The East Anglian Film Archive, the first and largest Regional Film Archive in England, was established in 1976. Since 1984, EAFA has been owned and operated by the University of East Anglia, Norwich (UEA), to support research and work to preserve our moving image heritage. More than 250 hours are freely available online as examples of the wide range of film which attracts interest the world over.
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Beyond the Pylons
A film about the engineering brothers F. and A. Parkinson and the increased use of electricity.
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Overview
This film extract opens with a shot of an article from The Journal Of The Institution Of Electrical Engineers. There is a reconstruction of a speech given by Col. Crompton to this organisation at the turn of the twentieth century foretelling the increased use of electricity. There is a shot of pylons stretching across the countryside. The commentary tells of the partnership between Col. Crompton and the engineering brothers F. and A. Parkinson.
The rest of the film shows interior shots of the Crompton Parkinson factory in Chelmsford. There are interior shots showing heavy machine tools in operation and under construction. The workers in these shots are almost all male. One of the Parkinson brothers speaks to the camera. There are further shots of machines. The film shows female workers making minimum moving coil instruments. There are shots of electricity metres being made, a scene from the drawing office, of the assembly line, of the control room and finally of the process of making generators.
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