Martin,
Coming from non-ferrous metal mining interests, with a leaning towards
technological history, I am aware that the preoccupation amongst coal mining
historians with the sociological aspects of the industry is very marked.
However that is understandable given the rapid growth and decline of coal
mining and its communities within contemporary memory.
What the proposal says in plain terms is that not all mining communities
are/were the same and we would like to know why. I won't go into the
changes effected by the increased demand for steam coal and the colonisation
of the lower South Wales valleys, but the differences are very evident
between those areas and the earlier iron/coal communities to the north of
the coalfields.
With the possible exception of Cornwall, and the recent collapse of tin
mining, for non-ferrous metal mining historians the opportunity to analyse
the social aspects of mining at a contemporary level is long gone. However,
we do have the chance to observe the processes in coal mining and make
comparisons with changes in metal mining communities in the late 19th century.
One of the reasons behind the creation of this list was to bring together
the various elements of mining history. If we can promote an understanding
of the different approaches to the study of past mining activity through
discussion, then I would count it a success.
Peter
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Peter Claughton, Blaenpant Morfil, Rosebush, Clynderwen,
Pembrokeshire, Wales SA66 7RE.
Tel. 01437 532578; Fax. 01437 532921; Mobile 07831 427599
University of Exeter - Department of History
School of Historical, Political and Sociological Studies
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Co-owner - mining-history e-mail discussion list.
See http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/mining-history/ for details.
Mining History Pages - http://www.exeter.ac.uk/~pfclaugh/mhinf/
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