I found it fascinating: Sunderland's shoppers on film 70 years ago

It was 70 years ago when this fantastic film of buses, shops and people was taken.

Packed with people out shopping

This one minute clip is part of a larger 25 minute film which shows Fawcett Street, the Town Hall and a street busy with cars, buses, trams and bargain hunters.

We can share it with you thanks to the North East Film Archive which has a vast array of footage.

The film, called Going Places: The Story of Sunderland Transport, was first created for Sunderland Corporation's Transport Department.

Seaburn, Brian Clough and more

It documents the last days of the Sunderland tramway system in 1954 in favour of motorbuses.

The North East Film Archive library has a vast collection.

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

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 at https://yfanefa.vhx.tv/

For February, the rental price for NEFA footage has been reduced to £1.99 for 7 days.

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.