REG LAMB

Series

Series Name

Mining Review 12th Year

Issue

Issue No.

6

Date Released

Feb 1959

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1NOTTINGHAMSHIRE - MINERS OFFERING
2. 2FRESH GROUND
3. 3REG LAMB

Story

Story No. within this Issue

3 / 3

Summary

BFI synopsis: the life of a miner in Bolsover paralysed below the waist after an accident.
NCB Commentary - This car is being driven by a man who has lost the use of his legs. The clutch, gear lever and accelerator are attached to the steering wheel. The modifications cost £85 but to Reg Lamb, the driver, it as well worth while. One hand must always be on the steering wheel-accelerator, but an automatic dispenser solves the cigarett problem.
In April, 1955 while Reg was on a training face at his colliery, a fall of timber broke his back. When he came out of hospital, he had to build a new life in a new and very different world. Six years before, in Joe’s Cafe in Bolsover, Reg had met his wife Mavis. Back home at Bolsover, she comes quickly to his aid, for Reg’s happy home life has been the most important factor in his recovery.
In hospital, he often wondered whether Mavis would change her feelings. She soon dispelled his fears.
His two sons, Kenneth (5) and Malcolm, a year younger, are always ready to laugh, particularly when daddy tries on one of the lamp shades which he has made. They find a ready sale in the neighbourhood.
Special attachments help Reg to take his bath. Devices like this, the car and the cigarette lighter, make the burden of disablement easier to bear.
Outside in his workshop, Reg starts on a new lamp. His father, who lives next door, calls by to lend a helping hand.
This new world of Reg Lamb’s has many pleasures, not the least of them being a visit to the White Swan in Bolsover.
Inside there’s always a welcome from Joe Chadwick the landlord, and Reg’s particular mates, Harry Johnson, Charlie Glover and Fred Pollard, all mining men.
Harry, too, is recovering from a minor accident, but it’s always a happy party at the Swan.
And so, with the aid of expert Mines Rescue, patient surgery and after-cars, plus a happy family life, Reg Lamb has readjusted himself to the world. It’s a life, which although physically confined, holds no real boundaries for Reg and Mary Lamb.

Keywords

Mining; Accidents and disasters; Disabled persons

Locations

Derbyshire; England; Bolsover

Written sources

British Film Institute Databases   Used for synopsis
The National Archives COAL 32   /12 Scripts for Mining Review, 1956-1960

Credits:

Production Co.

Documentary Technicians Alliance

Sponsor

National Coal Board