"Illawarra Coke"

[@skivvy3565]

*I’m so glad we didn’t have to wait until 2062. What a treat these videos are*

[@eriksoekov8150]

I love how those older films are without drama or other redundant fluff. Simply a clear explanation of how the process takes place for anyone interested. Also no massive repetition in images. Every new scene tells you something new.

[@darrylvernon2549]

I agree Erik. Far more watchable than many of today's documentaries of this kind.

[@agestatsega]

Yes, I Love It.

[@Nix_IoI]

I like the music playing while watching

[@dvdace5403]

The drama is in the 🎶 music 🎶

[@wlpxx7]

Ever heard of How It's Made? There are many shows that mirror this quality

[@josephastier7421]

Videos like this are why I put up with the rest of KZbin.

[@meganthearchitectbrown1111]

This is, like, my favorite comment in a MINUTE. Ahahahaha.

[@Freeknickers24]

Too bad people can't be terrorists anymore.

[@josephastier7421]

@@Freeknickers24 wat

[@Freeknickers24]

@@josephastier7421 i don't remember what the hell I meant. I was pretty drunk last night.

[@florabee9283]

Everything about this production is first rate. The shot choices, the lighting, soundtrack, script, it's all premium and the fact that it was done in 1962 in house is all the more impressive. The Holden looked very much like the 1956 Bel-Air Chevrolet we had some years ago, and the iron tub was very much like the 1957 American Standard one that I refused to let be demolished during a house remodel. Very excellent, enjoyable, educational film, expertly done.

[@DursunX]

Fun Fact: the Sydney to Illawarra passenger trains pass through Coalcliff Colliery to this day. it was the highlight of my childhood excursions to Sydney. most of the structures in this brilliant film can still be seen standing (although somewhat abandoned).

[@nleeder]

Hi LJL. So pleased that you enjoyed it. Being initiator and manager of the huge development program at ICC was a wonderful and most satisfying challenge for me and it's success was an achievement which set me up for a very satisfying further career. How lucky can one be? My keen interest in photography/film making plus enhancement of my industrial management career were both satisfied in this one film documenting the evolution of the new coke oven design subsequently adopted worldwide.!!

[@acme_tnt8741]

You are a blessed man!

[@SkeeterMcBeater]

Very cool. I've seen loads of coke foundries throughout America that look very similar. That technology has helped many men feed their families. Thank you.

[@SuthosElectrolysisWorkshop]

Fantastic History. Thank you Mr Leeder for recording the history. You could not put a price on it. I would often pass through Coal Cliff on the tran and see the coke being pushed out of the ovens. Spectacular to say the least, I am a boilermaker and always wondered what would be like working on maintenance in the plant. So cool to see your video. Kind regards, Sutho....

[@whiteknightcat]

Back in the good ol' days, when industrial processes were accompanied by a merry orchestral soundtrack.

[@DawgPro]

Beautiful! Thank You. The guys spreading the enamel powder on the tubs... something tells me they all died of respiratory illness.

[@randomconsumer4494]

Borderlands made a raid boss, giant fire creature. They named Him Illawarra, now I know what it is from. Thanks mate.

[@paulbergen9114]

We used to have Milwaukee Solvay Coke until 1982 but the prolonged recession and lack of updates killed it along with many of the small foundries closing. Finally after 40 years the land is being developed. Very few coke plants left in the USA. Thanks for the excellent film I was riveted from start to finish with the thorough narration

[@peterjohnston1224]

This snapshot in time of the working conditions is fascinating. No standard uniforms; little or no PPE; a heavy reliance on reactionary quality through post-manufacture quality inspections, rather than accurate process management leading to a consistent output.. Incredible. THX much for the video.

[@relikvija]

Coca Cola secret finally reveiled

[@agestatsega]

Coca Cola Is Made Of A Real Coke 😨

[@rockerpat1085]

We don't use the "C" word anymore!!! Yeah we found out about their secret hatred of white people!!!

[@TzVp]

wouldnt doubt it

[@Shiro_Usagi-01]

I like how you spelt revealed as reveiled

[@agestatsega]

@@Shiro_Usagi-01 I Just Realized That.

