News on Screen

Series

Series Name

Mining Review 7th Year

Issue

Issue No.

3

Date Released

Nov 1953

Stories in this Issue:

• 1. Nystagmus: 1. The Conquest of a disease
• 2. BOWHILL UNDERGROUND
• 3. OFF SHORE

Story

Story No. within this Issue

2 / 3

Summary

BFI synopsis: double drum haulage and mechanized pit bottom at Bowhill, Fife.
NCB Commentary - At Bowhill Colliery in Fife, they wind coal at the double. New plant installed above and below ground is handling more coal with less men.
Here’s the heart of the underground transport system, the motor room of the 400 horsepower double-drum haulage. From his control desk, Chick Mason draws up 20 tons of coal a time in 6 mine cars along the steep mile-long road leading from the faces.
He declutches one drum and lowers his race of full cars, as it’s called, towards pit bottom, down this curving road. At the bottom waits John Howie, with a one-bell signal to stop. Howie takes the heavy rope connector from the full cars and couples onto a waiting set of empties. Three bells to Chick and the race is away - and it really races. Apart from Chick and John, only one other man is needed to work the system. We’ll meet him in a minute.
Meanwhile John Howie uncouples the first two full cars. He controls the ram that moves them forward one at a time and then stops the following loads. A full car rolls off and takes a rife uphill on a creeper conveyor. Now we’re at the shaft. The car rolls off the creeper, which stops automatically, and settles on a moving platform. The car itself works the switch that shifts this platform over the face of one of the cages. A ram pushes it into the cage once the gates are open, and the coal’s on its way to the surface. Simple, isn’t it, and everything’s interlocked so that each move follows in its turn. The ram, as we’ll see, is worked from the other side of the shaft.
On the far side of the shaft an empty car from the surface is pushed out as a full one goes in. The empty is picked up on another moving platform driven this time by George Scarlett. George works the rams and the signals as well. The empty is moved across, the front of the platform tips as it reaches this roller in its path, and off sails the empty can back towards where John Howie will be waiting for it.
John will couple up the empties and by the time he’s got six together there’ll be another full train speeding down the hill. There go the empties, over the points and ready to set out for more coal.
In another issue, we’ll take a look at the way Bowhill has been streamlined on top.

Researcher Comments

According to bfi records, this colliery was filmed again for Mining Review 7th year Issue Number 8 and these two stories combined were turned into a longer stand-alone NCB film. Commentary recorded 5 October 1953.

Keywords

Mining; Engineering

Locations

Scotland; Fife

Written sources

British Film Institute Databases   Used for Synopsis
Film User   Vol.8 No.89 March 1954, p138.
The National Archives COAL 32   /3 Scripts for Mining Review, 1949-1956

Credits:

Support services

C. F. M. Coton

Production Co.

Documentary Technicians Alliance

Support services

Francis Gysin

Camera

Kenneth Reeves

Sponsor

National Coal Board

Camera

Wolfgang Suschitzky