[Closed] The last miners BBC 1

Me. Quite compelling I thought. Had 2 uncles who were miners years ago so I 'get it'

Might not be the last last. The're wanting to open a new coking coal mine here in west cumbria soon, reactivating another long mined area.

[url= http://www.westcumbriamining.com/ ]http://www.westcumbriamining.com/[/url]

I shall catch up on that, being offspring of South Yorkshire miner.

Loved it, thought the camaraderie was superb , reminded me of my apprenticeship in a shipyard 30+ years ago,characters everywhere,thought the guy was spot on who said "I understand all the carbon footprint etc but why is it only the UK , Germany and China expanding their mining!!"

Great program. One of the best I've seen on TV for a while. Found it very moving.
The humour shown despite the looming redundancies really was quite something. Dont there are many blokes who would be able to crack on in that way.

Seems very sad to be loosing these industries.

A great programme. My father and brother worked down Corton Wood mine, the mine where the strike started. The men knew there were plenty of workable reserves but Margaret Thatcher was determined to ruin the mining industry.

As could be seen from the programme, miners were a resourceful and hard working group, their problem solving skills were second to none, as was their attitude to getting the job done.

My father was very nearly killed down the pit, his boot became stuck in a chain running along the conveyor, he was being dragged into the shearer and one of the picks pierced his metal toe capped boot. He was a strong man and he was dragged through a gap of only 12 inches, suffering multiple lacerations to his body. Fortunately someone heard his desperate screams and hit the stop button. Just in time. The mine ambulance brought him home. I remember seeing him sitting in his favourite chair by the open fire, he was as white as a sheet, having suffered a terrible shock.

He went back to work the next day.

Because of my father's daily routine of descending into the hot, dusty and dirty mine he really appreciated the outdoors. I am grateful that I didn't have to work down the pit and am grateful that my mining father instilled in me a love of the outdoors.

After the strike my father never worked again, my brother, however, attempted various ventures and is quite a successful business man now.

The programme illustrated what a dirty and noisy job mining coal is, perhaps we are, after all, better off without it.

From my observations, former mining communities have suffered terribly with the loss of the pits.

reminded me of my apprenticeship in a shipyard 30+ years ago,characters everywhere,

I am from mining stock. brought up in a town made on mining, surrounded by 20 or so mines.
a industry and whole communities destroyed by 1 womans pig headedness and dislike of the working class.

+1 specky4eyes

Seems surreal to me now but I got a uni sponsorship from the NCB in 1982, you had to do a years practical training before uni thou, so i went from 18yr southern grammar school boy to 19yr nearly fully face trained collier at bolsover colliery, not long before the miners strike so all went tits up but took two weeks of being out of the mines before my phlegm stopped being black & that was from just 12 months working underground 😯

Might watch it on record to enjoy the camaraderie aspect. But would rather celebrate instead a move away from dirty, dangerous occupations such as mining that had little LT future for those who worked in it. Now where did I leave my rose-tinted spectacles....?

I am from mining stock. brought up in a town made on mining, surrounded by 20 or so mines.
a industry and whole communities destroyed by 1 womans pig headedness and dislike of the working class.

Remarkable that one woman was able to do all that.

Coal mining is on the decline the world over, Australia and the States have almost ceased pdoduction, even China is scaling back significantly. The demand us no longer there, it's way bigger than Thatcher.

There's a lot of people beyond the pits affected. We make the hydraulic pumps that power the roof support, no one is buying new equipment, pits world wide have no cash.

Harold Wilson closed more pits than Thatcher iirc?

A couple of uncles were miners, a couple more were in the shipyards. I now live and work on the edge of the South Derbyshire/Notts coal fields. Several local friends have expressed relief that they didn't have to work down the pit like their fathers and uncles. But I've seen the emptiness that is left in the communities who have not been successful in moving on.

Miners were incredible people, but the industry was nasty and dangerous. Round here they are reopening open cast mines.

Just finished watching the second of the series, one of the best documentary/social history programmes that has been on the TV for a long time