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Bristol's Industries

Aeroplanes, mops and cigarettes are all produced in "busy Bristol" - as illustrated in this action-packed short film

Documentary 1939 21 mins Silent

Overview

At Bristol Aeroplane Co. Ltd, teams of draughtsmen and engineers are busy at work, culminating in a test flight of a Bristol Blenhein plane. Other flourishing industries of Bristol are shown, including Kleen-e-ze Brushes and Mops, Wills Tobacco, and Spillers Flour.

The film has an unlikely production company, local Bristol optician MW Dunscombe Ltd, whose film The Blitzed Cities of Bristol and Bath (1942) is also available on BFI Player. Dunscombe appears to have been successful in the eyecare business too - there is still an optician in Bristol trading under the name MW Dunscombe.