The Great Northern Coalfield; Mining Collections at Beamish Museum

by Unknown

• ISBN13: 9781904794110
• ISBN10: 1904794114
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2005-05-01
• Publisher: Northumbria University Press

Summary

This book is the first to be released in an exciting trilogy celebrating the history of Beamish Open Air Museum. Aidan Doyle has written an account which both explores the story of mining across the millennium span, and serves as a guide to the collections related to coal held in the North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish. In February 2005 Ellington Colliery was closed as a result of flooding of a working coal facefrom adjacent abandoned workings, and the risks involved in extracting alternative reserves. This was the last major mine in the once globally important 'Great Northern Coalfield' which, for over 1,000 years, provided fuel and empl oyment and consolidated communities and created a unique regional culture. Coal mining and its way of life is now history. The North of England Open Air Museum Beamish holds the most significant collections of artefacts remaining on show for this once vast enterprise. This book is an invaluable guide to the collections of mining memorabilia held there.

Author Biography

Aidan Doyle is an artist and sociologist. He works with the Institute for Research on Environment and Sustainability at the University of Newcastle.