British Pathe

Reel 2.

Man at printing press. The press is printing a poster about the Transport Act 1947. The man takes one of the posters off the press to inspect it. Meeting of the British Transport Commission. C/Us of various members of the BTC (B.T.C.). Man at head of the table stands up and points...

Reel 2.

Man at printing press. The press is printing a poster about the Transport Act 1947. The man takes one of the posters off the press to inspect it. Meeting of the British Transport Commission. C/Us of various members of the BTC (B.T.C.). Man at head of the table stands up and points at map. High angles shot of railway junction with several steam locomotives. High angled shot of crossroads. Various buses, lorries, vans and cars pass through the junction. High angled shot of canal. Canal barge pulled along by horse on the towpath. Meeting of the British Transport Commission, man is still pointing at the map.

01:10:54 Water streams over the top of a lock gate on a canal. Shot of system of locks on a canal. Woman cleans small chimney on canal barge. Various painted buckets at seen on the barge. Barges on canals. Disused canals. A man is angling in one of the shots. Busy canal basin with lots of barges and narrowboats. Barge on canal goes past gas holders (gas-o-meter) at gas works. Man peels covering off sticker on the side of a van. The logo revealed reads "British Road Services". Traffic passes crossroads. Coach drives towards camera with S.M.T logo on the side. Large "Pickfords" removals van drives past the camera. Bus and coach drivers in uniform inspect the wheel of a bus with Sir Cyril Hircombe in a suit and hat. Man reveals British Railways logo on the side of the coal truck of a steam locomotive. High angle shots of railway station with trains. Man moves levers in signal box. Goods train passing camera. Level crossing gates close. Train passes level crossing, van is pulled up at the crossing - it belongs to the Wandsworth and District Gas Company. Several other vehicles are lined up at the level crossing.

01:12:27 Man in goggles using power tool. Sparks fly off. Man working at lathe. High angled shot of railway workshop. Foundry with molten metal. Men looking at plans. Railways workshops. Men building railway carriages.

01:13:11 Various shots of signals. Large and complicated railway signal box. Railway engine out of tunnel. Building work. Railway track lifted out of position. Early electric train goes past camera. Diesel train past camera (is this a Deltic?) - it still has the LMS (L.M.S. - London Midlands and Scottish) logo on the side. Train goes into tunnel. Map of Britain.

01:14:24 Pan along the side of a bus showing the words "London Transport". High angle shot of London street (paperwork says this is Notting Hill Gate). Lots of buses pass along the street. People getting onto bus, they appear to be in a hurry. Bus drives out of depot. Trolley bus depot (there are adverts on the side of the vehicles for Wrigley's and Crosse & Blackwell). London Underground depot with lots of trains. Bus conductor stops anymore people getting onto bus. Man operating transport control room (according to the paperwork this is in Leicester Square). Men at control desk. C/U hand moving control knob. Illuminated platform indicator changes. Bus checkers in Oxford Street. People walk past as the make notes on in their notebooks. Large office with lots of people in. Man working on timetable. Bus men in rota room. Tilt down bus stop sign, man is replacing timetable. C/U ticket puncher. High angled shot of buses in Oxford Street. People waiting at suburban bus shelter. Bus in country area. Men putting up bus stop. Train pulls into White City underground station as it is being built (White City is in fact over ground). Guard on tube train closes door. Bus driver putting on brake. C/U "Used Tickets" bin. Overhead cables and electrical pick up of trolley bus (tram). Trolley bus conductor changing display on side of vehicle to show "667 to Chiswick and Kew Bridge". C/U wheels of bus as it pulls away. C/U tub train driver in cab. Shots from front of tube train in tunnel. Underground ticket collector. Bus skids on skid pan. Bus inspector. Traffic in Trafalgar Square in London. Animated London Transport map and Logo. Animated map of Great Britain.

01:17:10 Shot of passengers in Waterloo station. Railway goods depot. Large crates loaded onto ship - "Warwick Castle". Large column carried along road on lorry.

01:17:34 Shot of man on barge towing other barges along canal. Trolley bus. Steam train towards camera. Bus turns corner in front of camera. Steam train over viaduct. C/U train driver in cab of steam engine. Passenger reads newspaper in railway carriage. Stoker (fireman) puts coal into boiler of steam engine. Driver has his hand on the controls. Passengers asleep in carriage (including a baby). High shot of steam locomotive in countryside. C/U train driver. C/U Lorry driver in cab. Man steering barge or narrow boat. Engineers at machines. Steam train arrives at docks with ship in the background (paperwork says this is Southampton Dock and that the ship is the 'Queen Mary").

01:18:49 Wealth of the World Logo. End credits. Director... Peter Bradford, Script ...Jack Howells, Camera... Reg W. Cavender, Editor... A. Milner-Gardner, Sound ...W.S. Bland, George Newberry, Music Composed by.. Thomas Henderson, Conducted by .. John Hollingsworth, Produced by Peter Baylis in association with Film Centre.

Notes: This is a great film tracing the history of transport in Great Britain from early times up to and including nationalisation in the late 1940s. It contains many good shots of various forms of transport.

This film was at one time labelled as being in four reels, original paper work suggests that it was always in two reel. This film was made by the Pathe Documentary Unit and was sponsored by The British Transport Commission. Check copyright on some material. Documentation includes: commentary script, shot list, letters and other paperwork.