08492 Barnburgh Colliery for Manvers 30th Mar 1989
The coal is taken down from Banburgh colliery to the washery at Manvers. Beautiful and rural, this is typical of the areas in the UK where coal seams are found. The towns are built around the coal mines, they live their lives and apart from the inherent danger of working in a volatile and dangerous environment far below ground nothing much changes. Until the mine closes.
There is no income, there are no jobs to fall back on and there is no money to spend in the towns shops pubs clubs and cafes. It is a disaster for several generations to come at least. As I climbed up a flat roofed brick hut to take this, two young lads on pushbikes asked me if I had come to take photos because the mine was closing. Of course I had, but I was too embarrassed to tel them that. I don't feel sad about the passing of old locomotives, the trains stay, they just change. A4's for Deltics for High Speed trains and on it goes. Each generation knows what they liked when they were young and look back with fondness at it. Nostalgia. For me that is just the passing of time but here there is something else, I feel very sad to look at these. So much more has been lost here, lives and communities have been taken apart and left to deal with the aftermath as best they can, and many can't.
March the 30th 1989.
08492 Barnburgh Colliery for Manvers 30th Mar 1989
The coal is taken down from Banburgh colliery to the washery at Manvers. Beautiful and rural, this is typical of the areas in the UK where coal seams are found. The towns are built around the coal mines, they live their lives and apart from the inherent danger of working in a volatile and dangerous environment far below ground nothing much changes. Until the mine closes.
There is no income, there are no jobs to fall back on and there is no money to spend in the towns shops pubs clubs and cafes. It is a disaster for several generations to come at least. As I climbed up a flat roofed brick hut to take this, two young lads on pushbikes asked me if I had come to take photos because the mine was closing. Of course I had, but I was too embarrassed to tel them that. I don't feel sad about the passing of old locomotives, the trains stay, they just change. A4's for Deltics for High Speed trains and on it goes. Each generation knows what they liked when they were young and look back with fondness at it. Nostalgia. For me that is just the passing of time but here there is something else, I feel very sad to look at these. So much more has been lost here, lives and communities have been taken apart and left to deal with the aftermath as best they can, and many can't.
March the 30th 1989.