Newcastle on Film: history of centuries screening in Tyneside Cinema
From black and white to color, from silence to sound, Newcastle on Film records a century of life in the city.
The film was screened at a packed Tyneside Cinema, as part of a North East Film Archive project, with old movie reel from 1901 to 1987.
The footage recorded people’s daily lives, big moments, famous industries and iconic constructions in Newcastle across the decades.
That included home movies, official records, Tyne Tees Television news pieces, early footage of Newcastle United, documentary Tyneside Story and even Scott Dobson’s animated iconic guide to the local dialect Larn Yersel Geordie.
The images brought audiences back to early 20th century in seconds.
“I could be there”, a woman who has been living in Newcastle for nearly 80 years said, when the scene jumped to the pleasure park in Whitley Bay. “But the most impressive part is still The Tyne Bridge because it never changed”, she said.
The Tyne Bridge, Quayside Market, Central Station, Grey Street, High Level Bridge, Haymarket and the Castle Keep are still recognisable in the grainy films even after a hundred years.
Many great events had seen captured on celluloid have already melted into these. From construction of Tyne Bridge and its opening ceremony when the royal carriage crossed over the River Tyne, to demonstration for Women’s Rights. The 2 hours’ fragile films caught every memorable second in the old town visually and vividly.
“I really enjoy the film and it’s so surprised to see my neighbor in the film!” another woman said proudly during the break.
The camera also recorded children’s laughter and yells at The Hopping Fun Fair, the hustle and bustle of Quayside Market, singing and dancing at a Xmas Jazz Ball, laborers busy in shipyard as well as holidays in the original Spanish City at Whitley Bay after the end of the war.
A man who has been living in Newcastle for 75 years said what the most impressive to him is the Quayside Market as it’s still identifiable. “I’m more familiar to the last half of the film. It’s more interesting and also nostalgic”, he said.
Also witness the town’s change in the past decades are audiences. Most of audiences have been living in Newcastle for more than 50 years. This is a dementia friendly screen, only the second floor of Classic hall is open. It’s the last screening during the North East on Film project, the dark and narrow hall has nearly been packed.
Presenter Julie Ballands brought audiences to the beginning of 20th century through the screening and telling background stories. “It costs about £500 in digitising a 13 min film,” she said, “but it feels good to share stories and memories together in the places of belonging and identity.”
North East Film Archive never stops searching for, preserving and digitalizing moving image from across the North East including both home movies and workplace films and bring them to the cinemas.
-END-
The Tyne Bridge
High Level Bridge
Quayside Market