To celebrate this I posted a daily coal mining song (or songs) on facebook and this is a blog post that brings them all together.
There are many songs and poems about mining, many written by the men themselves. These were men denied a full education, at least in the traditional sense, but used their natural talents to the full to tell us about their lives. My grandparents' generation were the last to truly live the traditional mining life. By the time the family line reached my generation we have a raft of degrees including Masters level and a range of successful careers in business, science, teaching and the arts that were never open to our forefathers.
This intelligence has not suddenly manifested itself since 1950; it was always there. My grandad had tears in his eyes when he spoke to mum about his grandchildren going to University. "Who would have thought it", he said, "When we were living in the Long Rows and scrapping for bits of coal to keep warm." This from a man who had to doff his cap when a mine owner drove past him in his car to help keep his job that was making that man, rich by accident of birth, even richer.
To the Hoopers, to my other grandad Ted, the Whitaker family and all the other miners and their families: I salute you and I will be forever in your debt.
Monday
Today's song is by Billy Mitchell and it encapsulates the history of the industry from the creation of the raw material itself to the end of this period of exploitation (of the coal and the men).
Enjoy "The Devil's Ground" - you can buy the album on Billy's site and it's got some other great mining related songs on there.
Update - Nov 2017 - it's now sold out but still available "pre-owned" on Amazon, eBay etc.
Update - Nov 2017 - it's now sold out but still available "pre-owned" on Amazon, eBay etc.
Tuesday
Today I've selected two songs by women. Women have played a key role in mining communities, supporting the husbands, fathers and sons by working long, hard hours maintaining the home and looking after children whilst all the time knowing that one of those men may go to work and never come back. This is beautifully described in Billy Mitchell's "Collier Laddie's Wife" from the Devil's Ground album and the impact of the loss of a loved one is heart-breakingly laid out in Jez Lowe's "Last of the Widows". Here I have selected two songs, the first of which (written by Hazel Dickens)
is beautifully sung a capella by the country singer Kathy Mattea whose roots are in West Virginia in the American coalfields. The second leaves me a blubbering wreck every time - Kate Rusby's ability to mix folk songs with the brass bands of the mining communities in Yorkshire is unique and chimes very much with my own roots in Derbyshire. Both deal not with the sudden loss of a colliery accident but the lingering after effects of breathing in dust.
is beautifully sung a capella by the country singer Kathy Mattea whose roots are in West Virginia in the American coalfields. The second leaves me a blubbering wreck every time - Kate Rusby's ability to mix folk songs with the brass bands of the mining communities in Yorkshire is unique and chimes very much with my own roots in Derbyshire. Both deal not with the sudden loss of a colliery accident but the lingering after effects of breathing in dust.
Wednesday
Today's song is more of a celebration of the coal mining life - even though it's always been hard, grinding, dangerous work it bred communities with a sense of belonging, comradeship and shared experience.
The song is "I Can Hew" and it alludes to the life the miners had outside of work and also the theme of family succession into the industry.
"Well my boy's fourteen, he's a strappin' lad
And he'll go to the pit soon, just like his dad.
And when Friday comes, we'll pick up our pay.
And we'll drink together, to round out the day."
"Well my boy's fourteen, he's a strappin' lad
And he'll go to the pit soon, just like his dad.
And when Friday comes, we'll pick up our pay.
And we'll drink together, to round out the day."
Thankfully this view was not one that my family held and nothing pleased them (and me) more when we were able to break out of the cycle. Thanks for this go to the opening of health and education for all and my family's ability to see beyond the pit heaps.
This version is by Mawkin, who are a great live band and I urge you to see them if you haven't already.
Thursday
Today gets political. The industry has had a long history of disputes between owners/management and the workers. For many years there was a callous disregard for safety and constant attempts to reduce or limit pay and in a lot of cases the mine owners owned the houses the miners and families lived in, making eviction a likely outcome of resistance.
My grandad took part in the 1926 general strike and at some point joined the communist party. The final straw was having to take his cap off when the local mine owner drove past in his car.
As the coal began to run out, closures and consolidation were inevitable and this culminated in what became the final significant dispute between the NUM and the government in 1984-1985.
What has left me very bitter and what I consider unforgivable was not the closures per se but the destruction of the communities and jobs with no attempt to replace the work and rebuild the towns and villages left in the lurch. The use of the police for political purposes, the unnecessary force applied and the associated corruption and cover ups still need to be investigated to reveal the full truth.
The first song is by the late Scottish singer and poet Jock Purdon - the title is self-explanatory and the version is by the Pitmen Poets (Jez Lowe, Billy Mitchell, Bob Fox and Benny Graham).
The second song on the same theme is by one of the Pitmen Poets, Jez Lowe from County Durham. Jez is a great writer and performer and this song mixes the story of the 1984-5 strike along with a hark back to the way the same subject was sung about in the 19th century. Again, the Pitmen Poets provide the version.
Judas Bus
Finally, one that not many people will know from Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits from the album On Every Street. It's about the Battle of Orgreave. The contrast between the stillness of the song and the violence we saw on TV makes it more powerful.
"The iron will and the iron hand in England's green and pleasant land"
Finally, one that not many people will know from Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits from the album On Every Street. It's about the Battle of Orgreave. The contrast between the stillness of the song and the violence we saw on TV makes it more powerful.
"The iron will and the iron hand in England's green and pleasant land"
Friday
Today's song is another political song but related to an earlier period in the 1960s and another struggle followed by betrayal. The song refers to the betrayer Lord Robens; the link to this current year is the recent 50th anniversary of the disaster at Aberfan. Robens was a former miner and union leader who was head of the Coal Board at the time; the board were identified at the inquest as being culpable for the deaths of so many, including children, on that terrible day. This was compounded by their refusal to accept responsibility and their raiding of the disaster fund to pay for the pit heap's removal.
Nobody was fired or resigned and Robens went on to be an adviser on Health and Safety legislation; you couldn't make it up.
"And it's down you go, down below, Jack
Where you never see the skies
And you're working in a dungeon
For a pound a week rise"
It was written by Sunderland's Ed Pickford but I've picked a well known version by the Scottish folk giant Dick Gaughan. Dick's not so well at the moment and it's great to see the folk community rallying round to help him out.
Saturday
Today was an emotional day at the National Coal Mining Museum and there's only one way to finish this week of mining songs and that's with two about the end of mining in the UK. As Bob Fox says in the Pitmen Poets gigs there's no happy ending to this story but we can at least commemorate the lives of those who were part of the two centuries of industrial coal mining.
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| Pleasley Pit 2015 |
The first is another from Jez Lowe. "These Coal Town Days" was a response to the initial brutal announcement of massive pit closures in the early 1990s. This is a live version without the optional chant "Howay man they're liars and cheats". I don't think I need to explain who the liars and cheats are.
About "These Coal Town Days"
And finally Ed Pickford's Farewell Johnny Miner - nothing really to say about this, just listen and join in. This is a live version by Benny Graham.
Benny's website
Farewell Johnny Miner - Live version
