Description:Fancy dress parade during Festival of Britain celebrations, held at Beatty Hall, Yarnfield. On the left at the front, wearing the Festival of Britain '1951' costume is Michael Luetchford. Next to him is Ann Howard. At the back, with a dachshund on a lead is Valerie Henshaw.
Duncan Hall, Beatty Hall and Howard Hall (all named after Royal Navy Admirals) were built in 1938 for munitions workers relocated from Woolwich Arsenal to work at the Royal Ordnance factory at Swynnerton. However, they were not occupied by munitions workers, and instead were occupied by the United States Air Force during the Second World War.
The General Post Office took over the buildings after the war, and the G.P.O. Engineering Department Central Training School opened in Yarnfield in 1946. In 1984 G.P.O. telephones became British Telecom. Since 2002 it has been under the management of Accenture, an American company supplying training and human resources services to B.T.