Metadata
WORK ID: NEFA 8844 (Master Record)
| Title | Year | Date |
| ABOUT BRITAIN: NEW LIFE IN OLD VEINS | 1974 | 1974-01-01 |
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Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Colour Sound: Sound Duration: 24 mins 42 secs Credits: Production Company: Tyne Tees Television Narrator: Pat Doody Research & Script: Bob Farnworth Camera: Fred Thomas; Dave Dixon Sound: Ray Hole; John Overton Film Editor: Bill Oxenham Executive Producer: Leslie Barrett Director: Jeremy Lack Genre: TV Documentary Subject: Working Life Industry |
| Summary This is an edition of the About Britain series produced by Tyne Tees Television and first broadcast on 9 April 1974. In the old lead mines of Weardale, Durham miners are now looking for fluorspar that is used in the steel and aluminium industries. The film features footage of mining underground at Blackdene Mine and of the fluorspar grotto model of a mine created by a miner. |
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Description
This is an edition of the About Britain series produced by Tyne Tees Television and first broadcast on 9 April 1974. In the old lead mines of Weardale, Durham miners are now looking for fluorspar that is used in the steel and aluminium industries. The film features footage of mining underground at Blackdene Mine and of the fluorspar grotto model of a mine created by a miner.
The documentary opens with a general view of the moors and valleys of Weardale. The river Wear runs through the...
This is an edition of the About Britain series produced by Tyne Tees Television and first broadcast on 9 April 1974. In the old lead mines of Weardale, Durham miners are now looking for fluorspar that is used in the steel and aluminium industries. The film features footage of mining underground at Blackdene Mine and of the fluorspar grotto model of a mine created by a miner.
The documentary opens with a general view of the moors and valleys of Weardale. The river Wear runs through the valley. General view of picturesque ruins of old lead mines.
Shot of miner’s cottage.
General view of tractor in field.
General view of terraced cottages. A woman unpegs washing from the outside line.
Miners climb onto small scale railway with tubs heading into the entrance of the mine tunnel.
Various shots traveling through the underground tunnels, water on the floor. The miners trudge through several feet of water along tunnels to arrive at their work.
Various shots of miners working, emptying tubs and using a loader. The commentary describes the mining process.
The scene changes to the Weardale landscape blanketed in snow in winter. A farmer feeds sheep. In voice over, he describes how his relatives and friends worked down the mines. He explains about the sheep breed needed to adapt to fields above lead mines.
General view of the landscape above the mine shafts, with a road sign for Lanehead and Allston.
Shot of entrance to Blackdene Mine. The commentary describes the method of mining at Blackdene.
Various shots of the tubs on rail track loaded with rock, and tipped by the miners.
Close-up of fluorite rock crystals.
Shot tilts down from top to base of a fluorspar grotto model of a mine created by a miner. The grotto stands in the home of Doreen Egglestone near Blackdene.
Interview with Doreen Egglestone. She talks about the visitors at her farm who come to see the grotto, made by her grandfather.
General view of St John’s Chapel village.
General view of the cement works on Weardale, possible the Blue Circle Cement works at Eastgate.
General view of caravan sites for tourists.
Groups of teenagers walk down a village road.
General view of a village in Weardale, with heavy trucks on the road.
Title: End of Part One
Title: Part Two
General view of the engine house of an old mine.
A horse pulls tubs of fluorspar from the Blackdene Mine tunnel – the last summer for this old mining method.
Shots of miners working above and below ground at the mine.
Interview to camera with a miner who describes traditional mining of past.
General view of Killhope under snow. The entrance to mine is bricked up. Various mine head works are pictured, with commentary describing their role in lead mining.
Various shots of the mining work above ground, separating lead from spar.
A dumper truck shifts fluorspar at Blackdene Mine.
The commentary describes how the old mines are being re-opened now, in the 1970s.
Shot of tractor off-loading hay for cows in snow. The commentary states that agriculture is being eclipsed by jobs in mining, which pay better.
A man riding with tubs emerges from a mine tunnel.
A welder works on a new mine entrance.
General view of development work at the surface of a mine. Interview with Malcolm Brown.
Shot of mine entrance.
General shot of miners working underground.
