Steel on Film

Artists, designers and engineers extol the virtues of steel.

A patriotic look at British steelmaking.

Edwardian workers react to the camera at one of Rotherham's major employers.

Time-travel to a 1940s classroom with this exemplary educational film.

A brand new M6 stars in this film extolling the virtues of the new steel-built motorway bridges.

Making plans for Johnny, who has a future in British steel - or so says this fascinating recruitment film.

The heat and noise of a large steel works are brought vividly to life in this promotional film as we are immersed in the "white heat" of Harold Wilson’s scientific revolution.

Modern life is tubular! Newsreader Frank Phillips celebrates the countless uses for steel tubing.

Forging, casting, rolling, pressing, welding - men work around the clock to keep the furnaces ablaze: "steel is wanted everywhere!"

The Midlands' last blast furnace makes a car production line look like an hospital operating theatre. 'Elisabeth' of Bilston is the pride of the Black Country.

Steel tankers transport oil across the world's oceans.

Steel industry economics made simple (and surprisingly interesting).

Britain's steel industry faces recession - and its human costs - at Ebbw Vale and elsewhere.

A broken chain sling, a baffling acronym and some natty graphics. Welcome to the world of 1970s industrial safety!

Save Steel to Save Corby' the banners call. This has become more than a battle to save a steelworks, it's the fight for a whole town's existence.

The manufacture of a new weapon in the pre-WWI naval arms race.

A peek behind the scenes at the Hillman motor car factory near Coventry.

In over one hundred and fifty years little has changed in the chain forges of Cradley Heath where big, tough men hammer out the biggest and toughest chains.

Steel Conference

Richard Thomas & Co. Ltd (later Richard Thomas and Baldwins) brings government-backed hope to depressed Ebbw Vale with new steelworks.

A cinematic catalogue of the flat rolled steel products of Richard Thomas and Baldwins, showing some of their typical applications - car parts, cooker hobs, tins, wheelbarrows.

The most modern, integrated steel works in Europe are at Llanwern, Newport, and they are opened on this “great day” (26/10/1962) by the Queen who is visiting with Prince Philip.

The steel industry: the men engage with gigantic machines on a huge scale; the apprentice boys help and holiday; the women have their hair done with the stars.

Britain steels itself for the atomic age - literally, in this promotional film showing steel as the underpinning of Britain's nuclear future

Only connect: a little Welsh Lady doll, a steel rocking horse, burning Schnapps and the “Limestone Special”.

RTB has lots to celebrate and Howard Marshall, director of personnel/public relations and the main Ingot Pictorial commentator, downs a pint in one on opening Ebbw Vale House.

This Ingot Pictorial – a quarterly review of life inside and outside RTB steelworks – brings back memories of summer events (carnival, tennis, singing cousins) in December.

Inside the steel works - come and take a close look at a very heavy industry.

A steelworks and a workforce under the shadow of closure. Bilston faces a cold winter as it loses its traditional heavy industry.

Tom Williams bridges industrial and rural life: he is a fitter at Bryngwyn Sheetworks but, at leisure, carves shepherd's crooks and competes in sheepdog trials with 'Cap'.

The glare of molten metal, flames, and furnaces all the visual drama of steel-making is captured in a promotional for Dorman Long on Teesside.

Mighty machines are seen here at the works of the Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron and Coal Company Ltd, like the Bessemer Converters which can hold 1,000 tonnes of molten iron.

Sheets of steel: processed, packaged and ready for despatch from Llanelli, aka ‘Tinopolis’.

Enduring immense heat and deafening noise, a team of 4 follow the traditional choreography for the production of steel sheets, the danger demanding perfect timing.

Heating, forging, hammering, bending, cutting, welding, moulding, grinding: from molten steel to finished tools and rail track, via the labour power of Sheffield’s finest.

Enter the world of heavy industry a century ago - Glovers Cables in Trafford Park.

A rare insight into manufacturing in the 1960s, behind the scenes at Colchester Lathes' factory, whose engineers have earned a first class reputation both locally and overseas.

A richly detailed depiction of the history and technology of the iron ore industry - plus some dramatic explosions.

Immerse yourself in the magical light and sounds of the forge as Tommy Orr continues the family tradition of shoeing horses.

Royalty comes to Scunthorpe - and the Jubilee Cinema produces its very own film to mark the great occasion.

Super location footage enlivens this drama-documentary on Sheffield's steel industry.

A tidy exit from an unidentified factory in Edwardian Barrow in Furness.

The spectacular story of the building of a massive ocean liner.

Work, rest and play for the men of steel in this screen review from Welsh steel and tinplate manufacturers Richard Thomas & Baldwin.

Family fun, inter-site rivalries, productivity battles - it's all go in this lively steel company newsreel.

Joe O’Neill demonstrates the magical alchemy of the forge in a film by Roy Spence created for the Ulster Folk Museum.

Bill Jones, "a worker, like Tom, Dick & Harry", puts the Conservative case against the nationalisation of the steel industry.

Time-honoured craftsmanship at Corfe, near Taunton in Somerset.

Women foundry workers, and some men, are busy producing steel castings.

Word from the top: via the magic of film, a company chairman addresses shareholders across the country

Splendour and grace - steel and ships made in Glasgow

A mystery musical short - gorgeous footage of steelworkers with a lively calypso soundtrack