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Newlands Carnival

This is a marvellous film from between the wars of children from an orphanage in Hull having a great time playing various eccentric games, such as racing wearing buckets as shoes.

Non-Fiction 1928 12 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for Yorkshire Film Archive

Overview

Life might not have been much fun as an orphan in the 1930s, but these children at the Sailors' Children's Society home in Hull show they knew how to enjoy themselves at their annual carnival. They think up some highly imaginative competitions to go with the conventional ones, while boys in sailor’s uniform, and girls in domestic uniforms, display their gymnastic skills. There is also the Duke of York at Hull University, and film of the famous Cobham’s Air Circus visit to Hull.

We aren’t sure of the year of this carnival, although we have dates for the Duke and Duchess of York laying the foundation stone of University College Hull, 28 April 1928, and for Cobham’s Air display, 6 Oct. 1932 (part of a non-stop tour). The Sailors' Children's Society has its origins back in 1821, having several name changes – in the 1930s it was the Port of Hull Society. It has made several fund raising films. It acquired the Newlands Estate on Cottingham Road in the 1893 and built 12 homes, as seen here, which by 1930 had 250 children from across the country. The fund raising annual carnivals became one of the biggest annual public events in Hull, before the Newlands orphanage closed in 2004 and later sold off.