The North East Film Archive is one of a network of regional film archives established to collect, preserve and show film made in, or about the North East of England. Our collections are non-fiction, and date from the early 1900s to the present day, providing a rich record of life in the region over the 20th century. Many of our films are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
This film is part of Free
New Derwentside
Steel men work their last shift at Consett and a town loses its industrial heart.
From the collection of:
Overview
Consett loses its heart to a post-industrial future as the legendary iron and steel works closes on 13 September 1980. The giant blast furnaces and cooling towers dominated the town for 140 years. The skilled workers who once grafted in this spectacular world of white hot metal and flame now take part in its demolition. This film puts a spin on what locals described as ‘the murder of a town’ while Consett’s industrial heritage is slowly erased to create a ‘new Derwentside’.
This sponsored film was produced for Derwentside District Council in association with the British Steel Corporation by Turners Film Productions of Newcastle to promote new investment in the town. At its peak in the 1960s, the Consett works provided jobs for some 6,000 workers, dirty and dangerous as they were, and, ironically, the steel works made a profit in 1980. Its closure was devastating to the town, leaving a third of its residents out of work, a fact dramatised in filmmaker Penny Woolcock’s 1988 docudrama for the Trade film co-operative, When the Dog Bites, also preserved at North East Film Archive.
Related
Watch for free
Consett Steel Consett Steel
Industry sponsored film 1967 26 mins Location: Consett
Sparks fly in an industrial film that captures the exciting visual drama of steel production in Consett.
Watch for free
Women in Action Panel Discussion Women in Action Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 28 mins
Action Xtreme - the UK's leading action film studio - hosts this panel discussion with four leading women in action cinema - Soo Cole, Jo Rolison, Jadey Duffield and Ioanna Karavela.
Watch for free
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Watch for free
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Watch for free
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Watch for free
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.
Watch for free
New Perspectives: Oldboy New Perspectives: Oldboy
Short documentary 2024 4 mins
Discover why Dan George of Northumbria University believes everyone should experience Oldboy at least once.