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“After the Black Gold”: A View of Mining Heritage from Coalfield Areas in Britain

2008; Routledge; Volume: 119; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00155870802056977

1469-8315

Rosemary Power,

Urbanization and City Planning

Abstract The concept of industrial heritage, specifically coalmining heritage, from a popular perspective, has not been addressed previously. The coalmining communities in a post-industrial society address it in terms of what has been lost, what needs to be retained, and what needs to be preserved to benefit future generations. While many official institutions have gathered written records, industrial equipment and artefacts, all of which are honoured in the former coalmining communities, their own understanding of heritage involves not only these physical remains but the "community spirit" and the ways in which it has enabled members of this large industrial group to interact in their localities and to relate to the wider society. Acknowledgements The main research and consultation process was undertaken in 2001–2 for the Coalfields Regeneration Trust with the Coalfield Communities Campaign and the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation, on behalf of The Heritage Lottery Fund. The author's thanks are due to all those who contributed to the consultation process and subsequent research; and to former colleagues in these four organisations, in particular Vernon Jones and Alan Wallace. Any errors in interpretation are entirely the author's own. Notes [1] Response to community questionnaire, Cumbria. The project was overseen by the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, the Coalfield Communities Campaign and the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation. It was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. A formal report was published (Power 2002 Power, Rosemary. 2002. "Something to be Proud of": The Community Consultation on Coalfields Heritage, Report to the Heritage Lottery Fund. The Coalfields Regeneration Trust, Coalfield Communities Campaign, Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation Wath upon Dearne: The Coalfields Regeneration Trust. [Google Scholar]). Some twelve hundred questionnaires were sent out to community groups, asking for their definition of heritage. Most were disseminated through contacts known to the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation through Miners' Welfares and similar community associations; through applicants for grants from the Coalfields Regeneration Trust; and through relevant local government organisations, in particular the local government officers designated to work with the cross-political-party Coalfield Communities Campaign. Two hundred and six responses were received from across Britain's coalfields. At the same time, a more specific questionnaire was sent to museums, public archives and other formal institutions. One hundred and thirty-nine responses were received, referred to in the text as formal questionnaire responses and identified by location, and the information was supplemented by recent Welsh and Scottish questionnaires. Tony Gore analysed the community and formal questionnaire responses (2002a GoreTony "Coalfields Heritage Project: Report on Questionnaire Response from Public Bodies and Other Formal Organisations. February 2002." Unpublished Report, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, 2002a. [Google Scholar], 2002b GoreTony "Coalfields Heritage Project: Report on Questionnaire Response from Community Organisations. March 2002." Unpublished report, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, 2002b. [Google Scholar]). The were also nineteen local consultation events held in community buildings, at which many organisations and individuals displayed items and projects they perceived as being local heritage. A further round of six consultations took place in Wales, Scotland and in four English regions. A number of letters and other unsolicited responses were also received. The funding brochure, Heritage: Something to be Proud of, was produced by the groups in question (Coalfield Communities Campaign, Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation and Coalfields Regeneration Trust 2002 Coalfield Communities Campaign, Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation, and Coalfields Regeneration Trust. "Heritage: Something to be Proud of: Coalfield Heritage and the Scope Lottery Funding." 2002. (No further publication details). [Google Scholar]). [2] Coalmining is a vast subject. Historic library classifications are not aimed at industrial matters, still less industrial heritage. In addition to technical and industrial, health, legislation and other material, there are a number of local reports, many of them not formally published, some of which contain material on what might be regarded as heritage, and a huge number of locally produced books, in particular since the 1970s. The coal industry had a key role in the twentieth-century development of social welfare, which in turn contributed substantially to the development of the Welfare State in the late 1940s, and large archives survive, as does material relating to trade union activities. There are extensive film archives. [3] The Kent coalfield was a small, compact field, discovered in the 1880s during the trial digs for the proposed Channel Tunnel to France, and explored by the Westphalian Coal Company until decisively interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War. It was successfully exploited commercially in the 1920s. A deep and difficult coalfield, lying under porous chalk, relatively good housing was provided, and in the period of high unemployment it attracted people to an area with no experience of heavy industry. The Kent coalfield retained a reputation for political radicalism until the closure of the last of the four pits, Betteshangar, in 1988. [4] "The Gresford Disaster" (this version pers. comm. 2001, Timothy Gorringe). In fact, two hundred and sixty-six people were killed, including three members of the rescue brigade and a surface worker. Other versions differ in the numbers killed. See www.wrexham.gov.uk and www.traditionalmusic.co.uk for other versions. [5] Information of this kind is available from www.pitwork.net; INTERNET. [6] These are often highly localised and undertaken for social and other reasons, such as cross-generational work, and some have a short life-span. A case in point is the St Augustine's Youth Interview Team (1995 St Augustine's Youth Interview Team. "A Pitful of Memories: Chesterfield Teenagers Mine the Memories of a Dying Breed." St Augustine's Church, Chesterfield and Derbyshire County Council's Department of Libraries, Archives and Arts, 1995. [Google Scholar]). A project for teenagers initiated by the local vicar, it was completed and published with assistance from the County Council, and contains a Forward by the area's well-known then Member of Parliament, Tony Benn. However, the current writer found it to be unknown to local community leaders only six years later. [7] Although widely believed, this is unlikely to have occurred. A county archivist explained that the national Public Records Office had first right to archives, followed by the County Record Offices. Some archivists were undoubtedly more diligent than others, and in some areas, such as Derbyshire, the union records were also acquired. The concern about the dumping into shafts was not only because it was viewed as disrespectful, but because it had a practical implication in terms of pension rights. Sometimes pit-head books and other records could provide evidence on employment. [8] See for example: National Association of Mining at http://www.namho.org; INTERNET [accessed 8.12.2007]; National Coal Mining Museum for England (2000); also NCM at http://www.ncm.org.uk; INTERNET [accessed 8.12.2007]; National Mining Museum of Wales at http://www.nmgw.ac.uk/bigpit; INTERNET [accessed 7.12.2007]; People's History Museum at http://www.phm.org.uk; INTERNET [accessed 7.12.2007]; Scottish Mining Museum 1995; also Scotland's Black Diamonds at http://www.scottishminingmuseum.com;INTERNET [accessed 7.12.2007]. [9] "Nipsy" was a term heard several times in northern England for a game of skill similar to quoits, which involved throwing a ring or other item at a fixed target.