Essex Reservoir (1954)

West Hangingfield, Essex. L/S of country road that has been blocked off; C/U of sign reading ’Diversion’. Several shots of exterior and interior of a deserted house that will soon be cleared to make way for a new reservoir. Men work to demolish houses and cut down trees. The Frood family carry belongings out of their house and load them onto a truck; they are the last family in the reservoir site to leave their home. General views panning across the valley. Tractors and bulldozers smooth the ground. Men dig in a trench beside a huge pipe. Another trench contains wooden scaffolding to keep it up. Men far below are seen digging away. Men tread the clay base of the dam into position with their wellied feet. Machinery clears earth and shingle from the site. More machines mix cement. General view of the work site as the land is prepared for the reservoir. Large tractors travel through corn fields, yielding their last harvest before the reservoir takes the land. A farmer (Alec Frood?) pic