British Pathe

M/S of a man digging some clay out of a large bin in a factory; C/Us as his spade slices through a chunk of clay, then throws pieces of clay through a grid in the floor where it seems to be mixed with water. M/S of a man travelling on an overhead crane across the top of the factory. Commentator tells...

M/S of a man digging some clay out of a large bin in a factory; C/Us as his spade slices through a chunk of clay, then throws pieces of clay through a grid in the floor where it seems to be mixed with water. M/S of a man travelling on an overhead crane across the top of the factory. Commentator tells us they are making china at this factory (possibly Wedgwood) in Barlaston in Staffordshire as we see the man empty a long tube of white powder through a hole in the base of the crane.

Another man stands at a large circular piece of machinery - a blunger, according to the shot list - that turns round and round with white china clay being mixed with water. High angle M/S of the overhead crane emptying loose clay powder into a large churner, which must somehow direct it into the blunger. High angle M/S of another room of complicated looking equipment with a weighing machine in the centre; a man adjusts the machine and checks the weight of some clay.

M/Ss of racks holding pressed sheets of clay; a man takes some out and piles them on a trolley. M/S and C/Us of a man pressing the sheets into a squeezing machine to get rid of any air pockets; the clay comes out of a tube at the other end of the machine in a long cylindrical shape; the man cuts off a section and places it on a palate with other clay 'sausages'. We then see someone slicing off a circle of clay and putting it on a revolving wheel; a piece of machinery comes down to flatten the circle and it covers the whole wheel.

The flat clay pancake is then put onto a mould and a machinery arm is lowered to form the plate shape against the mould; the rim is removed and the shape is taken to another table where a man covers it with another layer of clay. It is then put on a multitiered rack to dry. M/Ss and C/Us of many pieces of china crockery stacked on shelves that are wheeled into a huge kiln for firing, then, later, coming out the other side. Numerous C/Us of plates in various stages of having designs painted on them; commentator talks of Josiah Wedgwood so this is probably the Wedgwood factory.

Note: See out takes on *PM0125* CP 315 CUTS .