[@peterrossington3508]

What an absolutely fantastic film. I had the opportunity to visit the Coalcliff site just before it closed in June 2013. As a Pomme chemist working in Australia, I found it fascinating to see so much infrastructure effectively lost from the UK, but still just operating in Australia. So much technology and skill lost from both Countries and sent abroad all in the name of progress / profit. Thankfully this film captures the industry that built Australia and made it wealthy. One day, we might have to re-build these plants to re-establish employment in Australia and the UK.

[@nleeder]

Hi Northerbrewer once more. Your comment is spot on! In the early 1960s, I visited the Appalachians to see the mines and coke oven batteries of the Jewell Smokeless Coal Company at Vansant, West Virginia, using the then-world-leading technology they had adopted from the Illawarra Coke Company at Coalcliff. The working life of both miner and coke maker in those narrow Appalachian valleys was really tough and, as you say, today's kids do not understand just how much has changed for the better!.

[@fritzpitz2652]

Great film! Interesting to see a coking plant that makes no use of by products and releases everything right into atmosphere.

[@moblet]

Some adjunct history - the ship being unloaded at 25:10, the Lake Illawarra, is the ship that collided with the Tasman Bridge in Hobart in 1975.

[@cobralyoner]

wow that’s interesting! thx for sharing (:

[@laughterman805]

@@cobralyoner I second that

[@dantheman_4765]

@moblet thank you with that information! How in the world did you find this out?

[@moblet]

@@dantheman_4765 I saw the name of the ship and knew I'd heard it somewhere before. Took me a while to make the connection.

[@MotoScootMech]

Noel as a 22 year old residing in the states I really appreciated your video from a historical perspective as well as the simple efficiency with which the work was done. You guys showed that to make products to improve daily like, fancy machines and tools weren't always necessary- just a strong pair of arms and an alert mind got the job done best!

[@nleeder]

Your spot-on comment is much appreciated! True commitment, an open mind seeking a simple but better way and the use of truckloads of common sense was the creed we vigorously pursued then! If subject to today's unending feasibility studies and indecision about what lay ahead, we would have been stymied right from day one. I'm so very glad that the unbridled confidence of youth DID pay off though!!!

[@ianfoster8908]

What a historical gem! In the 70s I worked at BHP Whyalla as, at various, times the electrical engineer for the Coke Ovens. They were byproduct type ovens somewhat more sophisticated than at Coal Cliff. We had, for the 70s, a complex cross battery interlocking system to line up the ram, the door machine with guide and the hot car. As the ram pushed the coke through the oven the hot car crept forward so the coke was evenly distributed in the car for quenching, the hot car was unmanned. Spent a lot of time getting the creep system to work properly but succeeded in the end. Great days, great people, great training for a young engineer, thanks BHP..

[@lowend5566]

I was born in Wollongong and worked in the steelworks in the 70's and spent a couple of shifts at the port Kembla cokeworks. This is a real trip down memory lane.

[@sharks3010]

I love watching people who are masters of their craft. Especially when automation of these processes was limited by the technology at the time and relied more on skilled labour.

[@masaharumorimoto4761]

This helped me understand modern coke ovens better, seeing the progression from this older style I now understand why we do it upright now.

[@thesymbiont227]

What an incredibly well made documentary! I realize I’m seeing this 60+ years after it was made and 12 years after it was released on KZbin but quality like this is timeless.

[@broncotrolly]

I worked at Illawarra in nineteen seventy twine zip dip. It was an absolute dream mate!

[@peteacher52]

Well done Mr Leeder. You provided a record of daily occurrences in a work-a-day situation, often overlooked until it is too late. Those earlier Holdens were superb, Plain Jane but utterly reliable if given rust treatment and basic servicing.

