Northamptonshire - Steel Town

Series

Series Name

Mining Review 19th Year

Issue

Issue No.

6

Date Released

Feb 1966

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1London - Fair Play
2. 2Glamorganshire - Challenge of Tomorrow
3. 3Northamptonshire - Steel Town

Story

Story No. within this Issue

3 / 3

Summary

NoS synopsis: Corby, a steel town which uses coal in many ways.
NCB Commentary - Coal for industry. Coal for the home. Coal on the move.
Nearly a million and a half tons a year for this one steel plan in Northamptonshire.
At Corby is one of the world’s largest plants making steel tubing - much of it going overseas to help ease Britain’s payment deficit.
Most of the coal goes to make coke - essential to the manufacture of high quality steel.
And alongside the steelworks - a new town, set up in 1950. After 15 years construction and development, Corby today is a flourishing township of 45,000 people.
And, as of October 1965, the new town of Corby now has a new centre of its own - a civic centre among the most up to date in Britain.
The three main buildings give space to all the administration services of the local Council, three public halls and theatres, and a swimming pool.
And, as one would expect in a big coal - consuming area, solid fuel keeps it all warm.
1500 tons a year of Leicestershire coal flow automatically into the bunkers, to stoke a complex of automatically fired boilers - smokelessly.
One man - and his cat - look after the monitoring.
A living fire in the boiler house - warm air through the grills to balance the hot air in the council chamber upstairs.
And to warm the theatre, currently used by the local drama group and equipped to West End Standards.
There’ll be a hot time in the civic hall tonight.
The swimming pool is built championship size and seats nearly 50 spectators. No one minds a ducking in water that’s kept as warm as this.
In Corby today, the accent is on the new. A new town, a new civic centre and, on the skyline, a steelworks which was born only 30 years ago and hasn’t stopped growing by a long chalk.
It’s a community with energy, and a community which uses a lot of energy.
About their daily lives, in their daily work, at play the people of Corby have reason to be grateful to an energy source which won’t let them down.
Corby and coal go together.

Keywords

Mining; Fuels

Locations

England; Northamptonshire; Corby

Written sources

British Film Institute Databases
Films on Coal Catalogue   1969, p.51
Film User   Vol.20 No.231 January 1966, p41.
The National Archives COAL 32   /13 Scripts for Mining Review, 1960-1963

Credits:

Sponsor

National Coal Board

Production Co.

National Coal Board Film Unit