British Pathe

Events take place in various locations.

Title: "LONDON. STRIKE MAJORITY 367,917. Miners' Federation Delegates meet in London and announce startling figures".

Various M/Ss of miners' leaders arriving at a large building in a square. Various M/Ss of the leaders coming down the front...

Events take place in various locations.

Title: "LONDON. STRIKE MAJORITY 367,917. Miners' Federation Delegates meet in London and announce startling figures".

Various M/Ss of miners' leaders arriving at a large building in a square. Various M/Ss of the leaders coming down the front steps from the entrance to the building. Panning M/S of the leaders posing as a group on the steps - they seem happy.

Intertitle: "BOB SMILIE and FRANK HODGES - the Miners' Leaders".

M/S of Smilie and Hodges, members of triple alliance, coming down the steps of the building (their H.Q.).

Intertitle: "The GREAT STRIKE 1926".

Panning shot of a deserted colliery. Various shots of the mine's lift shaft and buildings. Panning shot of an empty rail track.

Intertitle: "Depleted Railway Service".

Various panning shots of idle London railway stations and tracks.

Intertitle: " ... everybody listened-in owing to restricted supply of newspapers".

M/S of a man and a woman sitting in a dining room listening to a wireless. Various M/Ss of a long queue of men - volunteering to maintain essential services stopped by strike?

Intertitle: "On the road to work".

High angled shot of a traffic jam, probably in Oxford Street. M/S of traffic, many people are on bicycles.

Intertitle: "Hyde Park closed and rapidly transformed into great milk and petrol dump".

L/S of Marble Arch, in the foreground the gates of Hyde Park have been shut, policemen guard them. Panning shot of men putting up make-shift shelters in the park. Panning shot of men stringing up telephone cables in the trees. More shots of traffic scenes on Oxford Street - buses, trucks, charabancs and bicycles.

C/U of trucks converted into bus; it is full of passengers (standing room only!), there is a poster on the side - 'Golder's Green to Newgate Street'. M/S of passengers climbing aboard the truck-bus, a policemen helps the women up. M/S of a truck-bus driving away from the camera, a young soldiers clambers aboard while it is moving, other passengers haul him up. More shots of the truck-bus driving around London. Note: these shots are from earlier Pathe Gazette - see record for GENERAL STRIKE NUMBER 2 - for details.

Intertitle: "The chaos of the GENERAL STRIKE, 1926 - recalled". (title from 1931 retrospective issue)

Panning shot of deserted railway tracks. More shots of empty train stations. More shots of London traffic jams (includes cars on Westminster Bridge). L/S of a demonstration coming through streets of London. Panning shot of long queue at Trafalgar Square - people waiting for few buses still running. M/S of milk lorries driving out of Hyde Park, passed Marble Arch. M/S of a steam train pulling out of a station.

Panning shot of rows of milk churns in Hyde Park. M/S of men loading churns onto an R.A.F. lorry. M/S of two sandwich board men, one advertises Avro - "Railway Crisis - Go by Air". C/U of the Avro sandwich board. Panning shot of a group of people waiting outside the Midland Grand Hotel. M/S of the people outside the hotel; some are sitting on suitcases. Panning C/U of the women sitting on suitcases; they seem in good spirits.

M/S of four men getting out of a car, they climb on board a small aeroplane after shaking hands with the pilot. The men climb into a cabin, the pilot climbs into an open cockpit at the tail of the plane.

After a couple of seconds of spacing, M/S of volunteers unloading sacks by crane from a cargo ship. High angled shot of crowds cheering in a London street. M/S of two men looking at some plans, more men look over their shoulders. C/U of plans, titled - London Milk (Emergency) Advisory Committee. M/S of men looking at plans. Various panning shot of empty train station and tracks. More shots of London traffic jams. More shots of cables being strung up in trees in Hyde Park. M/S of truck at Hyde Park gates. More shots of long queues of men.

Intertitle: "Theatres as usual Touring Theatrical Companies 'changed over' by char-a-bancs".

M/S of a troupe of actors carrying props and bits of scenery from the stage door to a waiting truck. Panning M/S of a charabanc full of actors and actresses, there is a poster attached to the radiator grill advertising a play - 'Betty in Mayfair' - starring Evelyn Laye. Low angled C/U of an actress behind the wheel of the charabanc. M/S of two charabancs driving past the camera, the actors drive.

General Strike. Iris out from black, M/S of a group of volunteer constabulary reserves sitting on and leaning against a truck, most are high spirited young men (probably undergraduates). Iris in to black. More shots of the student volunteer policemen larking about for the camera.

M/S of two men getting out of a sports car with a women driver, looks like they are outside No. 10 Downing Street. Various shots of several men and a couple of women walking up Downing Street. Various shots of important looking men and women coming in and out of Number 10. More shots of people threading cables in trees. Panning shot of a row of army trucks parked at the edge of a park. More shots of London traffic. More shots of trucks converted to buses.

Note: many of the shots are repeated from GENERAL STRIKE NUMBER 1 and GENERAL STRIKE NUMBER 2. Please see separate records for details.