Historic footage of millions of bricks being produced in Peterborough

From the fantastic commentary to the remarkable old footage of clay mining and brick ovens, films from the iconic Pathe News archive give an incredible insight into an industry that helped shape Peterborough.
By Mark Edwards
Published 7th Oct 2021, 17:31 BST
Updated 7th Oct 2021, 17:43 BST
Pathe News footage gives a fascinating insight into the brick industry that helped shape Peterborough.Pathe News footage gives a fascinating insight into the brick industry that helped shape Peterborough.
Pathe News footage gives a fascinating insight into the brick industry that helped shape Peterborough.

The Pathe notes say the film shows brickworks near Peterborough where men are at work in the pits where the clay is scooped up by digging machines.

Young men unload the finished bricks from machines in the factory. The soft bricks are taken to the ovens on trolleys and a man is filmed walking on top of the ovens, stoking the fires below with fine coal through small holes that are sealed with metal covers. A man with an electrical measuring device checks the temperature of the oven below.

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The fired bricks are filmed being removed from the ovens and stacked.

The footage shows the scale of the industry in Peterborough.

Do you remember Peterborough’s brick making industry. If you have any old pictures or footage we would love to feature them.

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