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'Hoist with Its Own Petard'

Short, snappy film showing a smoke-stack from a war-time powder factory being razed by explosives.

Non-Fiction 1927 1 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for London's Screen Archives

Overview

Starting with close-ups of a man industrially inserting gunpowder into the base of a chimney, the action that cuts to across the canal. An explosion sends smoke pouring from the base, and then the chimney – slowly at first, but then in a rush – plunges dramatically to the ground. In the background, you can see the Shot Tower, built in 1828 and still standing in Crane Park between Twickenham and Whitton, all that remains of a gunpowder factory dating to the reign of Henry VIII.