Metadata
WORK ID: NEFA 17533 (Master Record)
Title | Year | Date |
MEN OF CONSETT | 1959 | 1959-01-01 |
Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Colour Sound: Sound Duration: 26 mins 55 secs Credits: Directed by: Tom Stobart Production Company: Interfilm Made in association with: Film Producers Guild Produced for: British Iron and Steel Industry Produced and introduced by: Geoffrey Sumner Associate Producer: G. Buckland-Smith Photographed by: Fred Gamage Editor: Sagovsky Sound Recording: Ron Abbott Dubbing editor: Michael Shah D'ayan Sound System: Westrex Recording System Genre: Documentary Subject: Working Life Transport Steel Rural Life Industry |
Summary An account of the life and work of the steel community at Consett Iron Company, County Durham. Filmmaker Tom Stobart presents this documentary on the history of the Consett area, the changes at Consett Iron Company since the Second World War, the importance of iron ore, the manufacture of steel and the working lives of the steelworkers. Footage inc ... |
Description
An account of the life and work of the steel community at Consett Iron Company, County Durham. Filmmaker Tom Stobart presents this documentary on the history of the Consett area, the changes at Consett Iron Company since the Second World War, the importance of iron ore, the manufacture of steel and the working lives of the steelworkers. Footage includes steelworkers talking about their working and social lives in the Smelters Arms public house before starting the night shift.
Title: Men of...
An account of the life and work of the steel community at Consett Iron Company, County Durham. Filmmaker Tom Stobart presents this documentary on the history of the Consett area, the changes at Consett Iron Company since the Second World War, the importance of iron ore, the manufacture of steel and the working lives of the steelworkers. Footage includes steelworkers talking about their working and social lives in the Smelters Arms public house before starting the night shift.
Title: Men of Consett
The film opens with a series of views of northern England that include moorland, Hadrian’s Wall, Bamburgh Castle, and Dunstanburgh Castle. Seagulls fly around cliffs. There are shots of the statue of St Aidan, views of the ruin of Lindisfarne Priory, seagulls in flight, and a stone cross. A view of Durham town, the cathedral and castle follow. From Durham Cathedral the camera pans down to the Old Fulling Mill and the River Wear.
There are landscape shots of a river, lake and fields. The camera pans from from a field of rosebay willow herb to a steaming coal heap by a coalmine in the background. A steam train crosses the Durham viaduct heading south, with terraced houses in the background.
Tom Stobart, the presenter, looks through binoculars. There is an iris view of the Consett Steel Works. Stobart, with a companion, walk along a country lane, probably to Carterway Heads. Tom walks with a stick and is limping. The scene changes to the exterior of the Stobart Arms public house. There is a close-up of the inn sign.The pub is closed so they continue their walk to the River Wear. A man is fly-fishing at the river. He is identified as Harry Raine from the Melting Shop and is introduced to Tom. The three men chat about what steelworkers like to do for recreation.
The scene cuts to the interior of the Stobart Arms. The landlord calls time. A group of five men stand at the bar finishing their beers. An older man, identified as Tommy drinks down his pint in one go. The presenter and customers leave. There is a sign for the inn and the glow from the blast furnaces is seen in the night sky.
There is a long shot of the steel works followed by a view from Derby Crescent, Moorside of the works. Men are going in to work on foot, two large cooling towers visible in the background. We see a sign for "Consett Iron Co. Ltd General Office & Steel Works". There is view of a blast furnace. Stobart is in the general manager's office looking at a print of the steel works in 1867 on the wall. The General Manager enters. Stobart comments that the works have changed a lot since the time of the prints. The manager replies that the works are always changing and growing. He explains why the numer of blast furnaces has been reduced from eight to three but still produce more steel. They take a seat and Stobart is offered a cigarette. The two men talk about the changes that have taken place at the works since Stobart was a small boy. Twenty million pounds have been spent on the expansion of the works since the end of the war and they are intending to spend thirty more. The manager is disturbed by a message on the intercom system asking him about a shipment of pig iron to Austria.
