Selling Runcorn By The Pound: 20. New Day: The Birth of Glenrothes

East of the M60’s 2021 Advent Calendar looks at the Fife New Town, originally built to accommodate miners

Glenrothes is one of Scotland’s first New Towns. Its original purpose was to give mineworkers at Rothes Colliery a better place to live. In this 1959 film, we see how the town fulfilled these aims.

Selling Runcorn By The Pound: 19. One Day in Irvine

East of the M60’s 2021 Advent Calendar looks at the North Ayrshire New Town as seen in a 1970s film

The largest town in North Ayrshire is noted for its maritime history. It was a one-time haunt of Robert Burns and Edgar Allan Poe spent his final year at the town’s grammar school. It is also the birthplace of Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who was a little nipper back when this film was made.

Selling Runcorn By The Pound: 18. I Bet We Couldn’t Eat Three!

East of the M60’s 2021 Advent Calendar looks at Welwyn Garden City, the home of Shredded Wheat

The first of Britain’s New Towns were built on the Garden City principles espoused by Ebenezer Howard. At the start of the 20th Century, the idea of Garden Cities was to give residents spacious parks and open spaces, whilst having the facilities of a medium-sized town the size of (say) Huddersfield.

Selling Runcorn By The Pound: 17. Something Cheap and Cheerful

East of the M60’s 2021 Advent Calendar looks at an advert for Fairhill Shopping Centre

Local adverts with the production values of a packet of Haribo Starmix is something we miss these days. At one time you used to have a static ten-second advert for a local car dealers or a newsagent’s shop. Instead of using their own voiceover artist, they would use the channel’s own continuity announcers. For example, an advertisement for Wood’s Music Shop in Huddersfield would have been voiced by Yorkshire Television’s John Crosse or Paul Lally. (Or if you’re lucky, Redvers Kyle).

Selling Runcorn By The Pound: 16. I Was Working as a Planner By a Cocktail Bar

East of the M60’s 2021 Advent Calendar looks at Coulthard Productions’ Sheffield: City on the Move

Cast your mind back to 1970. We had full employment; you could afford to go to university and get a grant towards materials and living costs; houses were more affordable and we had this strange thing you don’t see nowadays called Council Housing.

Selling Runcorn By The Pound: 15. Telly Savalas Looks at Aberdeen

East of the M60’s 2021 Advent Calendar goes to the granite city

If you liked the Telly Savalas Looks at Birmingham film, you will be amazed to find that the Kojak did a series of these films. They were known as Quota Quickies and shown at cinemas before the main feature.

Selling Runcorn By The Pound: 14. And That’s No Bull

East of the M60’s 2021 Advent Calendar gets the Birmingham blues

Since time immemorial, the Bull Ring has played an important part in the history of Birmingham. Whether you like the spiffy three-tiered shopping or remember the 1960s version (with Europe’s biggest F.W. Woolworth store at the time), it has been a meeting place for generations of Birmingham folk.

Selling Runcorn By The Pound: 13. Hemel Hempstead, a New Town From Old

East of the M60’s 2021 Advent Calendar looks at the sensitive development of a commuter town near London

Take a plummy voice in a Cholmondley-Warner sense, then drag some late 1940s style filmography into the early 1960s. If you can get past the slightly stilted for ’60s filmography standards, this fascinating film looks at the development of Hemel Hempstead.

Selling Runcorn By The Pound: 12. East Kilbride: Town of Tomorrow

East of the M60’s 2021 Advent Calendar looks at a 1950s film on a Scottish town known as Polo Mint City

It is nice to find that England doesn’t have the monopoly on extraneous roundabouts in its New Towns. Some locals have dubbed the place ‘Polo Mint City’ due to its wealth of roundabouts.

Selling Runcorn By The Pound: 11. Welsh Development Agency

East of the M60’s 2021 Advent Calendar looks at a 1990s ad for the joys of moving to Wales

Fed up with daily grind in London? Check. Fed up with commuting from Surbiton to London? Check. Wish to boost employment prospects in Cwmbran and Ebbw Vale? Check. Obligatory piece of music by Welsh recording act? Check.