The National Garden Festival Stoke-on-Trent 1986 — Historical Film DVD

The Story of the UK's First National Garden Festival — On Film

This documentary records one of Stoke-on-Trent's greatest achievements: the five-year project that transformed the derelict Shelton Bar steelworks site in Etruria into the UK's first National Garden Festival in 1986 — and ultimately into what is now Festival Park.

Produced by Ray Johnson and the Staffordshire Film Archive, the film covers all three phases of the project in full:

• The historical phase — the closure of Shelton Bar steelworks and the scale of the reclamation challenge
• The reclamation and planning phase — the massive engineering works required to prepare the site
• The Festival itself — including the official opening by HM The Queen, a guided tour of all areas and features, and footage of visitors enjoying the events

Featuring interviews with the people who made the Festival happen, the film closes with the next chapter: the development of the site into the leisure, shopping, and business destination now known as Festival Park.

An essential piece of Potteries history on film — and a wonderful memento for anyone who attended the Festival or has a connection to Etruria and Stoke-on-Trent.

Production Details

• Produced by: Ray Johnson & Staffordshire Film Archive
• Year: 1986
• Format: DVD

You May Also Like

• Etruria: Jaspers, Joists and Jillivers by Joan Morley — the complete 256-page history of Etruria from Wedgwood to Festival Park
• From Inferno to Flowers: The Festival Site Through 200 Years — a rare 1986 commemorative pamphlet tracing the history of the Shelton Bar / Etruria site