Cold Railway Workers

From the collection of

MACE is the strategic lead organisation for screen heritage for the East and West Midlands regions. An independent charity based at University of Lincoln, MACE preserves and makes accessible a collection of more than 100,000 historic moving images representative of the diverse cultures and histories of communities throughout the heart of England from the Lincolnshire coast to the Welsh border.

Cold Railway Workers

Media Archive for Central England
1963-01-23
Sound
2m

Tough times on the tracks - the railway workers who kept the trains moving through the big freeze.

January 1963 was the coldest English month of the entire twentieth century. A news item in the typical vox pop style finds Tim Downes asking a group of railway workers how they're coping. But all the interviewees are West Indian and the questions assume that they are unused to cold weather. The monosyllabic response and lack of interest in Downes' questions from one of the workers is a highlight.

This item is likely to have been filmed in the Birmingham area although the exact location has not been recorded. The opening section is silent.

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