[@SJR_Media_Group]

Congratulations on creating this wonderful cinematic slice of history. It effectively shows the Coke making process, leading edge technology in time period, and lots of Ausie Pride. In the beginning, you laid the foundation expertly; who, what, where, why, and when all answered in ways understandable by industry experts and average citizens. I am old school photographer and appreciated the detail provided about 16mm film; ASA, K rating, type, and filters. My favorite film of all times was Kodachrome 64. Fine grain, wide latitude, and easy to achieve great color saturation by shooting 1/2 - 1 stop under exposure. I kept filters handy for different color environments. Kept different studio lights also for different effects. Today, I learned about the Coke making process by watching a film you produced in 1962. It's 2022 now, so film is 60 years old. It is still relevant today as much as it was back then. Technologies have changed, but the need for high quality Coke has not changed.

[@leokimvideo]

A peep back in time when Australia actually made stuff and was not reliant on Chinese imports. Time to go back to the old ways. WAKE UP AUSTRALIA

[@harrykuheim6107]

Too late...America has fallen...There is no one left to stand up to Commies/Globalists/ Marxists/ Socialists/Environmentalists or Islamofascists.

[@boobyhatch7897]

Hello from Pico Rivera

[@joergmaass]

@@harrykuheim6107 You are delusional, my friend. Seriously.

[@christopheblanchi4777]

@@harrykuheim6107 Complete an utter BS like all Trump supporter.

[@xelthiavice4276]

i agree fuck china and fuck the CCP

[@clwilu94]

That was a great video. I was employed by Erie Coke in Erie,Pennsylvania for 23yrs. I did pretty much every job there. I couldn't believe the lack of protective gear back then. Wow. We had fire retardant coveralls,gloves,respirators ,face shields you name it. It was hot, hard work,but it sure made a man out of me. Thank you ,sir for this film.

[@nleeder]

Hi clwilu94. So pleased that you so much enjoyed my film "Illawarra Coke"! Yes, looking back, I'm pretty concerned at the lack of safety gear we used then - but most protective gear was regarded as uncomfortable and far too restrictive and hot by the coke oven workers themselves! Times sure have changed!!

[@stnicholas54]

Love the 60s music in the background!

[@mattheweley9799]

An age of industry we won't see again. An excellent subject matter, an excellent film.

[@planetbob4709]

stuff like this is going on in third world countries every day. Not to this scale but the ingenuity and invention is there and you can find it on youtube these days.

[@soppingwetburgers6493]

@@planetbob4709 most people don't know what's going on in third world countries. I tried explaining how the rest of the world is still catching up and I was met with "ok Trump tard"

[@WAL_DC-6B]

@@planetbob4709 A huge coke oven complex was built in Granite City, Illinois (U.S.A.) about ten years ago.

[@nleeder]

Yes, Loaf Bloke, several people have muttered this under their breath - but the very skilled coke workers always had the situation totally under control. In fact, in the twelve years I managed the Illawarra Coke Works, there were no serious accidents. But the very disciplined coke workers thoroughly respected the potential dangers at all times and, despite their seemingly casual actions, they were always very careful!.

[@benhenry1116]

Noel Leeder you most take care to not snort a large pile of coke. doing so will result in you screaming "SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND". very dangerous indeed.

[@carsonschaneman]

Sad to learn these guys aren't around anymore, this film truely is a gem

[@WAL_DC-6B]

Not only due to age, but probably also due to exposure to all the toxic fumes that comes with coke production.

[@lo2740]

well, the pmanager who made this film is still alive, he posted it.

[@carsonschaneman]

@@lo2740 I meant the company itself isn't around.

[@sydneyshinshi]

Great bit of history. I live in Sydney just up the road and only had a vague knowledge of these works. Thank you Noel

[@arunkumarpriyadarshisethi3412]

Many many thanks for the lovely documentary ❤️.

[@wazzazone]

Great images from my 8th year here in the Illawarra. Thanks again Noel

[@jimsvideos7201]

This film is both a remarkable technical achievement and a priceless time capsule.

[@lynnfitzpatrick6108]

I worked at Corrimal Coke not long before it closed, loved the movie and the the advancements I could see in all facets of the coke making operations

[@UQRXD]

Very well done. Not long and drawn out. Great music.

[@badscrew4023]

Thanks, Mr Leeder!

[@timwilcox4972]

Fantastic can't believe I haven't seen this before now, I still remember having to collect coke for our classrooms at Austinmer public .

