All
The "top-up" from a little subsistence agriculture has been a feature of
many working class communities in South Wales for many years - with
there seeming to be a particularly close relationship between the coal
miner and his plot on the allotment. I think it's fair to say that most
miners would have an allotment growing potatoes, runner beans, leeks and
the like - I think the psychological draw of working out in the open for
themselves - must have meant a lot to men who spent most of the working
day underground working for someone else.
Incidentally I can recall as a child in Swansea - I guess seven or eight
years old -being called along with half a dozen friends to help the
farmer "up the hill" bring in his harvest. Everyone helped out -
payment was what we could carry back home - this was happening as late
as about 1970 (ish). A few years later we would stack hay....
-----Original Message-----
From: mining-history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Ian Spensley
Sent: 10 June 2010 02:10 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Social effects of Mining vs Agriculture
Dear Bernard
Of course it is easy to generalise, something I do too much.
I said that there was little conflict with farming but of course there
was
resentment that it was the non mining population who had to support
unemployed/underpaid miners when the mineral owners/companies escaped
scot free
until I think 1875.
Then, flying off down another tangent, the pressure for the poor to
emigrate was very strong throughout the 19th century (and earlier), more
as a
means of reducing the burden on the parish. This was also true in other
agricultural areas without mining concerns. When a miner or young farmer
had
enough money for land they often found themselves out-bid by the landed
gentry
when land was power, so they too were likely to emigrate to America for
instance. This leaves another question, was there enough room in America
for
both the natives and the immigrants or did we just transport our
problems?
Interesting about the legacy of some the subsistence practices. In the
late
60's and 70's my parents ran a small pub and kept a small-holding (both
rented). Dad worked as a gamekeeper and I worked at the quarry. Both
the pub
and small holding helped towards my parents profit and for me looking
after
the stock etc paid for my keep. There are still a few in the dale who
keep
stock, originally for extra money, now as much as anything as a hobby.
At the quarry there were still men working there when I started who as
late as the 1950's would leave the quarry in summer for haytime work on
farms.
Regards
Ian
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