Washington goes back to the 60s as residents celebrate New Town's 60th birthday bash
Washington has been holding a birthday party for residents to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the New Town in 1964.
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00:00The world's growing, ain't you got no rhymes for me, doodoo doodoo, feeling groovy, I've got no things to do, no promises to keep
00:17Okay then Meg, how long have you lived in Washington and how has it changed in that time?
00:21It's been 60 years and I've seen a lot of changes from it being mainly a pit village, where most of the industry was mining, a few farms
00:31and I've seen some vast changes, the shopping centres, the housing, the villages
00:38And so were you here in Washington before the new town was opened?
00:41Yes I was
00:42And what's the best thing about living in Washington for you?
00:45Well I like the parks, I like the green open spaces, I think the village is absolutely beautiful and I've got to say the friendly people
00:55Is it important you recognise the 60th birthday?
00:57Yes, yes
00:59Why do you think it's important?
01:01Well I think to a lot of people it brings back a lot of memories of how the town has changed, what it was like beforehand, so yes I do think it's important
01:16Thank you
01:29Okay then Councillor Laws, can you tell me a bit about what's going to be taking place at the celebration today then please?
01:33Yes certainly, the event today is a free event for all of the family to come down and bring the picnics if they want to do so
01:42We've got marquees all around us, we've got a tent here where we've got sports, there's martial arts, there's boxing
01:50We've got a further tent here with a smaller stage on it with some local acts, exhibitions, the historical society, heritage partnership
01:58Talking about some of the history and heritage of Washington
02:01Obviously we've got the food and the drinks vans behind us
02:04And then we've got the main stage where we'll be having music act on from 12 until 9 o'clock this evening
02:12Where they'll be finishing up with Smoot and Turrell, the Revolutionaires and a headline act which is Martin Stevenson who's from Washington, Martin Stevenson and the Davies
02:21And Lady May, I understand you're going to be opening the event, how proud are you to be able to do that on it?
02:25I'm extremely proud to be part of the 60th celebrations, it's absolutely amazing for Washington
02:31And being part of the area itself, coming up so far from Town End Farm and seeing how far it's come to Washington
02:38Seeing the jobs that's coming up and being part of this year is absolutely amazing, absolutely amazing to be part of it
02:46Obviously the 60th birthday today from when the new town was created, how important is it that we recognise this milestone event?
02:52I think it's vitally important, I mean it is 60 years since Washington was designated as a new town on 24th July 1964
03:01I think it's also important to recognise that Washington itself has been here for a whole lot longer than that
03:06And so it's got a long and proud history and I think it's vitally important that we recognise that
03:13Exactly the same, we need to be recognising it, we need to be recognising the achievements that's happened in Washington
03:22Recognising the people of Washington as well and having days like this, it does make everybody come together and celebrate the day
03:30The sun's shining, it's quite early at the event at the moment, but pleased with what it looks like so far in terms of the turnout?
03:35Yeah delighted really, I mean we were looking at weather forecasts yesterday and weren't quite sure how it was going to go
03:41But so far the weather is holding up, it's looking good, turnout already looking really good
03:47And yeah we're hoping that as the day goes on we'll get more people down, more families down and lots of people enjoying the activities
04:09Okay then Dr Jude, I know you've been involved in a lot of the build up to today's event, just how important is it that we recognise the new town's 60th birthday?
04:16I think it's absolutely vital, I think it's something that we've got to remember is that obviously Washington Village and all the other villages are a lot older than 60 years
04:26But there was this moment in time where the government decided that it was really important to plan for people's futures, to give them better housing
04:34Better connected facilities, better infrastructure and that it was all going to happen as part of the new town movement
04:44And it was that moment on 24th July 1964 that they started this experiment in Washington to make that kind of thing happen
04:53And it's quite interesting that now that the new government are talking about new towns again, so it's quite exciting to be here celebrating this anniversary now
05:13Thank you