Welcome to the Queen (1956) | BFI National Archive

This deliriously beautiful colour documentary was made to commemorate a royal visit to Teesside in 1956, when thousands of folk from towns and villages along the river - from Teesport to Stockton-on-Tees - turned out to greet the Queen. There’s precious little archive film of Stockton, so these gorgeous, glowing Kodachrome scenes of the town decked out in Union flags are all the more irresistible. The film was shot by the Billingham Film Unit (chemical giant ICI’s in-house filmmaking section), and is a great example of the many local documentaries they produced, alongside more traditional ’industrial process’ and training films, which capture the unfolding delights and dramas of life on Teesside. This video is part of the Orphan Works collection. When the rights-holder for a film cannot be found, that film is classified as an Orphan Work. Find out more about Orphan Works: This is in line with the EU Orphan Works Directive of 2012. The results of our search for the r