Men on the Mend

Injured British Rail employees are put on the railroad to health at Swindon Works

When Joe Miller breaks his ankle on the shop floor of Swindon Works - it's a problem, but not a disaster. With some trepidation, off he hobbles to the Western Region Rehabilitation Workshop - a cross between a modern gym and an old-school metalwork classroom. This British Transport Films short aims to ease the nerves of employees like the fictional Joe about this pioneering back-to-work scheme.

The film was originally produced as a longer film for medical audiences under the title Rehabilitation at Swindon. Whether such an innovative use of workshop tools for physiotherapy purposes was of more benefit for British Rail or its employees is open to question, but it certainly seems a scheme belonging to less litigious times.