Prime Minister Edward Heath becomes the first recipient of the Freedom of the Borough of Bexley

Dignitaries look on as Prime Minister Edward Heath accepts the casket and scroll from the Mayor of Bexley to become the first Freeman of the Borough. 'Ted' Heath, who was elected to parliament in 1950 as MP for Bexley, was one year into his Prime Ministership at the time this film was shot. The ceremony took place at the Sidcup and Chislehurst Grammar School on Friday 30th April 1971.

Just days after the ceremony, four home-made bombs thought to be planted by the Angry Brigade were found nearby the school. The Brigade was a left-wing revolutionary group in the late 1960s and early 1970s who took direct action to demonstrate against various government policies at home and abroad including Britain's entrance into the European Economic Community which was overseen by Heath. They were responsible for a series of bomb attacks in England between 1970 and 1972 and sent a number of communiques to the press threatening Heath and other officials. . This film is from the collection of Bexley Local Studies and Archives, a member of the London's Screen Archives Network.