[@Aussiesnrg]

Thanks for putting this wonderful video/film up for all to enjoy. I actually walked around the old coke works last year. Took many photos too

[@americannomadnews5370]

Thank you for this classic industrial education film. they're an amazing and important part of our historical appreciation and preservation of technical knowledge.

[@Tom-Lahaye]

Always enchanting, this kind of old films about the industries existing then. But the reality was that men had to work hard, in dirty and hot conditions, often having dramatic effects on health. My dad was a coal miner, so I know all about. But we have to bear in mind that this was 60 years ago, and the operations shown were done with the knowledge of then. Only thing which surprised me was that the coke gas was not extracted and used but just burned of trough the chimneys. Maybe there was not a big enough community to make use of this gas within an economical distance to build a delivery infrastructure.

[@rjk60]

Noel, I always enjoy watching how different things are produced, such as the film you did about making coke. Ever since I was a small child growing up in the fifties (I was born in September, 1947), I have loved watching how things have been done or made. I used to go to the foundry (they made fire hydrants and gate valves) in the city where I live and watch them make up the molds and pour the molten metal. They would have the windows open for ventilation (the foundry was just ground level), so I could sit on the window sill and watch the whole process. Once I walked around back and went in the back door and stood by the furnace and watched them pour from that perspective. All they said to me was stay out of the way. The foundry was a small operation, so the furnace was just big enough to melt the scrap iron. There are a lot of videos on You Tube that are poorly done and hard to watch because of bad camera/Iphone work done by the person doing the the filming. Have you put anymore of your film work on KZbin?

[@nleeder]

Great to hear of your childhood fascination with how things were made rjk60 - a sure sign of a keen lifetime interest in how the world really works! A foundry is a perfect place to start - scrap iron turned into wonderful fire hydrants and gate valves is the perfect example of good recycling!!! Lucky you to see such a great educational examples of ideal management of the world's resources!! As I'm sure you will have noted, I presently have exactly one hundred videos on "youtube nleeder" with about 150,000 viewers worldwide. I have lots more old film and video awaiting (very time and energy consuming) editing but, if I can live a bit longer and actually find the needed energy and lots of time, I do hope to add some more videos soon of Eastern Europe shot many decades back during extensive travels by my wife and I. Fingers crossed!!

[@sylhayes8152]

What an interesting and informative film you made, Noel. I grew up at Woonona and have fond memories of taking the steam train to Bulli High school in the 60's. My dad worked at the steelworks all his life. The Coalcliff Colliery and Cokeworks was great to pass by on the railway line at night; you could see the glowing furnaces, it was part of the Illawarra landscape. I still love everything to do with steam engines...part of my childhood. Thanks for recording those memories. Sylvia Hayes

[@nleeder]

So pleased you like my old film Sylvia - it was a great time of innovation in the 1950's - 60s and I felt that I just HAD to record it all on film! Great to see some of it on ABC TV tonight but so sad that this was because coke making in Australia is now no longer commercially viable and it is so really sad that those great cokeworkers who had spent their working lives doing it all now have to seek work elsewhere.

[@rosco4659]

Loved every minute of this.

[@nleeder]

Me too, Northerbrewer! Again....my fingers are firmly crossed!! Survival is an unquenchable instinct in every species! And, be sure that you keep alive forever those wonderful memories!! Noel.

[@dietervolke7811]

GRETA approved the happysilly music.

[@northerbrewer]

I just wanted to add thank you for taking the time to post these movies and chat with me. Great stuff I really enjoyed it.

[@vajnis]

Great video! Thanks for sharing.🙂

[@Akcd11r2002]

4:54 NOW THAT'S PRODUCTION!!! PINS AND BUSHINGS BE DAMNED, WE GOT COAL TO MOVE!!!!

[@nleeder]

You are right, Northerbrewer, this is indeed the BIG challenge for our now-overcrowded and grossly over-polluted world going into the decisive years ahead! Confident that a solution will emerge? No way - but, my fingers are firmly crossed that commonsense and the inherent urge of self-survival of the species will ultimately prevail!