We are now outside where we can see three blast furnaces. Stobart is taken on a tour of the works.They stop as a steam train passes, transporting a large empty vat. We see Tommy, one of the men drinking from the previous scene, standing by a brick wall as the two pass by. Stobart is shown the first process - the production of iron. Three men prepare to tap the iron. One of the three men is introduced as Bob. Bob returns to the other two men and begins the tapping process. This is done by knocking a hole in the furnace using a drill. They are then shown poking the ore with long metal sticks. The oxygen lance is then inserted to burn out the tap hole. Sparks fly from the molten ore and the man holding the lance is wearing goggles and a leather apron. The iron is then shown being lead away by runners or sand channels. The iron is poured into large vats. The slag moves along the runner and led away into other large vats. There are various scenes of the process with many of the men silhouetted against the orange and yellows of the molten ore. The shots of the process are intercut with comments from and images of the presenter. Stobart washes up in a washroom and listens to the conversation of two managers about freight charges.
The next sequence features a series of industrial scenes along the River Tyne at Jarrow, North Shields and Tynemouth, showing the shipping (very crowded), unloading of cargo by cranes, shipbuilding and the river. Stobart is seen on the dockside next to the “Moisie Bay” cargo ship. An ore train, engine number 92063, pulls out from the docks after being loaded with iron ore for Consett, the presenter in the foreground of the picture. A ship is under construction at a shipyard. Stobart is seen looking at one of the ships. A steam train transporting ore pulls into the works at Consett, passing huge dumps of ore and coal.
There are night shots of the steel works, no blast furnace glow. Harry Raine (as seen before) leaves his house for the night shift. There is an exterior shot of The Smelters Arms public house at Castleside. Inside the pub the landlord is telling a joke to assembled drinkers including Stobart. Harry Raine enters the bar and they leave together for the night shift. There is an exterior shot of the Smelters Arms.
The next sequence is of the steel production. Stobart is introduced to the night shift and work inside the melting shop, with various shots of the presenter accompanied through the works, intercut with dramatic shots of the working processes. There are interior shots of the furnace,drilling holes into the old plug, iron led through runners and of molten iron poured into vats. The processes are described, including testing the steel. The molten steel runs free, and there are shots of rolling the steel.
Scenes of the presenter with other men in suits washing up after the heat and dirt of the steel works factory floor.
The film cuts to various scenes of an industrial River Tyne and docks. A ship is under construction. A steam ship sails under the Tyne Bridge. A large green crane is moving in a shipyard. There is a construction site consisting of a mass of steel girders. Next, there is a shot of a large satellite dish, radio telescope, in a field.
Stobart is asleep with his chin in his left hand. A train whistle blows and he wakes up. He is on a railway platform. There is a high angle shot of a train approaching a rural station, probably Rowley Station. The presenter talks to the engine driver and boards the train. The station master waves a flag and the steam train pulls away. A young boy chases the train down the platform, waving.
Credit: Produced for the British Iron and Steel Industry by Interfilm (in association with The Film Producers Guild).
Credit: Directed by Tom Stobart who appeared in the film and featuring the men of Consett whose contribution is gratefully acknowledged.
Credit: Photograph Fred Gamage
Credit: Editor Sagovsky
Credit: Dudding Editor Michael Shah Dayan
Credit: Sound Recording Ron Abbott
Credit: Associate Producer G. Buckland Smith
Credit: Produced and Introduced Geoffrey Sumner
Context
Men of Consett is a 1950s industrial documentary about the life and work of the steel community at Consett Iron Company, County Durham, produced by Interfilm, part of the Film Producers Guild (FPG) collective of documentary film companies in England, which evolved from the wartime role of Merton Park Studios in South Wimbledon, London. Formed in 1944, the Guild produced a variety of work that was largely sponsored by industry, government, charitable organisations and the like. Merton Park...
Men of Consett is a 1950s industrial documentary about the life and work of the steel community at Consett Iron Company, County Durham, produced by Interfilm, part of the Film Producers Guild (FPG) collective of documentary film companies in England, which evolved from the wartime role of Merton Park Studios in South Wimbledon, London. Formed in 1944, the Guild produced a variety of work that was largely sponsored by industry, government, charitable organisations and the like. Merton Park Studios was “Hollywood’s little brother” according to Guardian journalist David McKie, and made many better than average British B-movies to accompany main cinema features in the 1950s and 60s, with its prodigious output reaching a peak in the early 60s. Whilst other studios had closed during the war, Merton Park continued to roll by producing training and propaganda films for the Ministry of Information with a sideline in children’s film.
