Things to Come filming at South Griffin Colliery, 1935

In May 1935 the derelict South Griffin Colliery at Blaina was the location for the attack on 'the Hill People' in Alexander Korda's Things to Come, from H. G. Wells, whose first treatment was called 'Whither Mankind?'. Two hundred local ex-servicemen and Territorial Army men were hired as extras.

The mining history in this record

South Griffin, the last of the three Griffin pits at Blaina, had stopped producing coal in 1921 and was kept only for pumping and ventilating Rose Heyworth Colliery. In May 1935 the derelict colliery was used for a scene in Things to Come, directed by William Cameron Menzies and produced by Alexander Korda: the attack by the Boss's brigand army on 'the Hill People' after a long war.

Filming ran from 20 to 23 May. Two hundred ex-servicemen and Territorial Army members were engaged at three hours' notice and paid 16 shillings a day, about £1,000 in all, a much-needed boost to the local economy; a caption issued with one still read 'Unemployed miners as film actors represent the devastated army after the World War'. The colliery histories record the film under its early title, Whither Mankind.

People

H. G. Wells, author and screenwriter; Alexander Korda, producer; William Cameron Menzies, director.

Legacy today

Things to Come was released in 1936, most of it shot at Denham, Elstree and Worton Hall studios; Film Weekly's readers voted it the ninth best British film of the year.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each tagged with how solidly it's grounded and attached to the source(s) that support it. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The attack on 'the Hill People' by the Boss's brigand army in Things to Come was shot at South Griffin Colliery, Blaina, between 20 and 23 May 1935. (documented fact) ^1,2,3
• The colliery had stopped producing coal in 1921 and was derelict at the time. (documented fact) ^1,3
• Two hundred ex-servicemen and Territorial Army men were engaged at three hours' notice at 16 shillings a day, bringing about £1,000 into the area. (documented fact) ³
• A caption issued with a still described 'Unemployed miners as film actors' representing the devastated army after the war. (contemporary account) ³
• Wells's first film treatment was titled 'Whither Mankind?', the name the colliery histories give the film. (documented fact) ^1,2,4

Mines

• South Griffin Colliery — Blaenau Gwent
  Scenes for Things to Come, then called Whither Mankind, were filmed at the derelict colliery in May 1935.

Sources

1. (secondary) South Griffin Blaina — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Griffin Collieries — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (secondary) Things to Come: Photo Gallery, Behind the Scenes — Nick Cooper (nickcooper.org.uk)
4. (secondary) Things to Come — Wikipedia

Record created: 2 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026