South Shields Silver Jubilee Celebrations

One big happy family on the streets of South Shields for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee visit.

Queen Elizabeth II sails into Tyneside for a Silver Jubilee visit. The patriotic school kids of Monkton Junior School, South Shields, don their best Union Jack hats and wave their flags as the royal couple drive by in a flash (although a totter’s pony and trap is first on the scene). The trestle tables groan with cake and sandwiches at a street party in full swing on Wharton Street. There’s some dodgy disco dancing to end the celebrations … and not a punk in sight.

Ken Wright, the caretaker of Monkton Junior School and an enthusiastic amateur cameraman, was on hand to record on Super 8 film the anticipation and excitement of local celebrations in this coastal town at the mouth of the Tyne.