[@micaeltalbot2934]

Thanks Noel. As a local born and bred in Wollongong I enjoyed your movie very much. Thanks for the memories. I've shared it on Facebook and Twitter.

[@nleeder]

Although now within a few days of turning ninety, my very fond memories of the wonderful 'Gong remain as vivid as they were when I made the film - now half a century ago!!. I'm so pleased that you so much enjoy those magic memories of Illawarra's wonderful pioneering coke workers enthusiastically leading the way for growth in an Australia then emerging from the rigours of the second world war. And, I will never forget the great lifetime friends I made in those exciting times at Coalcliff in the fifties and sixties - many are still in regular contact!!. Ah!! Memories!! Wonderful memories!!

[@cpufreak101]

I work for a coke producer in the US, its a little different, but cool to see the process is more or less the same today, thanks for the video

[@gregford8315]

Hi Noel, Thank for the great insight into the Illawarra Coke Company Works at Coalcliff - Really enjoyed the film. I run the Shire Amateur Photographers' Society, and yesterday 23 of us had the opportunity to access the site officially to take images. Now with the added understanding of the site from your film, it has made us appreciate the importance of Illawarra Coke Company and the site in Australia's history ... Thank you for making it available, and congratulations, Greg Ford

[@nleeder]

Hi Northerbrewer. Yours IS reasonable comment about how the way it WAS - THEN!!! At the Illawarra Coke Company, everyone tried really hard to further improve the then-emerging technology and, as the film clearly shows at the time it was made in the 1960s, quite a lot HAD been achieved but there was still a long way to go! Today's ICC operations are quite outstanding in showing just what CAN be achieved in fifty years of further evolution of non-byproduct coking - as should always be the aim!

[@jtveg]

Great work. 🔨🔧🔩 Thanks so much for sharing. 😎👌🏼

[@irus1024]

All controls and measuring are done with analog machines, its awesome. Anyway, I'd like to have a cast iron bathtub.

[@redtobertshateshandles]

I'm pretty sure my mates Dad, Gordon Oliver worked for KCC. We watched the operation at Coalcliff when we were kids. Another kids dad worked right here too.

[@cobralyoner]

it’s so interesting from a today point of view how he explained how rubber works in the film.

[@RedHeadForester]

Really enjoyed watching this. KZbin threw it at me, I didn't have a clue what to expect, but it's a really nice watch.

[@aaron1232006]

This is what my intestines look like before, during and after eating super hot food

[@mikehunt3436]

Mr. Leeder, the video was very informative as to the coke works and some of their major customers in Australia. Wish you all the best.

[@blingbling574]

In my nearly forty years as a consumer, I only bought a $90 Barma hat.

[@flamingfrancis]

At the time this Coalcliff plant operated in the 60's there were two other plants in addition to the major operation in site at the Port Kembla Steelworks. All but the latter have gone. You can buy a block of land on the former Corrimal Coke site if you wish.

[@TheTransporter007]

The one thing they didn't show in this documentary is how they turn the coke from black to white. 🤔

[@forcivilizaton5021]

This is so amazing. I always wondered how cocaine was made.

[@northerbrewer]

That is a very unfair comment. I have worked in heavy industry my whole life from the rock face to the finished metal. This is the way it was done 50 years ago. Today things are safer and more efficient. Although I do not miss it, I still remember that was the smell that put food on my table. Small independent company like this are the best to work for. Vale, Xtrata, Bhp&b, Rio just to name biggest are the real devils to fear.

[@nleeder]

Don Jones - realistically your inane comment warrants NO response but, in the interests trying to apply some logic to your raving, I simply draw your attention to the inevitable evolution of ALL technology and that, when the film was made in 1964, the Illawarra coking practice was thoroughly leading the world and the now vastly enhanced current practice still does! So, be grateful! Your claimed miserable lifestyle would be even more deficient without the benefit of such evolving technology!

[@banjerism7281]

Nice! I remember watching the coke ovens burning on the train from Stanwell Pk to Wollongong. And who these days would think we used to even make bath tubs?

[@morgantisdale6928]

Love the Bewitched/I Dream of Jeannie, soundtrack.

