'IN the British Midlands, the heart of England’s coal
country, reminders of a thriving industrial past are all around, in the relics
of the mines — the pithead buildings, the railway lines — and in the
working-class spirit of the people. I grew up in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, and,
like many there, come from a mining family. My father worked for
decades at various mines, or collieries as they are called in Britain, until
he was laid off in 2007, and became a driver for a laundry company, and my
grandfather looked after health and safety issues at the Sutton mine.
Throughout the 1980s and ’90s, in the wake of the bitter
miners’ strike of 1984-85 and a growing reliance on cheaper, imported coal,
many of the remaining 170 underground coal mines were closed. The
mass downscaling left an industry that was once responsible for driving the
country’s industrial revolution a shadow of itself. Now only three deep
pit coal mines are left. This year, Nottinghamshire’s Thoresby Colliery,
where my father once worked, along with the Kellingley Colliery in
Yorkshire, are scheduled to close, leaving only one underground mine in England.
With the loss of so many jobs, communities in Derbyshire and
Nottinghamshirehave been hit hard economically and socially. I began
photographing the people and places of these once thriving coalfields to capture
the cultural and social life and to mark the final chapter in the decline of
coal mining in Britain. These images are from my project “Thanks Maggie,”
named for Margaret Thatcher’s role in the strike and the mine closures.
Throughout my journey I have trudged miles of the former
colliery railway, linking village to village. I’ve encountered rock ’n’ roll
fanatics and ballroom dancers, rabbit hunters and proud former and current
miners, bingo callers and brass band players, among other dedicated people
and community groups.
Postindustrial recovery has been a long process and unemployment and
health and well-being statistics indicate there is much work to be done.
Nonetheless, cultural life dies hard and people, young and old, continue to be
united by their passions — music, art, sports — and a commitment to their
community.'
Reading and rereading it took my mind back a few years. I wrote to David Severn:
I was Headmaster of Ibstock Junior School during the 80s and 90s. Ibstock, a coal-mining village in Leicestershire for over a thousand years, was torn apart by Thatcher's decision to close the mines. Coal mining was the village's main source of work.
- I remember driving past groups of police, clustered around the village, when there were signs of anger from the coal workers and their union.
- I remember the devastating impact it had on the lives of the majority of children in my school.
- I remember the words of advice from one of prime Minister Ms. Margaret Thatcher's ministers: "Get on your bike!" and find a job. Yeah, right.
- I remember how my school yard became filled with dads each morning, unable to find more work, bringing their kids to school, when their wives were out looking for any kind of work.
- I remember more and more kids coming to school hungry.
- I remember how important school rummage sales became when second/third/fourth-hand clothes were all that families could afford.
- Yep, I remember the end of the coal-mining era.
And David Severn the article's author, replied:
Hi John,
Thanks for your email. Nice to hear from someone in the states who recognises and remembers the plight of the communities my work is about.
Being a headmaster at a primary school in a mining village at the time, I can imagine you were seeing the real life effects of the desperate situation. The closure of the mines really has gone on to affect subsequent generations and things haven't been helped by the weak strategy to recover lost employment. Many mining villages were very small farming communities before the mines were sunk, just a few houses in a rural setting. When the mines were sunk, hundreds of homes were built to house the workers and the villages expanded rapidly, becoming thriving communities that existed around the colliery, the major employer. A lot of these places have suffered badly since the mines shut because the industry that sparked their growth was taken away from them without recompense. Also, when the mines went the railway lines and the public transport links went too, which isolated the villages even more.
As you witnessed first hand, they were of course very tough times.
Seems like those anguished days are still fresh in your mind. I often meet people who remember it like that, it had a big impact on many people's lives.
Very best,
David
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