BELLAGHY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Tuesday, APRIL 10th, 2012.
DIGITAL FILM ARCHIVE: TITANIC 1912
Sean Diamond of Oldtown Joinery, Bellaghy, gave a talk on and showed slides and film on
the building, by his firm, of the replica of the Titanicʼs Grand Staircase for the new Titanic
Museum, Belfast.
Northern Ireland Archive then showed digital film of Captain Smyth on the bridge of the
Titanic.
Footage after the disaster-N.Canada, ice-infested waters and icebergs; mary Sculley the
press boat; Carpathia arriving in New York with surviving passengers and crew; Fr. Hogue,
passenger on Carpathia first spotted survivors in the water; showing life jackets on crew;
press hysteria-White Star offices, New York-100s of people waiting foe news; Marconi
interviewed survivors on Carpathia; recovery boat, Mackay-Bennett.
More footage: “I Remember”, 1999, John Parkinson, whose father was joiner on Titanic
build, tells of launch-12 tug boats up river to Hollywood/swish of propellers/crowds waving
hankies and shouting goodbye.
Silent footage- 1920s Harland & Wolfe yards and quays.(H&W started 1858).
1920s-35,000 workforce in H&W; 1980s-3,000; 2012-500.
Footage-Mrs. Neville Chamberlain in Belfast; launch HMS Belfast, 1938; previous day,
launch of aerodrome, Belfast.
Footage-1940s, W. Churchill grateful to people of NI; 1944-Ulster at Arms; building/
repairing ships at H&W.
1960s-silent footage, taken by workers, R&S Canberra-final passenger ship built by H&W.
Super 8 Stories-ordinary people donated super 8 footage to BBC-2 deepsea dockers
reminsce-timber from Scandinavia, Brazilian mahogany, logs from Africa.
1986-David Hammondʼs RTÉ/C4 documentary-social history of H&W, showing workers
reminiscing, “Steel Chest, Nail in Boot, Barking Dog” (menʼs nicknames).