Obviously irony has not reached the North Pennines. Yes, there is much to
write about in the recent/present industry. It is a pity that many writers
on coal are still so wrapped up in the mysticism of 'The Big Hewer' and
everyone being blown apart by Lord Firedamp that they fail to come to grips
with it. Most coal mining books are so depressing that I would rather read
the roll call of the dead from the battle of the Somme.
Yes, high degrees of mechanisation were introduced. Those of us who worked
in the big pits of the Doncaster - Derbyshire - Notts coalfields (at least)
in the late 60s were used to it then. Nevertheless, when I visited Hapton
Valley (near Burnley) in February 1973 it was like going back to a museum -
with props and bars on the face! Sadly, I did not get chance to see the
coal plough they were using to work the Upper Mountain Mine.
As for the Coal Authority "trying to do a good job of preserving our
heritage" we shall see. Having driven through the Yorkshire coalfield this
afternoon, there's not much sign of it - apart from the obligatory sheave
wheels set in concrete at the entrance to 'somewhere or other business
park'. If, as Clive seems to think, having a purpose-built shed to house
abandonment plans is mining history, then there is a long way to go. They
are a statutory requirement of the Mines Inspectorate which (for coal and a
few fireclay-cum-coal mines) it delegated to the NCB and the Coal Authority
as the latter's successor. The plans are produced to a formula and fail to
tell us much which might have been on other plans. How many, for example,
colliery surface plans have survived? Drawn at 1/500, they would have
helped interpret the bull-dozed wastelands that the Coal Authority and its
ilk have produced from the mines.
As the British government established the Coal Authority, I would have
thought that it might have had some say in what that body's responsibilities
were. If metals were the obvious next step, why not oil and gas after that,
and then maybe water supply. It might not concern Clive, but I bet a lot of
mineral owners in metalliferous mining areas will be alarmed at this parvenu
arriving at their door.
Mike Gill
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