National Story - Pillars of Strength

Series

Series Name
Mining Review 19th Year

Issue

Issue No.
4
Date Released
Dec 1965
Stories in this Issue:
  1. 1Caernarvonshire - Face Workers
  2. 2National Story - Pillars of Strength
  3. 3London - The Living Fire
  4. 4The Face of Leprosy

Story

Story No. within this Issue
2 / 4
Summary
NoS synopsis: powered supports underground give new safety
NCB Commentary - These are pillars of strenth indeed. They are called "powered supports", and thousands of them help keep up the roof in the coalfaces of Britain’s mines.
They’re big, and they’re massive. Each one will support a load of 150-tons as it keeps the face safe for men and machines to work.
They’re expensive, of course. So when all the coal has been mined from a face, the big supports have to be taken out and transferred to a new face opening up.
The quicker this is done, the better. Expensive equipment has to earn its keep.
At a Midlands colliery a team of skilled miners show just how to tackle the job. They worked to a careful plan, and in 6 shifts - 2 1/2 days - they moved out 93 of these powered supports from a 200 yard face only 2 ft. 6in. high.
No supports were damaged. No toes or fingers crushed. Like all the best jobs, it was a smooth and safe operation, carried out under conditions that were far from easy.
The face is left empty - with only temporary wooden props.
But the powered supports can be - overhauled and used over and over again - on another coal face or at another colliery.
It’s a good example of essential and expensive equipment paying for itself in today’s progressive mining.
Keywords
Mining; Safety devices
Written sources
British Film Institute Databases
Films on Coal Catalogue   1969, p.51
The National Archives COAL 32   /13 Scripts for Mining Review, 1960-1963
Credits:
Sponsor
National Coal Board
Production Co.
National Coal Board Film Unit

Record Stats

This record has been viewed 63 times.