British Pathe

Northfleet, Kent.

M/S looking over a road towards the Council Gardens - a car and a milk float drive past. M/S of Harry Beer tying a length of sturdy rope to the railings of the gardens. On the other side of the railings is a busy road - buses, vans and a motorbike drive past. Low angle C/U...

Northfleet, Kent.

M/S looking over a road towards the Council Gardens - a car and a milk float drive past. M/S of Harry Beer tying a length of sturdy rope to the railings of the gardens. On the other side of the railings is a busy road - buses, vans and a motorbike drive past. Low angle C/U of Harry securing the ropes. M/S of Harry walking away from the railings, taking the other end of the rope with him. M/S of Harry standing in a leafy area of the gardens tugging the rope to check it is fixed. C/U of the knot tied to the railings. M/S of Harry as he bends down and picks up a thick leather safety belt tied to the rope. Low angle shot of Harry putting on the belt - "reason for these precautions is that Northfleet is about 400 yards from the Thames estuary, but between the town and the river is a void where the ground has in the past been scooped away for its chalk content; it was to brighten the view across the disused pit that the Council decided to cultivate gardens". C/U of Harry's hands picking up a pair of shears from the ground.

Low angle shot of Harry walking towards the cliff edge. C/U of the slack rope becoming tight as Harry moves closer to the edge. M/S of Harry squatting down at the edge of the cliff, trimming the grass - the rope pulls the belt tight across Harry's waist. C/U of the rope knotted to the railings. M/S of Harry leaning to the furthest edge of the cliff with his shears, panning shot to show the cliff's 100 foot drop and its close proximity to the road. M/S of trees at the bottom of the cliff, panning shot to the top of the cliff - "now you can see why safety belts are always worn - as, in fact, they have been since an accident in 1937". M/S of Harry working at the cliff edge watched Mr. W. Hutchins, Northfleet's parks superintendent. Mr. Hutchins tugs at Harry's belt to check if it is secure before stepping over it and walking out of the picture. M/S of Walter Cowel looking out from the top of the cliff over an industrial landscape. Panning shot of factories and warehouses on "the London Road margin". Panning shot of the shrubs on the cliff top - the narrator jokes that the gardeners must "curb any tendency to step back and admire their work"!