The Yorkshire Film Archive collects, preserves, and shows film made in, or about Yorkshire. Our collections are non-fiction, dating from the 1890s to the present day, and providing a rich and visually compelling record of all aspects of lives, cultures, landscape, industries, major events and everyday activities, many of which are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
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Armstrong Patents East Gate Beverley Heli-Coil Division and Production
This film gives a vivid picture of life in an engineering works in 1950s Britain, with women in headscarves exhibiting their dedication and skills despite the repetitive work.
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Overview
A real insight into working life in a thriving engineering company during the heyday of British manufacturing. At Armstrong Patents Ltd., makers of hydraulics and a major employer in Beverley, the men and women on the shop floor work with great dexterity and speed. A chance to see a significant aspect of everyday life for many, before the decline of British industry, and before robotisation claimed so many jobs.
The company of Armstrong Patents Co. was founded by inventor Gordon Armstrong, who started out in 1907 with a garage on North Bar in Beverley, Yorkshire. In 1917 he moved to the Eastgate site, specialising in shock absorbers, opening new works there in 1938. By the outbreak of war they were producing 4,000 shock absorbers a day and employed about 450 workers. They were clearly doing very well as Gordon Armstrong was able to purchase two spitfires and a Hurricane for the RAF during the war. In the 1956 they began making Heli-Coil thread inserts for the repair of spark plug threads. The Eastgate works was closed in 1981, with the loss of 300 jobs. Film courtesy of East Riding of Yorkshire Council Archives.
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