Watch cine footage of Sunderland workers getting the ferry in 1954

Rare cine footage: Re-live the days of the Sunderland ferry in the 50s

Here's an insight into a typical working day in 1950s Sunderland.

The Sir Walter Raine ferry is pictured on film, hard at work on the River Wear as streams of people get on board.

Packed on to the decks of the Sir Walter Raine. Photo: North East Film Archive.placeholder image
Packed on to the decks of the Sir Walter Raine. Photo: North East Film Archive. | NEFA

The sun setting on the River Wear

Look at the industrial background as Wearside in the 50s is shown in amazing detail, thanks to this footage from the North East Film Archive.

The Sir Walter Raine in 1948.placeholder image
The Sir Walter Raine in 1948. | se

The movie was originally made 69 years ago by amateur filmmaker John Percival Staddon and it looks at places and events mainly around the Sunderland and South Shields area.

The superb North East Film Archive has shared a one-minute clip from the original movie which is more than 27 minutes long and can be seen on the NEFA website.

70,000 items in a vast archive

Have a look at this amazing clip which shows the sun setting towards the Wearmouth Bridge.

Sunset on the Wear in 1954. Photo: North East Film Archive.placeholder image
Sunset on the Wear in 1954. Photo: North East Film Archive. | NEFA

NEFA has a huge catalogue of over 70,000 items of original film, video tape, and born-digital material. Its team painstakingly preserves, catalogues, and digitises these vital collections of reminders of our past.

Seaburn fairground in 1966

NEFA operates the The Yorkshire Film Archive in York, and the North East Film Archive, in Middlesbrough.

If you have cine film of Sunderland and County Durham in the past, we would love to hear from you. Email [email protected] and tell us more.

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