[@rjl110919581]

THANK YOU for YOUR GREAT DETAIL VIDEO AS GOOD WATCHING AUSTRALIA HISTORY

[@TheSilmarillian]

Absolutely wonderful how times have changed .

[@ant4812]

For the 00 railway people out there, the truck at 05:00 looks to me to be a reasonably easy conversion from the 1/76 scale Airfix AEC Matador, either from the 5.5" gun kit, or the tanker from the RAF refuelling kit. Pretty much all the vehicles from those kits are useful for a late 40's on to late 60's layout.

[@northerbrewer]

I have clear memories of the gas coming off the coke batteries, blast furnaces, B-converters and reverbs. Huge leaps in safety and fugitive emissions reductions ( thanks to a acid, bag houses and co-generation plants ) transformed business. The trouble is most people have no idea where we came from or the direction we are going. I admit I really do miss the foundries, the steel, the nickel works, and mines as I knew them ( smaller more personal places in spite of how dirty the business was ).

[@Rythmdoc]

wonderful film, thanks!

[@tomstickland]

I watched this after visiting the remains of the Cwm Coke plant in South Wales. It's very interesting. Note the man wearing shorts as he aligns the coke guideways.

[@painmt651]

My step father was a maintenance worker at the coke plant in Contra Costa County.

[@Baard2000]

My father used to film with a Bolex 16 mm.......awesome camera !!!!

[@KathrynsWorldWildfireTracking]

19:52 - Ah yes, the song Hackney Carriage, by Cedric King-Palmer. So catchy! Fans of Ren & Stimpy, will recognize too. I could listen to this all day!

[@rjk60]

I really enjoyed that video! It is always nice to see a film or video that is done well, like this video. You do wonderful film work Noel!

[@nleeder]

Thank you rjk60! I have been a keen film/video maker for almost eighty years now so, if I hadn't been able to pursue my obsession with recording the moving image reasonably well, I suspect that I would have called it a day way back! But....it is so nice to have a really perceptive viewer say that my tour de force production "Illawarra Coke" WAS well done!!

[@laughterman805]

Speechless

[@jthepickle7]

1963 Falcon, my first car!

[@pneumatic00]

Magnificently bouncy orchestral blast furnace music! Love it!

[@nealbosher9293]

Great video! Surprising they didn't capture the by products just let it all go up in smoke. The gas and tar coming off was useful too, but i suppose transporting those by products was an issue.

[@redtobertshateshandles]

Coal was plentiful. Times were different.

[@curedtheaddict1461]

Who needs melatonin I just watch this type of video about 1 hour before bed and I'm out like a light in 10 minutes. Anybody know other channels that have these types of videos. Old school voice and video about whatever?

[@StropSharp]

This is amazing footage of industry done the old way, its not surprising to see those old hand not using personal protective equipment (PPE) however up to the smelting operation, which incidentally I used to be a smelter furnace tapper from 1989-1999 for FMC/Astaris here in the U.S. advancing up to chief furnace operator in 1999 what a place that was.. the average temperature on the furnce floor was 140 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer. I'll never forget my introduction was quite rude by an operator to the furnce tapping floor was 'welcome to your worst fucking nightmare...what he didn't know was I had nightmares of the place when I was a 10 or 11 years old kid...yes premonitions do happen...lmao...the place has been closed for 20 years now. Oh and by the way this plant made elemental phosphorus and coke was used in the process. I hated that place but didn't when I seen my paycheck. Thanks for this video I know its a whole different animal but it still brings back memories for me.

[@nleeder]

Hi Hudson501. You're right! OSHA is certainly shutting down the States today! All the old "get up and go" has gone! In the mid-1960s, when this film was made, the Illawarra operation was way ahead of equivalent operations in the States and a regular stream of visitors from the US came and saw and copied what Illawarra was doing - because that is the way world technology evolved! I am proud of leading that charge! As were all the men at Illawarra! They showed the way to the world then!

[@boogusnutsack5926]

@Skidanje Kraste The only reason you have anything in your life right now not carved out of wood is because of these processes dumb ass.

