STOW IT

Series

Series Name
Mining Review 6th Year

Issue

Issue No.
10
Date Released
Jun 1953
Stories in this Issue:
  1. 1COAL WELL USED
  2. 2STOW IT
  3. 3YORKSHIRE EXPRESS
  4. 4WASP’S NEST

Story

Story No. within this Issue
2 / 4
Summary
BFI synopsis: the work of the stowers at Gelsding Colliery, Nottingham. They replace the coal taken out with waste-packing and tidy up the coal face.
NCB Commentary - At Gedling Colliery, Nottingham, they work the usual three shifts every 24 hours. When Mining Review went underground to the Low Easel seam the coal-getting shift had given way to the stowers.
Their job is to replace the coal taken out with waste packing, and tidy up the face. Two 50 horse-power electric motors start up, and this new mechanical packer, the Thompson slusher-bucket, is off on its journey through the seam, pushing, scooping, ramming and packing the waste tighter and tighter.
To keep the pit running smoothly, all this stowing has got to be finished before the next coal-getting shift comes on, and that’s where mechanisation helps.
But more and more machinery doesn’t always mean more and more safety, and working under an unsupported roof can be dangerous. So a new safety canopy to protect the men was invented and successfully combined with the slusher-bucket by Mr. Round, who used to be manager at Gedling. The arch slides forward as the ripping advances and the men are always under cover.
Mr. Round’s inventiveness has brought his promotion to sub-area manager; to Gedling’s mineworkers it has brought increased efficiency under safer conditions.
Researcher Comments
BFI sources suggest that this story was filmed from the 3rd to the 5th March 1953. Commentary 4 May 1953.
Keywords
Mining; Engineering
Locations
England; Nottingham
Written sources
British Film Institute Databases   Used for Synopsis
Film User   Vol.8 No.87 January 1954, p32.
The National Archives COAL 32   /3 Scripts for Mining Review, 1949-1956
Credits:
Director
Basil Somner
Production Co.
Documentary Technicians Alliance
Camera
Donald Long
Sponsor
National Coal Board
Camera
Ronald Bicker

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