These photographs were taken by the CHAD photographer/s as a selection of the events taking place during the day.
The events start with the parade and include various shows, displays, and some of the officials who attended.
Can any of the people be identified and named?
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My mum says her uncle Alf was the driver of the train. Alfred Spencer. She recognised him on the left of that photo.
He drove the underground train at the Crown Farm pit.
Don’t have any photos of any other trains.
Perhaps his daughter Christine might have some. We’ll ask.
On the first photograph and a few photos later is my grandfather, Len Clarke. He was the president of the NUM. in 1977 he received an OBE for his services to mining. I wasn’t born until 1970 but I remember the Berry Hill gala very well as I got older. Great photos.
Hi, I am trying to locate any pictures of or information about the steam loco that ran in Berry Hill Park in the 1950/60s. The CHAD 16674 photo shows the trucks but not the loco. I can recall that it was stored in a kind of Nissan hut built over the track.
Can anyone help please?
My dad had an accident in Bentinck pit in 1963, and I remember as a little girl attending the gala but in the balloon tent where the ex miners in wheelchairs would sit around huge long tanks of gas, blow up and sell balloons for a balloon race ….
I cringe at the additional environmental damage .
I was on the local TV news, standing beside Harold Wilson when he visited Berry Hill Gala on year. I’d love to be able to track down that clip. Great memories.
I recall the shows in the Bandstand. In particular one year there was a marquee in front of the stage to provide cover for the seating laid out on the concrete apron. The group playing were (perhaps) Shadows-inspired, and their repertoire included that old standard “Walking the Dog” – including whistle by the lead singer. I sometimes wonder if this may have been Shane Fenton & the Fentones.
Picture 16676 man on right is Albert Martin Secratery of the N.U.M. He is also in the first picture on far left.
Thanks folks. Does anyone have any memories of the great shows they held in the bandstand (now looking derelict) back in the 60’s, and maybe someone recalls my family – William Hardy – Potato Merchant???
I seem to rember one year that Gracie Fields sang on a Stage at one of the Rallys
The youngish, tall man in the dark suit (in the centre of the first photo and on the right in the last photo) is Richard Marsh. He was Minister of Power 1966-68.
Does anyone know what years these were in Berryhill Park? We attended most years and remember dancing in the Bandstand with my mum. I might have been there. Just a few years before we moved to the ‘Yeoman Estate’, Lansdowne Avenue and Dorchester Drive.
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