London Sir Frank Bowater to Harrogate in 1939. Title | July 10th 1939 Title | Harrogate welcomes the Lord Mayor of London on the Occasion of the Opening of the Extension to the Royal Baths. Title | Photographed by A.R. Baines Harrogate The film opens in colour with the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Frank Bowater, in full robes and fur lining, talking to various dignitaries. The film then cuts to a train pulling into a station, where a red carpet has been laid out in readiness for his arrival in Harrogate. The Lord Mayor descends, attended by men in equally ostentatious dress, and shakes hands with other local dignitaries. The Lord Mayor is then shown walking through the well-manicured streets where bunting has been strung up and a crowd assembled for his visit. The posse of dignitaries then get into cars and clamber aboard horse-drawn carriages outside the Station Hotel, before being driven through the streets of the town. The procession is led by a military marching band which the cars and carriages follow, past Wray's Grocers on James Street. The dignitaries then alight from their vehicles, one woman losing her hat in the process, and the Lord Mayor goes to inspect the uniformed soldiers. Inside the Royal Spa there is a large desk covered with the luxurious symbols of the mayoral office, which are later seen being carried during the latter part of the procession. The Lord Mayor makes a speech to great applause before leaving the Spa and continuing the procession. The film briefly cuts to b/w in the inside of the Pump Rooms, where smartly-dressed men and women are sampling the mineral water. Back in colour, the dignitaries are stood on the steps of a building and once again get into cars and carriages. The Lord Mayor makes another speech in a field to an audience that includes local schoolchildren, before the film closes with further shots of the procession and the group entering a building with a gold plaque.