There’s no doubt Men of Consett is a curious documentary, its style “borderline lunacy” according to senior curator at the BFI, Patrick Russell. Its idiosyncratic mix of ‘travelogue, reportage, drama and industrial propaganda’ is presented and directed by zoologist, adventurer, cookery expert and professional cameraman, Tom Stobart (1914-1980), who had been shot by a guide and interpreter a few years earlier while filming in Ethiopia. Stobart is most celebrated as film-maker and co-director of the BBC-financed The Conquest of Everest, which tells the story of the successful British Everest expedition in 1953. The film credits list Sir Edmund Hillary (who reached the summit with Norkay Tensing) as ‘beekeeper’. An incurable romantic, Stobart led a team to find the mystical Yeti with the Daily Mail Himalayan Expedition the next year. The so-called Abominable Snowman proved elusive. When a young David Attenborough dreamed up a series of nature documentaries that came to be called Zoo Quest (1954 – 1963), he turned first to Tom Stobart as the expert in handling 16mm camera shoots on expeditions. Attenborough battled with the Head of Films at the BBC as all film that originated at the Corporation was then shot on 35mm film, considered a professional’s format. In his book Life on Air: Memoirs of a Broadcaster, the naturalist explains: ‘Most of the Corporation’s staff cameramen came from that industry or from newsreel companies. They would not dream of handling any other kind and certainly not 16mm. That was for amateurs. They referred to it derisively as ‘bootlace’.’ Men of Consett was produced with the backdrop of a steel industry that had undergone great change since the end of World War II. In 1951, the steel industry was nationalised by Clement Atlee’s Labour government. However, in 1953 this nationalisation was reversed by Winston Churchill’s Conservative government. This uncertainty is highlighted in the film, with a joke about nationalising beer. In this post-war era, steelmaking was planning a profitable future after years of great productivity during wartime. The Consett steelworks were privatised in 1955, four years after first being nationalised. The steel works would reach their peak productivity in the early 1960’s, with a new steel plate mill being opened in 1961 to supply the shipbuilding industry, something which Consett had become famous for. At this time around 6000 workers were employed by the steel industry. However, by 1967 the steelworks were re-nationalised under Harold Wilson’s Labour government at a time when steel works and shipbuilding were in steady decline across the country, and the Consett works became part of the British Steel Corporation (BSC). Consett was known as one of the world’s premier steel manufacturers, rivalling even the Sheffield steel industry. The town itself was also famous for its thick red dust, known locally as the ‘Red Menace’, an effect of the steel works’ chimneys belching clouds of iron oxide dust and smoke, which regularly covered the houses and the washing and clogged up the treads of tyres. ‘In the winter Consett even had red snow!’ The Consett steelworks have since been demolished, following the closure of the steel mill in 1980. This demolition led to mass unemployment in the town, and forced many to leave in search of work further afield, but regeneration projects have since diversified industry in the area. This has also led to Consett’s image changing to a more picturesque location for commuters to Newcastle and Durham to settle, with great views of the surrounding area and proximity to the River Wear. Also shown in the film is the River Tyne, as well as cargo being loaded and unloaded onto ships in North Shields. This highlights the industrial heritage of the north east further, as well as the geographical significance of the Derwent Valley steel industry. In the 17th and 18th century the valley was vital for producing steel as the iron ore could be shipped from Sweden to Newcastle before being moved to Consett where it was refined. This changed however with the invention of the Bessemer process in the 19th century as British iron ore could now be used to make steel, giving rise to Sheffield as a powerhouse in the steel industry. British iron ore had previously been too contaminated with phosphorous to allow it to be turned into steel. Sadly, the pub shown on the film, the Stobart Arms, is no longer open but the town does have a few pubs that reflect Consett’s steel making heritage. These pubs bear names like The Works and the Company. The Smelter’s Arms remains to remind folk of the roles of workers in the town’s vanished industry. References: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2004/sep/09/venicefilmfestival2004.features http://static.bafta.org/files/peter-morley-a-life-rewound-part-1-191.pdf https://www.northeastlifemag.co.uk/out-about/places/consett-county-durham-1-1633292 https://www.majorcadailybulletin.com/news/local/2003/05/29/7549/everest-cameraman-children-meet-the-queen-this-evening.html https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/bfi-news/steel-spectacle-revisionism |