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Draining The Fens

1947 , The Fens (Other)

Cat no. 1892

A history of draining the Fens including footage of the 1947 floods.

This film begins with a map of Great Britain. It closes in on the Fenland area and shows the four main rivers of the Fens; the Witham, the Welland, the Nene, (spelt Nen on the film) and the Great Ouse. The commentary explains what sort of area the Fenlands are and something of its history. There is a shot of the Fenland showing a cottage. On the Wash, Aargie Smart goes punting. He shoots his prey with a punt gun and then picks them up. The next sequence looks at the drainage problem in the Fenland. It shows men ditching and then there is a diagram of the drainage system. There is a shot of a sluice gate and the film recounts a little of the history of the draining of the Fens, mentioning Vermuyden's work in the 17th-century. There is a shot of the Denver Sluice and of the built up banks just down river at Ten Mile Bank. A tug pulls flat bottomed cargo vessels along the river. Shots taken from a moving waterbound vessel include cows grazing on the banks and steam pumps. There is a shot of a windmill and of fields and a farm. Horse graze on the Wash. Aerial scenes show the floods of 1947, possibly near Welney. The commentary explains efforts to control the water level. A very dark sequence shows men on flood watch before shots of the 1947 floods show the flood waters breaking through at Hilgay Fen. A cow has to be pulled from the flood water by rope. The film shows shots of farms after the flooding and the commentary explains some of the consequences of the flooding for farmers. A man and a horse and cart are seen wading through the mud. A tug, towing several cargoes carries, carries clay to the banks for repair. The clay is carried by miniature railway to the area where it is needed. Men dig the clay into the bank. Farm workers arrive on their bikes. A farmer, Arthur Rickwood, arrives by car to survey the scenes. Women workers arrive on bicycles. This section of the film shows farming scenes. They show teams of men ploughing using crawler tractors. The potato harvest is shown as are harvests of vegetables, fruit and the main grain harvest. Many women workers are employed in these scenes. They also show the use of machinery on a Fenland farm, including a reaper and binder and a baler. The final scenes are of an industrial City and then scenes of London, showing the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben.

Featured Buildings

Palace of Westminster; Big Ben

Keywords

Drainage; Farming; Floods; Punt gunning; Women workers

Other Places

Denver Sluice, Norfolk; Hilgay, Norfolk; Ten Mile Bank, Norfolk; Welney, Norfolk; London

Background Information

The film contains some shots also appearing in `Fenlands' 1945, and features the same farmer, Arthur Rickwood. There are additional shots showing the 1947 floods.

Manifestations

Draining The Fens

  • Barcode
    INV365621
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    MP4 H264 digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:09:17
    Modification Date
    27/09/2011
    Parts
    Reference
    729860
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    INV366834
    Canonical Title
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    Carrier Type
    MP4 H264 digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:09:17
    Modification Date
    31/08/2011
    Parts
    Reference
    724930
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    INV340254
    Canonical Title
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    Carrier Type
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    Dimension
    Duration
    0:09:17
    Modification Date
    31/08/2011
    Parts
    Reference
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    Parts
    Reference
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    Canonical Title
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    Carrier Type
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    Dimension
    Duration
    0:09:17
    Modification Date
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    Parts
    Reference
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  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV164705
    Canonical Identifier
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    Identifier
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    Parts
    Reference
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  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV170951
    Canonical Identifier
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    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
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    Dimension
    Identifier
    Modification Date
    28/07/2008
    Parts
    Reference
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  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV170192
    Canonical Identifier
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    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
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    Dimension
    Identifier
    Modification Date
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    Parts
    Reference
    673149
  • Barcode
    INV191568
    Canonical Identifier
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    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Duration
    0:10:00
    Identifier
    Modification Date
    25/06/2021
    Parts
    Reference
    563681
  • Barcode
    INV??1764
    Canonical Identifier
    B-364
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    16mm film
    Colour Type
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    Has Sound
    N
    Identification Notes
    Neg / Pos Type (data migration 25/06/2021): dupe Picture: mute (data migration 25/06/2021)
    Identifier
    Image Polarity
    negative
    Modification Date
    25/06/2021
    Parts
    Reference
    562669
    Sound
    silent
  • Barcode
    INV??1763
    Canonical Identifier
    B-322
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    16mm film
    Has Sound
    Y
    Identification Notes
    Picture: optical (data migration 25/06/2021)
    Identifier
    Modification Date
    25/06/2021
    Parts
    Reference
    562668
    Sound
    sound
  • Activities
    Barcode
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    Canonical Identifier
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    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Details
    Carrier Type
    16mm film
    Colour Type
    bw
    Has Image
    Y
    Has Sound
    Y
    Identifier
    Image Polarity
    positive
    Modification Date
    25/06/2021
    Parts
    Reference
    561549
    Sound
    sound
    Sound System
    variable density

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