A WALK IN THE NEWS

Series

Series Name

Mining Review 16th Year

Issue

Issue No.

9

Date Released

May 1963

Length of issue (in feet)

925

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1THE ALCHEMISTS
2. 2DOUBLE BORE
3. 3A WALK IN THE NEWS

Story

Story No. within this Issue

3 / 3

Summary

BFI synopsis: Ewan MacColl sings the story of Les Weightman, a machine operator at Denby Hall Colliery, who took up the challenge to walk 30 miles in 7 hours. Plus the coverage of the story by the "Coal News" newspaper from writing to printing to delivery.
NCB Commentary - Coal News Reporter Vincent Bootle and Photographer John Barnby return to Hobart House, London Headquarters of the National Coal Board.
In a small back room on the second floor John Barnby has some rolls of film to devlop.
And up on the third floor Vincent Bootle gets his story down on paper. Coal News is the monthly newspaper of Britain’s mining industry. It keeps men and management informed of the latest developments in Britain’s largest business.
In a modest office works Editor Norman Woodhouse - like all his staff - a professional newspaperman who specializes in industrial journalism. Coal News is free to criticise the Board’s policies.
Downstairs in the darkroom John Barnby’s negatives are now positives - and the prints are on the Editor’s desk for scrutiny with Assistant Editor Dave Pluck and Sub-Editor Derek Shuff. With the drive of a winding-engine a story comes to life.
Five miles away on the linotypes at the printers a page is set - and John Barnby’s picture slides into place.
Nine divisional editions of Coal News are printed on machines like these - 200,000 copies a month are sold to one miner in three. A 16-page mine of information for threepence. The biggest industrial newspaper in Britain.
A Denby Hall Colliery in Derbyshire, a machine operator is just off shift and his mates are waiting for him.
Les Weightman, for a change, is standing still.
The rebuilt house for the Maycock family is standing too.
In three months friends raised over £400. Les Weightman’s contribution, thanks to his marathon walk, was £7.

Researcher Comments

Numbered 388 and 389 by the NCB.

Keywords

Music and dance; Mining; Newspapers

Written sources

British Film Institute Databases   Used for synopsis
The British National Film Catalogue   Vol.1 1963, p.56
The National Archives COAL 32   /13 Scripts for Mining Review, 1960-1963

Credits:

Sponsor

National Coal Board

Production Co.

National Coal Board Film Unit