Members of the list might like to know that the latest issue of British
Mining (No.74) has just been sent to members of the Northern Mine Research
Society. Entitled Keighley Coal, this monograph is my first foray into the
world of coal mining history and marks the closure (?) of a project which
I’ve been at, off and on, since the early 1970s.
Although the Keighley area is famed for its textile and engineering
industries, few people know of the many small coal pits which were an
important part of the local economy before the coming of the canal and the
railway. These were worked for at least five centuries with the last one
closing in 1932. One person who was aware of them was Paul Davison whose
keen interest in local geology led him to study the industry and its history
in the Aire Valley and its tributaries between Bingley and Skipton. He made
copious notes, but his untimely death prevented him preparing them for
publication. Fortunately, however, these notes were deposited at Cliffe
Castle Museum, where Mike Gill was able to combine them with his own work to
produce the current volume British Mining 74: Keighley Coal. A useful index
of personal names has been included.
A5, 105 pp, 21 figs, 10 plates.
ISBN 0 901450 57 X
£8.50 + £1.00 p&p.
Copies may be obtained from the Northern Mine Research Society, c/o 38 Main
Street, Sutton in Craven, KEIGHLEY, North Yorkshire, BD20 7HD. Please make
cheques payable to NMRS.
Mike Gill
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