[@skunkjobb]

@@boogusnutsack5926 The production plant was probably not worse than others of its time but we should be glad that coke is not produced that way anymore, at least not in the industrialized part of the world. While the product is still needed for steel production, coke can be produced without spewing shit all around the factory. People working in coke production were, and to some degree still are over represented in lung cancer and the fumes also impact everyone living close to the factory.

[@propertysalesproducts821]

Awesome, thanks Noel..!!!

[@BuckarooBanziBMF]

Came for the burny stuff, stayed for the music.

[@nleeder]

Hi Northerbrewer again. Yes, INCO's story is replicated often in mining areas. I knew many people who had lived at Port Pirie in South Australia where all the ore mined from the astonishingly rich Broken Hill mines in western New South Wales was smelted in what is still the world's largest lead smelter. Garden vegetables grown near Port Pirie were later found to cause lead poisoning in many local residents who died an early death - not an unusual story in mining communities world wide. Sad!!.

[@sadie77711]

Excellent!

[@pamike4873]

Great video. This was a time when people took pride in their work, their company, and their country. I would bet 99% of "adults" today under 50 don't even know what coke is, how it's made, or what it's used for. Granted we have those new-fangled electric arc furnaces now, but imagine the safe spaces today's young workers would need if they even saw a plant like this. It would have to be air-conditioned, have a HEPA air filtration system, etc. Oh the good old days. When you got ahead by busting your hump at a job, not sitting on it at home being oppressed and offended.

[@tomstickland]

Workplace health and safety means that fewer people are injured or suffer long term health issues nowadays.

[@kevinbraden9445]

Those days are gone😢

[@PetesNikon]

Excellent filmmaking job, Noel. Top quality. As one who grew up with Bolex and 16mm, I know what effort it takes to create such a film in that medium. Well done. So glad you can keep it going by transfer to digital, film is so frail in the long term.

[@parttime9070]

Ektachrome was a slide film also, it had a nice cyan bias.. The sky color was rich blue..

[@HieronymousLex]

It is so cool that you made this, I’m really glad you uploaded it, now it’s an immortal piece of history

[@1joshjosh1]

My ten-year-old son and I would like to salute all those workers whose health suffered because of lack of PPE at the time. I'm sure these companies weren't jumping up and down once they became sick or injured or heath compromised to protect them or compensate them. Great historical video!!!!

[@flamingfrancis]

I joined the workforce at PKSW in 1964...you forget that there was virtually no OHS regulations of PPE at that time. Safety hats made from hardened cardboard, gloves, goggles and maybe safety boots. In fairness to AIS / BHP Steel / BlueScope Steel they generated safety statistics daily and these were always the first items reported on at GM's meetings EVERY morning. They had very fair worker's compensation and had done so for a long time. As a youngster our neighbour worked at Newcastle plant from 1915 and on retirement he received decent make up money for an old injury and also for early superannuation shortcomings. I know for fact your suggestions are not accurate.

[@1joshjosh1]

@@flamingfrancis Well then I am pleasantly corrected. That was good they were so progressive. Thank you very much for sharing that information it's always good to share history like that.

[@ColeRees]

Absolutely loved this documentary. So interesting!!! This was an amazing snapshot in time. As technologies improve, coal is a dying energy resource. I'm glad we've improved so much, providing clean energy to this world now, but we can never forget our roots. This was the stepping stone to what we have now. We could not have the renewable resources if we didn't start here. Thank you so much for uploading this!

[@movax20h]

Thanks for posting this on the youtube. Really great video and history. It looks there is no more coal mining in Coalcliff, but the coke production is still working, and is both well estabilished in Australia and few other countries.

[@davidjohnston7512]

You are wrong .The coke works at coalcliff is closed.There is no longer coke production at Coalcliff coke works.

[@movax20h]

@@davidjohnston7512 Indeed my bad. I don't know what source I used before. Indeed it stopped production in 2013, and was closed in April 2014.

[@1978garfield]

Glad I found this. Really well made, I would have had no idea it was done by a "keen amateur film maker" if he had not have told me. I wonder how much of that industry is still around?

[@chrisj1475]

For a amateur film on a very limited budget it was pretty good.

[@donwright3427]

Lovely insight into days gone by