I uncovered this film gathering dust on VHS and can't quite remember where I got it from.
It's a corporate video produced in the late 1980s to promote Silverwood Colliery. I'm guessing it was made in around 1989 or 1990, ahead of the pit closure programme of the early 1990s that eventually saw the pit cease production and close down for good.
Once you get past the corporate speak it gives an interesting view of the pit above and below ground, and provides a nostalgic look back on the coal mining history of this area.
SOME FACTS ABOUT GREAT BRITAIN
Great Britain is an industrial capitalist country. Britain's
traditional industries were textile manufacture, shipbuilding and coal mining — with its 300 years of
reserves — as major energy source. Leading branches of British industry are
power engineering, electronic equipment manufacture, machine-tool construction,
aircraft, motor-car and chemistry but Britain's engineering is the major branch
of industry.
Great Britain is not rich in natural resources. Britain's own natural
resources are inadequate to supply its industry with essential raw materials.
The only exception is coal which is of good coking quality. Over the last
decade the number of mines reduced from 246 to 175. The British miners fought
against the closure of mines and a lot of them lost their jobs. Nevertheless
coal reserves are still enough to supply the country with energy. The main
consumers of coal are power stations, industry and homes.
In 1965 gas was discovered in the North Sea off Britain's shores and in 1969
oil was discovered in the North Sea. The reserves of non-ferrous metal ores are
inconsiderable. Iron ore production supplies less than half the total needs and
the iron ore is low-grade. Britain has to import high-grade iron ore from other
countries.
In Great Britain deposits of hard coal are found throughout the
country. The most efficient coal deposits are in Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire,
and Derbyshire which form the largest and most important coal-field in Britain.
The coking coal deposits are also found in Durham and Northumberland deposits
are found in Scotland, South Wales and Kent.
The mechanization of underground operations began in the mid-1950s — first with coal
cutting machines, then with power loading machines, and then with
self-advancing powered roof supports.
Open-pit operations represent a relatively small proportion.
It is quite obvious that now economy depends on joint efforts of
educational institutions and industry.
In Great Britain there are different educational institutions where
students can get higher education. These are universities with
extra-mural and evening
departments, university colleges and different courses. The oldest and
best known universities of Great Britain are those in Oxford and Cambridge.
Oxford is the oldest university, its history goes back to the twelfth century.
There are also universities in London, Liverpool, Manchester and Nottingham and
in other cities. Each university consists of a number of departments such as
medicine, philosophy, natural sciences, economics, engineering, agriculture,
education and others. After three years of study, a student may proceed to a
Bachelor's degree and later to the degrees of Master and Doctor.
In Great Britain the tuition fee at universities and colleges is high
and besides a degree is no guarantee of a job.
One of the most marked features of recent education is the increasing
attention given to engineering education.
At present there are a number of technical colleges and departments of
universities which give instructions in engineering, mining, geology, etc.
Such colleges provide full-time and part-time education. They confer diplomas
but not degrees. For example, there are colleges which aim at providing mining
engineers who have several years' practical experience in the industry with a
chance to broaden their knowledge of administration and operation. The subjects
include economic geology, computer techniques, statistics, rock mechanics,
industrial psychology and operations research.
Laboratory and field work help the students determine the behavior of
rocks and methods of breaking rock-blasting, drilling, etc. The graduates from
these courses can work in various fields of mining and geology.
As has been said the students in Great Britain can get mining education
at special colleges and at mining departments of universities. Much attention
is paid to training through post-graduate courses. But a great number of young British geologists and mining engineers are not able to take advantage of such
courses through lack of funds.
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