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    Coal Miners
    Coal Miners
    Coal Miners
    Ebook227 pages1 hour

    Coal Miners

    By Brian Elliott

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    About this ebook

    There have been many books published about the coal mining industry of Britain but relatively few about the miners themselves. This book is unique in that it concentrates on the miner, his family and his work through a careful selection of illustrations. Although most of the images are photographic, and therefore relate to the latter part of the nineteenth to the closing years of twentieth century, use is also made of much earlier sources, from woodcuts and engravings to illustrations in contemporary journals and magazines. A good deal of the material has come from the author's own collection, accumulated over many years of research; and also from archive sources. The selection is wide ranging, covering the traditional coal mining regions of Britain, from Scotland and northern England, through the midland coalfields and to Wales, as well as images from smaller coalfields such as Cumbria and Somerset. Today, coal mining is a virtually a lost industry and the men, women and children involved in what was once Britain's most important economic but most dangerous activity deserve both recognition and celebration.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateMar 31, 2015
    ISBN9781473851894
    Coal Miners

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      Book preview

      Coal Miners - Brian Elliott

      Introduction

      The main purpose of this book is to pay tribute and give proper recognition to coalminers at a time when the once great coal industry of Britain has almost gone. As I write this there appears to be little prospect of UK Coal not fulfilling their plan to close Kellingley and Thoresby collieries. This leaves Hatfield Main near Doncaster as our only remaining deep mine. Within living memory, the contraction of the industry was most marked in the 1960s when the NCB under the chairmanship of Alfred (Lord) Robens closed 400 pits and about one job in every two disappeared. Traditionally mobile, many redundant miners still found jobs, albeit in more distant pits. Then the rapid run down in the wake of the 1984-85 miners’ strike, despite the gallant efforts of movements such as Women Against Pit Closures, left very few pits able to continue into the 21st century.

      The compilation of Coalminers also occurs at a very apt time in world history. Many thousands of miners and their families played their part in the global conflict that became known as the Great War, its centenary years now being commemorated. In 1914, the number of miners that responded to Kitchener’s Call contributed to a significant reduction of manpower in the pits of Britain. I’ve included tributes to two former miners who served in the First World War: one a young ‘forgotten’ poet, a ‘Sheffield Pal’ who died on the Somme and a South Wales Borderers ‘miner-VC’ whose gallantry was extraordinary.

      Patriotism apart, many pit lads enlisted thinking that the army was ‘a better life’, far less dangerous than work underground. This was understandable as well over a thousand men and boys were killed in the coal industry every year and at least five times more suffered injuries. The great tragedy of Senghedydd was fresh in the memory of many, especially in South Wales. This and other disasters demonstrated the human devastation that could still occur to pit communities anywhere ‘in an instant’.

      Although the limited scale and extent of an ‘old images’ book cannot pay full justice to my aim, I have tried to take great care in both the selection of illustrations and their captions. Ceri Thompson at Big Pit National Coal Museum (Museum of Wales) has always responded to my queries and questions; and help is much appreciated from Ellie Swinbank (National Mining Museum Scotland), Rosemary Preece (National Mining Museum for England) and their colleagues, though I hasten to add that any errors are entirely my own. Martin Freeth and the Freeth family kindly gave permission for me to reproduce several images relating to their late father’s (W.H. Freeth’s) artwork and I am very grateful for their kindness. Thanks are also due to Stewart Williams (Publishers) of Barry for permission to reproduce several images from their excellent series of ‘old photographs’ books, in particular Old Rhondda and Rhondda Remembered; and to Andrew White for permission to use several images from the Irvin Harris Collection. The majority of images in Coalminers are from my own collection or camera, therefore remain with my copyright. Credits to any other known copyright holders are given at the end of captions.

      A miner ‘testing for gas’ is one of the most iconic images associated with the coalmining industry. This sculptural example has the additional symbolism of a hewer’s pick and can be seen at the Woodhorn museum site at Ashington in Northumberland. The figure surmounts a tall column of stone that forms part of the memorial to the thirteen miners who lost their lives following an explosion in Woodhorn pit on 13 August 1916. This spectacular mining monument was originally placed at Hirst Park in 1923.

      For military advice and guidance thanks to Jayne Daley and Andrew Featherstone.

      My thanks also go out to Dan Jarvis MBE MP for writing the foreword and to Lisa Hooson and her colleagues at Pen & Sword Books.

      Chapter One

      Portraits and Profiles

      A fine close-up shot of the face chargeman at Creswell Colliery, Tom Hendley, in 1978. At times Cresswell (Derbyshire) was the scene of mass picketing in 1984 during the miners’ strike and closed in 1991. Sheffield Star

      Detail from ‘The Collier’, a plate (no.3) taken from George Walker’s Costume of Yorkshire, originally published in 1814. The figure is a somewhat romantic image of a Middleton Colliery, near Leeds, miner, who is described as ‘returning from his labours in his usual costume’. Smoking from a clay pipe, one hand on a walking stick and the other supporting a wicker basket, there’s no sign of any muck or grime, the workman appearing like a farm labourer in his Sunday best. However, Walker does acknowledge that the collier’s attire ‘of white cloth bound with red, may probably be ridiculed as quite inconsistent with his sable occupation’; and qualifies his appearance due to ‘frequent washing’.

      One of the most remarkable survival and rescue stories in British mining history concerns a man called John Evans who worked at Pentrefron Colliery in the Wrexham area of north Wales. On 27 September 1819, the 120-yard deep mine was flooded and 3 of the 19 men working at the time were trapped underground. Two bodies were recovered by the searchers after 8 days but little hope remained of finding a third person alive. A coffin was prepared for his burial, its name plate inscribed. After 12 days explorers heard a voice calling to them, debris was cleared and John Evans was found sitting in the darkness. He had survived by eating candles and drinking water which had dripped down on him. Very weak but still able to walk, Evans was escorted out of the pit and taken home on a cart, accompanied by a large and triumphant crowd. Apparently Evans later made use of the makeshift coffin, converting it into a cupboard for his home. Understandably, he did not return to mining, passing away peacefully 47 years later, aged 75, a legendary figure captured for posterity in this old engraving. Amgueddfa Cymru/National Museum Wales

      The Victorian magazine The Graphic was notable for its high quality illustrations, the work of very able artists. In the April 15 1876 issue a full-page engraving of ‘The Miner’ appears, described as number 6 of a ‘Heads of the People’ series. It is a superb image, the face of the veteran pitman captured by the light of his Davy lamp. His expression, certainly his eyes, seem somewhat sad and the artist has emphasised his large hands. Carrying a couple of picks over his left shoulder, it is also interesting to see that he is wearing a

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