On film: Golden memories of 1960s pigeon racing in rare cine footage
The tradition of pigeon racing has been captured in a rare piece of 1960s cine film, which was commissioned by Vaux.
Look at this fantastic clip which shows thousands of birds being released by Wearside pigeon fanciers at the start of a 1962 race in Lille in France.
Hundreds of birds were released in France
The North East Film Archive footage shows members of the Up North Combine competing in the annual event. It shows cages lined up at an aerodrome before the birds are released.
The winner was a two-year-old bird belonging to a Mr Vardy, of Murton, who is later seen with his birds at his loft.
Later Mr Vardy and his wife got to enjoy a meal at a trophy presentation night held by Vaux.
The footage was originally recorded as a promotional film produced by Turners Film Productions for Vaux and Associated Breweries Limited.
It looks back on a year of sporting success across Scotland and Northern England sponsored by Vaux. The film is introduced by the Chairman of the company, Douglas Nicholson.
Vital reminders of our past
Our thanks go to the excellent North East Film Archive library which has a vast collection.
NEFA officials have previously shared clips of fun at the Seaburn fairground in 1966 and Brian Clough in one of his last matches for Sunderland before the injury which put paid to his playing career.
70,000 items to savour
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.
NEFA operates the The Yorkshire Film Archive in York, and the North East Film Archive, in Middlesbrough. It also has a new rental platform here.
If you have cine film memories of Sunderland and County Durham in the past, we would love to hear from you. Email [email protected] and tell us more.