Newsreel 1971

There's stardust in the air in Harrow and not all is at it seems at a house fire in Northwood – watch to find out why.

Celebrity appearances lend a touch of stardust to this amateur newsreel that also features the introduction of a one-way system at Rayners Lane, Morris dancing and Remembrance Sunday. A favourite of his day, Coco the Clown teaches children at the Boys County School in Harrow about road safety; a celebrity golf match attracts two thousand spectators; and a house fire in Northwood is not all that it seems.

Once the star of Bertram Mills Circus and the subject of Eaamon Andrews' This Is Your Life, Latvian Nicholai Polakovs was made an OBE in 1963 for his road safety work. Celebrities seen in the golf match include acting luminary Erik Sykes, musicians Georgie Fame and Victor Sylvester, cricketers Sir Len Hutton, Colin Cowdrey, Ken Barrington, Fred Titmus and Ted Dexter, and Chelsea footballer Eddie McCreadie. Local actors Stephanie Rewell and Christopher Drake, members of the Proscenium Players theatre group, are seen filming scenes for Lord Byron Returns for the Great London Festival in 1972. This film is from the collection of Harrow Local History Library, a member of the London's Screen Archives Network.