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The Purfleet Floods

1953 , Purfleet (Essex)

Cat no. 135

Scenes from the after effects of the 1953 floods.

The film begins with high angle shots showing exterior shots of the flooded factory and of the surrounding area. Throughout the film there are good general shots of the industrial-cum-port landscape in this area. There follow interior shots showing the factory and its equipment under fifteen feet of water. Exterior shots show some of the damage, including a hole in the side of the factory wall seventy five feet wide. There is a long sequence showing sandbags being filled and taken to fill the breaches in the sea wall. Some of these have to be taken by barge and the men can work only for the few hours that the tide is favourable. Later are shots showing this task undertaken at night. Pumps are brought into use. Later these were also supplied by the fire service and by central government. Shots showing the pumps around the factory show some quite ancient looking pieces of equipment. The Minister of Food arrives to inspect the site. The scene moves to Van den Burghs and Jurgens' Cheshire factory where production was doubled overnight using many of the methods employed in wartime. Retired members of staff were brought into work, the maintenance shift was replaced with a production shift and the factory worked three shifts, seven days a week to keep up with demand. At one point a new machine was constructed from spare parts. At Purfleet, firemen assemble pipes and pumps. By now, the weather has deteriorated and there is snow on the ground. HM the Queen visits Purfleet and at the neighbouring Thames Boardmills site, five of the Purfleet men are presented to her along with the Works Director. The full extent of devastation when the waters have subsided is portrayed. Storage tanks have been moved, iron girders are twisted, steel shutters have been blown out, floors torn up, the foundations undermined and there is mud everywhere. The cleaning up operation is shown in detail. Every piece of machinery is dismantled, cleaned and repaired. All electrical equipment, 4,500 pieces, is dismantled, completely overhauled and then re-installed. All of this took just ten days. Machinery is cleaned with detergents, then with disinfectant and then rinsed with several changes of hot water. Finally the whole factory is sprayed with anti-bacterial. The books are 'cooked' to dry out, overalls are laundered and 100 miles of cable are checked and re-laid. The fuses are put in and the system is switched on. There are scenes from the control room and then on the factory floor. The first batch of margarine produced is destroyed. The second is sent for analysis. Only the third batch produced can be sent for consumption. All of this has taken just 43 days; initially it was thought that the factory would be out of action for six months. The film finishes with scenes from a fete and of the factory and port area.

Featured Buildings

Van den Burghs and Jurgens Stork Margarine Factory, Purfleet

Intertitles

On the first Sunday of February, 1953, the East Coast of England suffered the most serious floods in 500 years of history. This is the story of what happened to Van den Burghs and Jurgens margarine factory at Purfleet in just a few acres of Thames-side.

Other Places

Cheshire

Additional Description

Opening credits: Unilever presents The Purfleet Floods Produced by Editorial Film Productions Ltd. Photography by Kenneth Talbot / James Ewins Edited by Dudley Birch Commentary written by Stuart Legg Commentary spoken by E.V.H. Emmett Production Manager Sydney Latter Produced by James Mellor

Manifestations

The Purfleet Floods

  • Barcode
    INV380489
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    MP4 H264 digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:22:46
    Modification Date
    08/10/2015
    Parts
    Reference
    738990
  • Barcode
    INV396958
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    MP4 H264 digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:22:46
    Modification Date
    08/10/2015
    Parts
    Reference
    738916
  • Barcode
    INV320251
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    MP4 H264 digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:22:46
    Modification Date
    08/10/2015
    Parts
    Reference
    738843
  • Barcode
    INV345749
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    DV digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:21:51
    Modification Date
    15/05/2015
    Parts
    Reference
    737733
  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV316157
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    master digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:21:51
    Modification Date
    10/04/2015
    Parts
    Reference
    737600
  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV169802
    Canonical Identifier
    TB 1039
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    BetacamSP tape
    Dimension
    Identifier
    Modification Date
    23/07/2008
    Parts
    Reference
    673567
  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV157083
    Canonical Identifier
    TB 1038
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    BetacamSP tape
    Dimension
    Identifier
    Modification Date
    23/07/2008
    Parts
    Reference
    673566
  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV155528
    Canonical Identifier
    TB 497
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    Umatic tape
    Dimension
    Identifier
    Modification Date
    23/07/2008
    Parts
    Reference
    673443
  • Barcode
    INV221180
    Canonical Identifier
    VP-1005
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Identifier
    Modification Date
    25/06/2021
    Parts
    Reference
    562871
  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV200045
    Canonical Identifier
    A-280
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    16mm film
    Colour Type
    bw
    Has Sound
    Y
    Identification Notes
    Picture: combined (data migration 25/06/2021)
    Identifier
    Image Polarity
    positive
    Modification Date
    25/06/2021
    Parts
    Reference
    560738
    Sound
    sound

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