News on Screen

Series

Series Name

Mining Review 11th Year

Issue

Issue No.

8

Date Released

Apr 1958

Stories in this Issue:

• 1. SHOTFIRER
• 2. MANSFIELD WOODHOUSE
• 3. NAILBREAKER
• 4. AIRBREAKER

Story

Story No. within this Issue

3 / 4

Summary

BFI synopsis: night shift deputy Harold Cope keeps fit by weight training
NCB Commentary - Night shift deputy Harold Cope has been 31 years in the pits.
At 45 he claims to be one of Britain’s fittest and strongest mine workers.
Home at Ripley, Harold is the energetic teacher of up to 18 students.
Weight lifting and weight training are sciences which he has followed ever since he was a boy of 14.
This is the stuff for those abdominal muscles, says Harold. Now Geoff Attenborough, surface worker at Mapley, moves in to demonstrate his prowess.
Clarence Stanton is a stripper at Low Main. He also strips in the Cope’s garden with 210 pounds on his shoulders. Stanton finds it gives him more stamina in his job.
Once again, Harold Cope comes in to demonstrate.
The class believe, with him, that weight training is a good thing for face-workers but they emphasise that weight lifting isn’t for throwing your weight around and you should never over-estimate your strength.
For indoor training, Harold has built his own gym at the bottom of the garden. Here he keeps more equipment and, with a 56 pound weight in each hand, shows how he can press upwards one ton inside 29 seconds, an unbeaten performance.
Daughter Mary, at 17, follows father’s example. She finds that weight training is a good aid to slimming.
Meet the rest of the family: son John is a bit young yet for weight lifting but he’s on hand to help father with one of his more spectacular tricks - breaking 6 inch nails. These are No. 2 nails and that means that they’re pretty thick.
Harold can break a nail in just under six seconds and his world record stands at 5 in just inside 58 seconds.
Mrs. Cope hands him the equipment for his next parlour trick. This is a half inch iron bar. He can break one in under a minute but we didn’t time him on this one.
Leaving home at night for the pit let’s hope that Harold has a restful shift to look forward to.

Researcher Comments

Commentary recorded 10th March 1958.

Keywords

Mining; Physical fitness and training

Written sources

British Film Institute Databases   Used for synopsis
Film User   Vol.13 No.147 January 1959, p27.
The National Archives COAL 32   /12 Scripts for Mining Review, 1956-1960

Credits:

Production Co.

Documentary Technicians Alliance

Sponsor

National Coal Board