Rare film footage of Sunderland in the 70s as we look at C&A, Jacob Clark's and Studio

Remember C&A? Take a look at it once more thanks to this rare film footage which comes to us courtesy of the excellent North East Film Archive (NEFA).

Take a look at Radio Rentals. And there’s a section of footage which shows the impressive high-rise Planet House too.

Watch as the footage takes in Jacob Clark’s and a prize bingo hall.

There is a brief view of the Studio cinema house and a great clip of people seated on benches around the shopping precinct. The town hall clock tower on Fawcett Street is seen in the background.

And it looks like a busy day as pedestrians walk through the precinct past C&A.

Our thanks go to the North East Film Archive for sharing the footage which was originally filmed in and around Sunderland by amateur filmmaker Bob Wrightson, starting in 1972.

Bob’s work is a real reminder of Sunderland in a bygone era – an era which he captured in this film from 50 years ago.

If you want more, this is only a small taster of Bob’s original eight minutes of footage which also shows Blacketts, Wimpy Bar, and the ABC Cinema where Lee Van Cleef was starring in El Condor.

Another section shows carnival day in Holmeside and you might well get a glimpse of the Beehive as well as a jazz band from the 70s.

If you think this is great, why not have a look at even more on the NEFA website?

NEFA has a huge catalogue of over 70,000 items of original film, video tape, and born-digital material.

Its team has painstakingly taken on the task of preserving, cataloguing, and digitising these vital collections of reminders of our past.

The archive operates over two regional sites: Yorkshire Film Archive, based in York, and North East Film Archive, based in Middlesbrough.

Interested people can find out more about its work and collections by visiting the archive’s website at https://www.yfanefa.com

The registered charity also has a Facebook page which you will find at https://www.facebook.com/YFAandNEFA