VE Day Party at Colwick

With races and a Punch and Judy show for the children and tug of war and a 'drunks' race for the adults the VE party at Colwick is soon in full swing.

Film maker Charles Horrell worked for BP and shot this charming record of a country coming out of war amid the oil storage tanks of Colwick on the outskirts of Nottingham. The grass is mowed and preparations made at the Yacht Inn for the biggest party for years. The final caption: "And so the party went on far into the night" sums up the mood of July 1945.