Coal Mining in Britain | The story of mining from the coal face to the strike
CHANNEL | Regional Programme
FIRST BROADCAST | 30 May 1960
DURATION | 27 minutes 14 seconds
FIRSTBROADCAST
1960
After 170 years, Brereton Colliery is to close and its miners are to be transferred to Lea Hall, two miles away. In this programme, Tom Langley reveals something about the life of the pit, as seen through the eyes of those who worked there. We hear the sounds of the mine itself and the stories of the men employed at the colliery in its final days.
Lea Hall was opened in 1954, the first new colliery to be started after the nationalisation of the mines. It took six years to become productive, with output of coal beginning in 1960, the same year that this programme was first broadcast. Lea Hall finally closed in 1990.
Two recordings of a Welsh male-voice choir.
How do the experiences of two miners from separate generations differ?

The story of the closing of Brereton Colliery.
Remembering Tonypandy's role in the 1921 National Coal Strike.
Two mining families make the decision to move from Northumberland to Nottingham.
The story of the men who spent World War II down the mines.
A turbulent time for a mining village in the North East of England.
Exploring the culture and social history of the Durham coal fields.
Where there's muck, there's brass... and pigeons and lurchers and bingo too.
The diminishing role of animals in Britain's coal mines.
Recollections of conscription in the coal industry during World War II.
Is the ongoing miners' strike turning moderates into militants?
The miners' strike continues with both sides predicting victory.
A 'Panorama' report broadcast in the final weeks of the miners' strike.
A personal perspective on life in a 1930s mining community.
Revisiting the story of miners from a documentary made in 1969.
Scenes from a Durham mining village that featured in a 1938 radio broadcast by Joan Littlewood.
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