East Midlands - COAL COUNTIES

Series

Series Name

Mining Review 20th Year

Issue

Issue No.

8

Date Released

Apr 1967

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1Lancashire - SAFETY COMMANd POST
2. 2East Midlands - COAL COUNTIES
3. 3Northumberland - YOUNG ENTERPRISE

Story

Story No. within this Issue

2 / 3

Summary

BFI synopsis: A survey of Britain’s most highly mechanised coalfield.
NCB Commentary - The East Midlands is the home of Britain’s most modern mine.
But some say that it’s also the oldest coal-field in the country - stone age tools were found in old coal workings at Measham.
It was in the East Midlands, at Ormonde Colliery that the world’s first remotely operated longwall face - ROLF - was tried out.
Even before nationalisation, in the difficult 20’s and 30’s, the East Midlands did better than most. And the stately homes overshadowed the collieries, and looked out across the colliery villages in the valleys.
After the mines were nationalised, the East Midlands led the industry in mechanisation.
I went down to take a look myself, 15 years ago, YES that’s 15 years ago, for Mining Review. And, as I talked to East Midlands men I realised how well off they were compared to other parts of the country.
Today, with the abolition of Coal Board Divisions , the East Midlands can think of itself in terms of geographic boundaries.
The Dukeries, of North Nottinghamshire, where every mine seems to have a stately home to match. Thoresby Colliery is pretty stately itself, with a million and a half tons a year coming out.
Here’s Welbeck Abbey, hard by Welbeck mine. And the Abbey at Rufford, with the colliery across the water.
Around Nottingham city are more big names, like Calverton.
But it’s older in the South. Mining was old when the writer D.H. Lawrence was born and brought up in these parts.
"In that region of shart hills with fine hill-brows and shallow, rather dreary canal-valleys, it was the places on the hillbrows which flourished ..." so Lawrence wrote ...
This is Eastwood, where Lawrence lived - he wrote of it as Woodhouse ...
The place hasn’t changed much.
But he wouldn’t know Moorgreen Colliery ... today ...
... or Newstead, which had the second of the Remotely Operated Faces.
Lawrence would have approved of Rolf - because it frees miners from the coalface.
And then North Derbyshire, the slice between Nottingham and Sheffield. Another region where productivity has mounted to match the scale of the landscape. Markham is just one of the big ones.
Chesterfield calls itself the Centre of Industrial England. Its crooked spire looks out over a region which can evidence the truth of the city’s proud claim.

Keywords

Mining

Written sources

British Film Institute Databases   Used for synopsis
The National Archives COAL 32   /13 Scripts for Mining Review, 1960-1963

Credits:

Sponsor

National Coal Board

Production Co.

National Coal Board Film Unit