British Universities Film & Video Council

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Last Shift

Synopsis
Adamsez, the bathroom-ware manufacturers, went out of business in 1975. One of the casualties of the closure was a small self-contained operation housed in an ancient collection of buildings in Swalwell-on-Tyne, which was devoted to the manufacture of hand-made bricks. Here a handful of men produced high quality refractory bricks, via a process which seemed to have been untouched by the industrial revolution.

This film, as well as describing the unique working methods, including the use of a horse to transport clay through the factory, also raises questions about the forced redundancy of people for whom the future holds little promise in terms of work. It opens with a group of workers considering the fate of "Darky" the horse, which sadly echoes their own predicament.
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Year of release
1977
Year of production
1976
Subjects
Archaeology; Civil Engineering & Building; Sociology
Keywords
bricks; industrial archaeology; North-eastern England; redundancy

Online availability

URI
http://jiscmediahub.ac.uk/
Price
academic subscription
Delivery
Download

Distribution Formats

Type
Film
Format
16mm
Availability
Hire

Production Company

Name

Amber Films

Web
http://www.amber-online.com External site opens in new window
Phone
0191 232 2000
Fax
0191 232 3217
Address
5 Side
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 3JE

Distributor

Name

JISC MediaHub

Notes
NB. As of 1 September 2016, the Jisc MediaHub subscription service is no longer available. However, all the multimedia content that Jisc has licensed for use by higher and further education institutions, which is currently accessed via the MediaHub subscription, is available through a new service, MediaPlus, at http://mediaplus.alexanderstreet.com.

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