Brighton Celebration Week Festivities

A memorable week of parades and pageantry to mark the creation of 'Greater Brighton', culminating in a visit from the Duke and Duchess of York.

This splendid newsreel documents the week-long festival accompanying the creation of 'Greater Brighton' in 1928. Brighton's boundary extension was proudly marked around the borough - we see school children 'beating the bounds' along the shoreline, an impressive Fire Brigade display and historical pageant in Preston Park, while Patcham is honoured by a visit from the Duke and Duchess of York.

Greater Brighton was officially created on 1 April 1928, when the county borough boundaries were extended to include Ovingdean and Rottingdean parishes and parts of Falmer, Patcham and West Blatchington. The festivities recorded here took place in May, and culminated with a visit from the Duke and Duchess of York (the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth), who laid the foundation stone for the new 'pylons', marking the northern boundary. The film seems to have been commissioned by two local cinemas and shot by Gaumont, one of Britain's leading newsreel companies.