News on Screen

Series

Series Name

Mining Review 5th Year

Issue

Issue No.

3

Date Released

Nov 1951

Stories in this Issue:

• 1. CRUISING UP THE RIVER
• 2. EVERY NIGHT
• 3. CHAMPION AMATEUR
• 4. NEW BOYS

Story

Story No. within this Issue

4 / 4

Summary

BFI synopsis: residential training centre for future miners in Scotland - Dungavel House (Strathaven) and the training pit at Kames Colliery.
NCB Commentary - It’s an early morning call, for these lads are going places, and they’re in a hurry. They’re schoolboys with a difference, at Dungavel House in Scotland, once the home of the Duke of Hamilton.
Dungavel is now a residential training centre for young colliery employees. 120 boys of 15 to 17 1/2 stay there for 12 weeks at a time - and it’s no rest cure.
Classroom work takes up some of the time. Elementary mining, safety, maintenance and machinery are some of the things the boys study, as well as the more normal school curriculum. Wake up at the back there!
Nearby is Eames Colliery, a training pit where the boys are taken to get their first taste of work underground. Instructor William Bone sets them off on simple maintenance in the main roadway.
There’s a lot of PT as well, to toughen the boys for the hard work that lies ahead. The Dungavel way of making PT interesting is a Commando-style training course. This is strictly a case of survival of the fittest!
After their 12 weeks, the lads are posted to the pits where they’ll continue their training. They may think this is hard work, but there’s a long way to go before they reach the top of the ladder!

Researcher Comments

BFI sources suugest that this story was researched by Somner on the 4th September 1951. It was filmed in October 1951. Commentary recorded 8 October 1951.

Keywords

Education and training; Domestic life; Mining; Youth

Locations

Scotland; Strathaven; Kames Colliery

Written sources

British Film Institute Databases   Used for Synopsis
The National Archives COAL 32   /3 Scripts for Mining Review, 1949-1956

Credits:

Director

Basil Somner

Support services

Basil Somner

Production Co.

Documentary Technicians Alliance

Sponsor

National Coal Board