This University of Durham School of Education documentary film is a compilation showing the construction of the Burnhope Pipeline Scheme for the Sunderland & South Shields Water Company, started in 1947, sand and gravel extraction near Wolsingham, and limestone quarrying near Eastgate, Weardale. Title: The Burnhope-Sunderland Pipe-Line The film opens showing a bathroom sink. A hand turns on a tap. The hands pick up a bar of soap and washes the dirt off. A nail brush is deployed, the...

This University of Durham School of Education documentary film is a compilation showing the construction of the Burnhope Pipeline Scheme for the Sunderland & South Shields Water Company, started in 1947, sand and gravel extraction near Wolsingham, and limestone quarrying near Eastgate, Weardale. Title: The Burnhope-Sunderland Pipe-Line The film opens showing a bathroom sink. A hand turns on a tap. The hands pick up a bar of soap and washes the dirt off. A nail brush is deployed, the hands are rinsed and dried with a towel. General view of a lake or reservoir in an area of moorland. A dam holds back the water. A closer view shows the tops of the dam with its sloping sides and a small castellated building at one end. A view of a hillside is next, with sections of pipeline laid end to end waiting to be placed in the ground. In the distance an excavator digs a trench for the pipework. A closer view shows the excavator, belonging to Monk and Co. is manufactured by Smith Rodley. A number of workmen watch its progress. A change of view and some men are already working in the trench the excavator has dug. On the side of the excavator a notice reads A. Monk & Co. Ltd, Civil Engineering Contractors, Warrington’ A man in the trench holds a vertical piece of wood with a cross piece at the top painted with alternate sections of black and white. Another man checks a similar post he has in front of him on top of the trench. They may be checking levels or contours. A close-up follows as the man on top of the trench gives a thumbs up sign. A close up shows the man’s hand holding up four fingers, and then one finger to the other man in the trench. The workman in the trench holds the post steady, and the man on the surface gives a double thumbs up sign. Men working on the pipe in the trench make the joints secure. Another group of workers roll a section of pipe towards the trench. They then use a hand cranked hoist to lower the section into the trench. A workman lying in the open end of the last trench section waits for the new section to be laid. At the top of one completed joint a workman pours in hot pitch or tar to seal it. The hole is in a metal jacket that surrounds the pipe and is used to form a mould of white plaster or cement around the pipe into which the tar has been poured. The metal jacket is removed leaving the white moulded plaster or cement in place. A worker appears from the open end of this new section. Title: Wolsingham – Sand and Gravel From The Wear. An excavator and dumper truck work amongst rocks alongside the river. The excavator deposits rocks in the dumper. A closer view follows of the excavator at work as a lorry reverses to receive a new load of rocks. Fully laden, the lorry drives away. A change of scene as the lorry reverses to deposit its load on what appears to be the upper floor of an industrial shed. It then drives off. A man sits alongside a conveyor belt as the rocks and pebbles travel along it. Water pours out of a square pipe into a hopper. Next to it, the rocks continue their upward travel along the conveyor belt. Small troughs attached to a wheel lift water and gravel or sand and deposit it onto a pile. Another view follows of rocks travelling up the conveyor belt. A view from a distance show trucks parking underneath the machinery to receive loads of gravel or sand. One of them has the name ‘Redmires’ Sand and Gravel displayed on it. A closer view shows one of the trucks receiving its load. On the cab door is the full name of the company, ‘Redmires Sand & Ganister Co. Wolsingham Co. Durham, Phone Wolsingham 247’. The lorry moves off with its full load. A queue of lorries are picking up loads from the gravel plant. The fully laden lorries cross the bridge over the river near the plant. Title: Limestone Quarrying Near Eastgate The film cuts to a rock face next to a rough road. A man stands on a shelf of rock waiting for his colleague who’s been working further up the rock face. The two leave the vicinity of the rock face. A closer view follows of men working on the rock face, using long crowbars to loosen sections of rock. Title: Drilling Before Blasting The Limestone From a distance a different view of the rock face with an excavator and dumper truck nearby. On the top of the cliff above the quarry a special machine moves into position guided by two workmen in front of it. The machine starts drilling. Close-up views show the machinery at work. Title: After the Blast The excavator loads the rocks into the dumper truck. The dumper truck deposits the load onto a chute at the top of a hill to a crusher at bottom. In the distance a series of travelling tubs suspended from pylons take crushed rock away. The dumper reverses to go and pick up another load. A closer view shows the dumper truck approach the chute and deposit its load. Title: The Limestone Crusher The small tubs which travel across the river valley are loaded at this point. A workman loads one of the tubs, using a lever which releases the limestone from above into the tub. He pushes it along, and then loads another and pushes it to the point where, suspended from cables, the tubs are transported across the valley. Title: Tubs Take Crushed Limestone To Railway Two tubs pass each other on the overhead cable system, as they go across the river to the railway halt where a steam goods train takes the crushed limestone away in large trucks. The tubs make the return journey to the crushing plant while others make their way to the rail halt. Another view from the trackside shows a railway truck reciving the overhead tubs. Men empty the tubs down a chute above the railway truck. A closer view shows the men at work on the gantry above the truck. At the gantry platform men are manoeuvring the tubs to be emptied. Title: The End A brief view of a large rowing boat on a lake follows. [unconnected with main content of the film]