Stoke on Film 1980s

£12.99

A selection of archive films including:

JOLLEES NIGHTCLUB: Opened in 1973 and closed 1981- the only place where local people could see the stars they'd seen on TV. Reminiscences by Fred Van Buren and Charles Plant - with Charles's film of the interior before closure - and an interview with compere Mel Scholes and bandleader John Simmonds.

PARK HALL COUNTRY PARK: Last of the City's great reclamation schemes, opened in 1981 - film of all the work on the scheme to completion.

POTTERIES MARATHON: "The friendly Marathon" was first run in 1982. Don Shelley tells us how it all began, we see film of the first marathons and hear from "jogging jazzer" Eric Newton.

NEWCASTLE-UNDER-LYME 1983/84: John Abberley reviews developments in the Borough and we see the 1984 Carnival.

MINERS' STRIKE 1984: Arthur Scargill talks about the strike. We see coal mining scenes from the time and chart the work of the Miners' Wives Action Group in the fight against pit closures.

NEW VICTORIA THEATRE: Film of the development of the Stoneyfields site from 1984. Peter Cheeseman, Robert Powell and Ben Kingsley talk about the old and new theatres, and we end with the New Vic opening in 1986.

CAMPAIGN TO SAVE LONGTON TOWN HALL; Spearheaded by Ellis Bevan, we chart the campaign from first meetings, the marches, and the confrontations outside Stoke Town Hall. Demolition had already begun when the eleventh-hour rescue was achieved in heroic style.

NATIONAL GARDEN FESTIVAL: The planning process from 1981, the reclamation and development of the site, the opening by the Queen in 1986 and many scenes of the Festival in full swing - with commentary from the key people involved throughout.