A source of light, heat and architectural splendour

Mountains of coal, whirring machinery, plumes of smoke, all sights you'd expect in a film about the gas industry. However, this is no ordinary gasworks. Elaborate tiling, ornamentation, arabesques, solid glazed pottery balustrades, Belfast gasworks is surely amongst the most palatial of its kind. This film shows both how it provided for the city's energy needs and why it was heralded by no less an authority than Sir John Betjeman as an architectural delight.

This material is courtesy of the UTV archive. The reporter is Charles Witherspoon, a familiar face on the regional station during the 1960s.