Fete at the Dayholme Ward, Bethlem Royal Hospital, 1963
Standard 8mm film Colour Silent 1963 8:24
Summary: Fete and Children's Games at the Dayholme Ward of the Bethlem Royal Hospital
Title number: 1501
LSA ID: LSA/1995
Description: Opening shots show signs with arrows reading 'To Dayholme' (the Dayholme ward of the Bethlem Royal Hospital). Shot from the passenger seat, a car drives down a suburban road, then turns down a side alley and down a country lane, ending up in a field where people seem to be assembling. There is a large sign for a Car Park. A large poster shows a cartoonish pirate-style treasure map for 'Doonholme Island'. Children play games, including one that involves fishing coins from an inflatable pool. We see a large box full of eggs. A small boy plays a game that invloves throwing darts at a square board on the side of a shed. Indoors, and large buffet is laid out with bowls of soup and cakes and sandwiches. Children and old ladies sit around on armchairs eating, and drinking cups of tea. Many of the older women wear colourful floral dresses, hats, glasses and cardigans. The men present all wear suits. We briefly see a gift shop with cards and candles, then the exterior of the building, where bunting has been hung alongside flags (a French one is visible). A man sticks pins into the pirate map as children stand around on the veranda of the wooden building. Some young girls run down a path, and are then seen sitting round a basket stroking a black kitten which lies inside. Back inside, now in the early evening, more food is laid out. A woman notices that she iis being filmed and laughs, turning away from the camera. A man wearing a cravat shoves cake into his mouth. An older woman walks around the large, now-empty hall where empty tables are laid out. Potted flowers are lined up in a row. We see the building from the outside in the early evening light as women with handbags leave.
Keywords: Garden Party; Bethlem Royal Hospital; Dayholme; hospital; tea and cake
Locations: United Kingdom; England; London; Bromley; Bethlem Royal Hospital
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