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
Be the first to comment