Description

All ten episodes of the acclaimed ITV Tyne Tees and Yorkshire series, looking at life in the North of England during the 1950s and 60s. Highlights include archive film-based features on train-spotting and the trolley bus, changes in housing, mining, working men’s clubs, and archive clips from 1959 when the brand new ITV channel hit our screens.

Full description from the producer:

This double DVD contains all 10 episodes of the ITV Tyne Tees and Yorkshire series. Nostalgic documentary examining life in the North of England during the 1950s and 1960s using archive film and interviews. Finding out about fun and games at the annual Miners’ Gala and recalling how different school days were during those decades. Episode 1: Lessons if Life. Growing up in the back lanes of our northern towns and cities and tales of the communities and schooldays which prepared us for our working lives. Episode 2: What Next. A look at life as an apprentice in a northern firm when every young “Man about Town” wore a suit from Jackson’s the Tailors and the hairstyle of the day was a DA or a Tony Curtis. Young girls wore miniskirts and followed the London fashion scene. Episode 3: Getting There. Steam trains, train-spotting and the trolley bus, when learning to drive before motorways meant traffic jams in every town and village and getting anywhere took an age. Episode 4: Out with the Old. The 50s and 60s saw the demolition of our old houses and the communities who lived in them. In came new housing estates, new towns and new fangled household gadgets. Episode 5: That’s Entertainment Archive clips from 1959 when the brand new ITV channel hit our screens. Life in our working men’s clubs and long forgotten footage of the Sunderland Echo from the 1970’s documentary “It’s your Evening” Episode 6: Away From It All Colourful old film of tourism hotspots like Scarborough which were popular in the 50s and 60s for the annual “Work Fortnight”. Recently discovered 50s footage of the Northumberland National Park and a trip along the Pennine Way. Episode 7: Out in All Weathers. Out in the snow with the Rag and Bone men and the hardships of life on the remote Teesdale farm made famous in Yorkshire Televisions “Too Long a Winter” Episode 8: All in the Family. Fascinating film and interviews with the descendants of some of our great industrial families. Includes fire hose manufacturer George Angus & Co, electric motor manufacturers Brook motors and chocolate makers Rowntree of York. Episode 9: At Your Service. Conversations and old archive film featuring the caring professions. A nurse tells stories of the dreaded Matron, crime tales from a 60s policeman and how one man had dedicated his life to the work of the homeless. Episode 10: Hands On. Reminiscences from people who worked in some of the North’s great industries including the drive of the open cast mining crane “Big Geordie”, port workers, fishermen and an expert on the Yorkshire steel industry.

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