Le 26/04/04 11:16, « Tony Brewis » <[log in to unmask]> a écrit :
> Regarding my comment on the closure of La Houve coal mine in France
> as reported by Mining Journal -- "I guess mining historians will be
> wondering just what is meant by 'rehabilitate the site' ", Ian Cowburn
> writes "It means get rid of any visible trace of coal mining activity,
> and sell off the houses and socio-cultural structures to privatised
> rent-collectors."
>
> I hope that at least the office block, depicted on my beer-mug, can be
> preserved. I recall it as being a building of great character and well
> worth converting into a mining museum. In it, if memory serves me
> right, there is a library containing a full set of Annales des Mines which,
> starting life in 1794 as the Journal des Mines, is older than Mining Journal.
>
> Tony Brewis
Quite so, Tony. However, recent experience does not lead one to have any
great hopes of preservation ; at Gardanne, for instance, the end of coal
mining there in 2003 saw the wholesale demolition of the site, and it was
only thanks to some desperate local enthusiasts that artefacts were saved
from the jaws of the bulldozers.
Cheers,
Ian
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