This film is part of Free
Beckton Coke Works
The awe-inspiring industrial splendour of Beckton gasworks is on show in this beautifully photographed film
Overview
Rolled, bounced, poured and shovelled – coal is transformed into coke by means of an awe-inspiring array of industrial processes. This early film was produced by the Gas Light and Coke Company which built the gasworks and eventually became British Gas plc. Beckton gasworks opened in 1870 and operated until 1969 on the north bank of the River Thames.
This footage has survived in a version which is out of sequence. The Gas Light and Coke Company funded a number of films including The Romance of a Lump of Coal (1935), which is also available on the BFI Player.
Related
Miner Miner
Documentary 1950 36 mins Silent Location: Featherstone
Absorbing overview of coalmining in the early years of nationalisation.
Thud and Blunder in Knock off Time Thud and Blunder in Knock off Time
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1964 2 mins
Miners' safety training - marked by stylish animation and gallows humour.
Energy Energy
Advert 1935 42 mins Silent Location: Cardiff/Caerdydd
Coal, between the world wars, makes the industrialised world go round and Cory Bros & Co Ltd, with collieries in south Wales and oil refineries across the globe, is a major player.
Big Pit Big Pit
Industry sponsored film 1978 7 mins Location: Blaenavon
Memories of Blaenavon Colliery, Monmouthshire, as it nears its end.
Guilty Chimneys Guilty Chimneys
Documentary 1954 18 mins
Elegiac sponsored film imploring viewers to "allow the sun to penetrate the haze of ignorance" and relieve British cities of pollution.
People Will Always Need Coal People Will Always Need Coal
Advert 1975 1 mins
Deliriously kitsch recruitment ad for the implausibly glamorous world of coalmining.
Skiing and Carol Singing in Newham Skiing and Carol Singing in Newham
Documentary 1988 11 mins Location: Beckton
Get to know the side of Newham you never knew, thanks to this fantastic 1980s compilation of the weird and wonderful the borough has to offer.
World's Greatest Gasworks World's Greatest Gasworks
Non-Fiction 1926 1 mins Silent Location: Beckton
It’s a gas gas gas as George V and Queen Mary visit Beckton's giant coal gas plant - where 60 years on Stanley Kubrick would build his Vietnam.
Engineers to the World Engineers to the World
Promotional 1963 29 mins Location: Lincoln
Historic Lincoln where 100 acres are dedicated to the Ruston Group whose engines provide power for industry across the world.
China O'Brien: The Reunion China O'Brien: The Reunion
Documentary 2024 60 mins
Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton and Keith Cooke reunite three decades on from the groundbreaking martial arts classic.
Women in Action Panel Discussion Women in Action Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 28 mins
Action Xtreme - the UK's leading action film studio - hosts this panel discussion with four leading women in action cinema - Soo Cole, Jo Rolison, Jadey Duffield and Ioanna Karavela.
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.