Malcolm Brown in voice over and to camera, describes the camaraderie of miners. General view of miners working underground.
Credits:
Narrator: Pat Doody
Research & Script: Bob Farnworth
Camera: Fred Thomas; Dave Dixon
Sound: Ray Hole; John Overton
Film Editor: Bill Oxenham
Executive Producer: Leslie Barrett
Director: Jeremy Lack
Tyne Tees Television 1974
Context
‘About Britain: New Life in Old Veins’, created in 1974, by Tyne Tees Television provides an insight into the development of industries in Weardale. Multiple industries during the film are highlighted such as farming and tourism, but there is a primary focus on the mining industry, which was one of the most important sectors that was worked through the generations and surrounded everyday life in the Northeast. The Television company that launched in January of 1959, concentrated on news,...
‘About Britain: New Life in Old Veins’, created in 1974, by Tyne Tees Television provides an insight into the development of industries in Weardale. Multiple industries during the film are highlighted such as farming and tourism, but there is a primary focus on the mining industry, which was one of the most important sectors that was worked through the generations and surrounded everyday life in the Northeast. The Television company that launched in January of 1959, concentrated on news, sport, and documentaries from the local area providing a boost in national identity as local people could now hear local accents. Like the About Britain series, Tyne Tees Television also produced and aired other programmes such as Northern Life and Northern Scene, which were some of the news programmes that the company created to report on the current affairs in the region.
During the 1970s, mining had a sense cultural identity amongst many in the Northeast of England as the industry provided employment opportunities due to the number of mines in the area. In part one of the film, created in 1974, there is a focus on the Blackdene Mine, which a year prior to the film’s creation, in 1973, began the search for fluorspar in the unmined portions of the Slitt Vein. Prior to this, fluorspar was discarded as waste but by 1974, the mineral grew a wealth of £50 per tonne- providing a new purpose for mining which then created prosperity and more employment in the Dales. However, the 1970s is also characterised by the transition away from mining as more industries began to develop in the area such as the new Blue Circle Cement Works and the construction of the Metro Rapid Transport System leading to the neglection in investment for mining. Mining during this period is also known for its discontent amongst workers. In 1972, there was the miners’ strike across the nation in demand for better pay and the same demands were made again in 1974 after only receiving a 21% pay increase in 1973. As part of a Television series, this film was used as a documentary by Tyne Tees Television. The purpose of a documentary is to educate and inform those watching at home. As the television company was heavily focused on reporting locally, the documentary was a way of broadcasting the development in mining and the positive outcome that it had created. As mining was instilled in the identity of the Northeast, the informative documentary provides an uplifting narrative to benefits the industry had at the time. ‘About Britain: New Life in Old Veins’, highlights the changes in mining and the impact it has on communities during the early 1970s. The uses of new techniques regarding the technological development of machinery in the mines such as the railway, phone and bell systems and the mining of fluorspar were pivotal changes in the industry. Fluorspar is significant in this film as it provided Weardale with a new sense of affluence and a ‘revival of fortune’ that also increased tourism through caravan sites and holiday homes. At the time with many mines not only in the region but across the nation being closed, the film is important in showing that the mines were still economically beneficial and through the small interviews with the miners, it highlights how important the mines were to the communities involved also. Throughout the documentary, there is an overall sense of pride and positivity in an old tradition that, by 1974, had been revived and has provided prosperity to the people of the Northeast. Bibliography "ITV Tyne Tees - Wikipedia". En.Wikipedia.Org, 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV_Tyne_Tees#cite_ref-hot_11-0. "Blackdene Mixed Mine Information And Photos". Aditnow.Co.Uk, 2021, https://www.aditnow.co.uk/Mines/Blackdene-Mixed-Mine_3088/. Wilson, Wendell E., and Thomas P. Moore. "The Weardale mines." The Mineralogical Record, vol. 41, no. 1, Jan.-Feb. 2010, pp. S71+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A219077120/AONE?u=urjy&sid=googleScholar&xid=4b5fc925. Accessed 22 Nov. 2021. Owens, Chris. "The 1974 Three Day Week & Electricity Rationing | The Blackout Report". The Blackout Report, 2021, https://www.theblackoutreport.co.uk/2021/01/06/three-day-week-1974/. |
