Berkshire & County Durham - The Way Ahead

Series

Series Name

Mining Review 18th Year

Issue

Issue No.

11

Date Released

Jul 1965

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1Berkshire & County Durham - The Way Ahead
2. 2London - In the Bag
3. 3London - Net Result
4. 4Derbyshire - Gallery

Story

Story No. within this Issue

1 / 4

Summary

NoS synopsis: Young soldiers in training visit exhibition on the coal industry, and the new Seaham training centre.
NCB Commentary - The soldier of today is the master of sophisticated machinery. The army has been mechanised as never before in its history.
But the modern soldier is trained to think as well as fight. The classroom and the blackboard figure prominently in his training.
He must be taught to find his way around. Workshop practice hones his skill in servicing and maintaining the complex machinery which is his stock in trade.
And, since a good soldier is a well-informed soldier, he’s encouraged to keep abreast of world affairs.
To this end, Southern Command recently designated the coal industry as a study subject, and the Coal Board set up an exhibition on mining for the Royal Army Educational Corps at Arborfield.
To Norman Norris, in charge of the show, the visit took him back to his World War II days of soldiering in India.
Questions and answers flew thick and fast over the table top model of a mine. Young soldiers nearing the end of their Army engagement wanted to know about careers and prospects in mining. After all, it’s an industry where training and discipline are just as important as they are in the services.
And so the Mining Review camera swings north to Seaham, on the Durham coast.
Here boys who want to join the mining industry get their first taste of coal.
Since mid-1965 all young entrants become mining apprentices. They’ll start a 30-year training period, and at the end will have a good job in their chosen field.
At the Seaham Training Centre - one of 43 throughout the coalfields - the emphasis is on first things first. So, to start with, it’s a basic training, and instructors with wide mining experience are the teachers.
Before youngsters go down a mine - let alone get onto a coalface - they learn about the layout on the surface - getting it all crystal clear from models like this.
They learn the right way to set about workshop practice.
In the gym, they tone up their muscles in preparation for the big job that lies ahead of them.
Until one day, it’s their turn to make that first ride down the shaft.
Underground, apprentices will start on work in the training galleries - on roadways, perhaps, to see how some of the thousand routine jobs in a mine are carried out.
The lamps they’re proud to wear are a badge of the craft they have chosen. And, to miners everywhere, the lamp on their helmet lights their way ahead.

Keywords

Education and training; Mining; Military; Exhibitions and shows

Locations

England; County Durham

Written sources

British Film Institute Databases
Films on Coal Catalogue   1969, p.50
The National Archives COAL 32   /13 Scripts for Mining Review, 1960-1963

Credits:

Sponsor

National Coal Board

Production Co.

National Coal Board Film Unit