British Universities Film & Video Council

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PIPING HEAT

Series

Series Name
Mining Review 15th Year

Issue

Issue No.
12
Date Released
Aug 1962
Stories in this Issue:
  1. 1PIPING HEAT
  2. 2WAY OF GENTLENESS
  3. 3IN SPITE OF THE WEATHER

Story

Story No. within this Issue
1 / 3
Summary
BFI synopsis: a new way of delivering coal to bulk users by means of a pipeline . A delivery is made to Clevedon Court stately home in Somerset
NCB Commentary - This is the way that bulk users often get their fuel delivered. It’s clumsy and a lot of hard, back-breaking work goes with it.
Now, the new way - by pipe-line. It is connected to a bulk tanker which literally blows the coal direct into the customer’s storage. Delivery like this is a job for white-coated workers. These are washed singles, that is, coal from half to one and a half inches, although larger sizes are possible. Experiments have proved that between seventeen and eighteen tons can be delivered in an hour.
These new bulk-flo lorries are appearing all over the country - already many coal merchants are using them - the time saved and the ease and cleanliness of working are paying off. They’re delivering to schools, offices - yes, and even houses, including at least one of our stately homes, Clevedon Court in Somerset.
Cleveden Court, built in 1320, is one of the oldest inhabited homes in the country. Inside it has a cosy lived-in atmosphere with the cosyness increased by a coal fired central heating system. This is part of a sixteen ton delivery of anthracite beans which will keep the seven radiators and hot water system going for three years.
The job is done in a remarkably short space of time. Preserving these old buildings and their treasures is very much a matter of maintaining a constant temperature.
Every year, many thousands of people visit Clevedon. Within its nine foot thick walls, built to the orders of Sir John de Clevedon, are many treasures of the intervening years. There are rooms where Thackeray and Tennyson walked. Clevedon has long had associations with the world of literature. The house overlooks the Nailsea Moor, and one of the most interesting collections is of Nailsea Glass. Many of the earlier blowers came from the area, but in later years the art spread over the country. It is mainly folk-glass - today purely decorative, but once much of it had practical uses.
Clevedon Court is one of the truly old, attractive buildings of Britain - preserved for the people’s enjoyment by the National Trust.
Researcher Comments
Commentary recorded at Kays Carlton Hill Studios on 9th July 1962.
Keywords
Buildings and structures; Transport; Mining; History and archaeology; Fuels
Locations
England; Somerset
Written sources
British Film Institute Databases   Used for synopsis
The National Archives COAL 32   /13 Scripts for Mining Review, 1960-1963
Credits:
Production Co.
Documentary Technicians Alliance
Sponsor
National Coal Board

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