Set up in 1977, the North West Film Archive preserves moving images made in or about Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside and Cumbria and offers a variety of access services to users in the public, academic and commercial sectors.
This film is currently unavailable
Visit to a Cable Factory
Enter the world of heavy industry a century ago - Glovers Cables in Trafford Park.
From the collection of:
Overview
This fascinating look at industry in the early years of the last century takes us to the Glovers Cable Factory in Trafford Park, where men in shirtsleeves and waistcoats operate heavy machinery to produce enormous reels of electrical cable. This is skilled work, but hard and hazardous. Finally, the huge cable reels can leave the factory, transported by rail, horse and cart, and canal barge.
The cable firm of W. T. Glover was founded in 1868 in Salford, and moved to Trafford Park in 1898. Trafford Park was the first purpose built industrial estate in Europe, attracting many large and successful companies. World War II saw peak employment in the Park, with 75,000 people working there as factories turned to war production.
Related
Pattern for Progress Pattern for Progress
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1948 42 mins Location: Ebbw Vale/Glyn Ebwy
The drama and spectacle of steelmaking at Ebbw Vale.
Steel Windows Steel Windows
Documentary 1970 7 mins
A window on to a futuristic vision of concrete, glass and steel.
Project Spear Project Spear
Industry sponsored film 1964 31 mins
At Rotherham a revolution in steelmaking has human consequences.
Consett Steel Consett Steel
Industry sponsored film 1967 26 mins Location: Consett
Sparks fly in an industrial film that captures the exciting visual drama of steel production in Consett.
The First Four Years The First Four Years
Industry sponsored film 1951 42 mins Silent
An industrial epic plays out in steelmaking South Wales.
End of a Line End of a Line
1975 13 mins Silent Location: Swindon
After a glorious history, Baldwin's iron and steelworks in Swindon, Staffordshire, faces closure.
Yuri Gagarin visits Manchester, 12 July 1961 Yuri Gagarin visits Manchester, 12 July 1961
News 1961 6 mins Location: Manchester
The chance to see the most famous man in the world draws crowds of people on a rainy day.
Another Name for Power Another Name for Power
Documentary 1959 23 mins Location: Castle Donington
Light bulbs, television tubes and nuclear power stations: electrifying the world with AEI.
Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion
Short documentary 2026 22 mins
Filmmaker Andrea Luka Zimmerman and curator Matthew Barrington discuss Frederick Wiseman’s High School with Sandra Hebron.
Hard, Cracked the Wind Hard, Cracked the Wind
Horror 2019 17 mins
A haunting with words is the lure between life and death for a young Cornish poet.
A Last Resort A Last Resort
Comedy 2022 17 mins
Rose is desperate to celebrate her 60th birthday in style, but her daughter Genevieve is struggling to ignore some recent tragic news about her mum.
The Walk The Walk
Drama 2023 12 mins
Adeel Akhtar portrays a man on a weekly trek to his nearest JobCentre, entering a state of purgatory through barriers put in place by the system.
Seagull Seagull
Horror 2022 6 mins
Seagull is a recovering drug addict who is about to have a very strange night on The English Riviera.
Octopus Octopus
2021 13 mins
Upon returning to her home town for a funeral, a young woman reconnects with the friends she left behind.