National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales preserves and celebrates the sound and moving image heritage of Wales, making it accessible to a wide range of users for enjoyment and learning. Its film collection reflects every aspect of the nation’s social, cultural and working life across the 20th century, giving a fascinating insight into Welsh filmmaking, both amateur and professional.
This film is part of Free
Discharge of Heavy Machinery at Port Talbot Docks
Far heavier than the rocks of Stonehenge, two roll housing assemblies for a strip mill are removed from a ship using floating cranes.
From the collection of:
Overview
Port Talbot Docks can take it! How a stonehenge-type challenge (i.e. the transportation of weighty components) is dealt with in 1949, using floating cranes and a special 24-wheeled British Railways wagon. Stonehenge rocks weigh, on average, 25-30 tonnes. The two roll housing assemblies seen here, for use in a strip mill in The Steel Company of Wales’ new Abbey Works, weigh 115 tonnes each.
At its height, in the 1960s, the Abbey Works which in 1949 was in the process of being built, employed 18,000 and was Europe’s largest steelworks, completed and opened in 1951. The steam ship seen here, no doubt utilising a a large amount of steel in its structure and equipment, was launched in 1922 and bought by the Bristol City Line in 1948 when she was re-named “Wells City” in line with how all the ships in the company’s fleet were named – after British, American or Canadian cities. She was their third, and last, ship to bear the name “Wells City”, their custom being to re-use names. She was sold on in 1951, re-named again, and scrapped in 1963.
Related
Watch for free
Local Cinema Advertisements - Port Talbot Local Cinema Advertisements - Port Talbot
Advert 1934 2 mins Silent Location: Port Talbot
The message for cinema-goers in Port Talbot, Neath and Briton Ferry is that they should shop local!
Watch for free
Maesteg Maesteg
Short documentary 2017 11 mins Location: Maesteg
A day in the life of a taxi driver in Maesteg, an ex-mining town in the Welsh valleys.
Watch for free
The Site in the Sea The Site in the Sea
Industry sponsored film 1970 35 mins Location: Port Talbot
Building a new harbour at Port Talbot - it’s a man’s world in which the only females are a dredger and two seafaring vessels.
Watch for free
Modern Wales Modern Wales
Industry sponsored film 1958 14 mins Location: Treforest Industrial Estate
A stirring hymn to Wales' postwar industrial renewal
Watch for free
Ingot Pictorial No. 21 Ingot Pictorial No. 21
Promotional 1954 23 mins Location: Swansea/Abertawe
Experience 150 years of rail transport at Mumbles, enjoy the red sails of Abbey Works’ boat club, watch Sterling Moss discover the steel industry’s impact on racing cars.
Watch for free
The Dragon and The Fly The Dragon and The Fly
Drama 1997 1 mins Location: Port Talbot
A surreal moving image artist film that juxtaposes industrial landscapes with the struggle of a fly.
Watch for free
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.
Watch for free
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.
Watch for free
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.
Watch for free
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.
Watch for free
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.
Watch for free
Octopus Octopus
2021 13 mins
Upon returning to her home town for a funeral, a young woman reconnects with the friends she left behind.