Festival Gallery

Gala Day JLP01_08_081384a

Laing Sports Ground, Rowley Lane, Elstree, Barnet, Greater London. A view of a fairground carousel and stalls, with crowds gathered on a sports pitch beyond, during a Gala Day held at the Laing Sports Ground at Elstree.
A Gala Day was held by Laing at the Laing Sports Ground on 14th June 1969, as a replacement of the annual Sports Day. Sports events were held by the Sports Club, which included hockey, tennis, bowls, and football tournaments. A traditional English fete programme featured coconut shies, bingo, pony rides, catering and a beer tent, candy floss, and roundabouts. The day ended with a beauty contest, prize draw, and the election of Miss Sports Club. In the evening there was a firework display and a gala dance which continued until midnight. This photograph and JLP01/08/081384 formed a panorama which was published in the August 1969 edition of Team Spirit, the Laing employee newsletter

© Historic England Archive

Sack race JLP01_08_081375

Laing Sports Ground, Rowley Lane, Elstree, Barnet, Greater London. Men competing in a sack race at a Gala Day held at the Laing Sports Ground at Elstree.
A Gala Day was held by Laing at the Laing Sports Ground on 14th June 1969, as a replacement of the annual Sports Day. Sports events were held by the Sports Club, which included hockey, tennis, bowls, and football tournaments. A traditional English fete programme featured coconut shies, bingo, pony rides, catering and a beer tent, candy floss, and roundabouts. The day ended with a beauty contest, prize draw, and the election of Miss Sports Club. In the evening there was a firework display and a gala dance which continued until midnight

© Historic England Archive

Country Pavilion OP35894

Festival of Britain, South Bank Exhibition, South Bank, Lambeth, Greater London. The interior of the Country Pavilion at the South Bank Exhibition of the Festival of Britain, showing a display of modern agricultural machinery.
The original caption reads: "Modern agricultural machinery in the Country Pavilion, South Bank Exhibition, Festival of Britain."
The pavilion was designed by Brian O'Rorke and the displays were designed by F H K Henrion. The displays highlighted the division between 'countrymen' and 'townsmen', yet also the collaboration between farmers, engineers and scientists in the mechanisation and intensification of agriculture. A guidebook for the Festival explained that "Farming is our heritage no less than coal and steel".

© Historic England Archive