BOOM

Series

Series Name

Mining Review 17th Year

Issue

Issue No.

1

Date Released

Sep 1963

Length of issue (in feet)

889

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1COAL SHIFT
2. 2IN THE SUN
3. 3BOOM
4. 4YORKSHIRE DOUBLE

Story

Story No. within this Issue

3 / 4

Summary

BFI synopsis: the Bretby Selective Heading Machine developed by Board engineers (609).
NCB Commentary - What’s this - a caravan holiday sits above the seashore; and a giant crane to help build the children’s sand castles?
No - they are temporary homes for men working on the new pit development at Daw Mill in Warwickshire.
And below ground, too, there’s a brand new piece of machinery.
The Bretby Selective Heading Machine has a cutter on a boom like a giant telescope - and it’s called selective because it has taken out the coal separately, it is now removing the rock below.
The boom can be aimed at any part of the face.
Crab-like gathering arms scoop the material onto a conveyor winding from the machine’s heavily-armoured body.
As the machine moves forward, or backward, the conveyor immediately behind moves up and down with it.
A single operator controls the machine.
The Coal Board bought from Russia a similar machine - the P.K.3. To suit Britain’s mining conditions our enigneers built this new version.
A good example of coal mining communities helping each other.

Researcher Comments

Numbered 395 by the NCB.

Keywords

Mining; Engineering; Fuels

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