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Miners' strike: The coal industry in Nottinghamshire

• Map - Collieries in Nottinghamshire, c.1980. Source: A. Nicholson

KEY

1 Annesley
2 Babbington
3 Bentinck
4 Bevercotes
5 Bilsthorpe
6 Blidworth
7 Calverton
8 Clipstone
9 Cotgrave
10 Gedling
11 Harworth
12 Hucknall No.2
13 Linby
14 Mansfield
15 Manton

16 Moorgreen
17 New Hucknall
18 Newstead
19 Ollerton
20 Pye Hill No.1
21 Pye Hill No.2
22 Rufford
23 Sherwood
24 Shireoaks
25 Silverhill
26 Steetley
27 Sutton
28 Teversal
29 Thoresby
30 Warsop Main
31 Welbeck

• Banner - 'NOTTS STRIKERS 1984/85'. Source: NUM

1 FOREWORD
2 INTRODUCTION
3 Why have I chosen particular articles and projects?
4 • Robert James Waller (2003) 'The Dukeries transformed : the social and political development of a twentieth-century coalfield'
5 • Professor John Beckett and Dr Denise Amos (2009) 'The coal industry in Nottinghamshire'
6 • Chris Matthews with Clare Hartwell (created 2022) 'Model Villages of the Nottinghamshire Coalfield', Miner2Major Heritage Buildings Project
7 MODEL VILLAGES
8 • Annesley Model Village
9 • Bestwood Model Village
10 • Bilsthorpe Model Village
11 • Clipstone Model Village
12 • Edwinstowe Model Village
13 • Newstead Model Village
14 • Ollerton Model Village
15 • Rainworth Model Village
16 • Warsop Model Village
17 • Norman Fellows (created 2023-11-13) 'Dukeries Thinkbelt', Designing Buildings
18 FORMER COLLIERIES IN WEST NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
19 • Annesley Colliery
20 • Bentinck Colliery
21 • Clipstone Colliery
22 • Hucknall Colliery
23 • Linby Colliery
24 • Mansfield Colliery
25 • Newstead Colliery
26 • Sherwood Colliery
27 • Silverhill Colliery
28 • Sutton Colliery
29 • Teversal Colliery
30 CONCLUSION
31 Notes
32 References
33 Related articles on Designing Buildings
34 External links

[edit] FOREWORD

To introduce this article I have chosen two articles from the web and two related projects.

According to Robin Middleton, Editor of Architectural Design in October 1966, Cedric Price's proposal was:—
"...that advanced education—and in particular advanced technical education—should become the new prime industry."
(Potteries Thinkbelt, Architectural Design, October 1966)

[edit] INTRODUCTION

In March 2024, during my slot as Designing Buildings' Guest Editor, I created two related articles:—

Miners' strike
Miners' strike: The coal industry in Nottinghamshire — i.e. this article.

The first article was headed with a quotation from Cedric Price, namely:—:

"...the building of a new Colonial Office becomes a non-problem, while the days of pit-head baths are numbered."
(Cedric Price, 'Life-conditioning', Architectural Design, October 1966)

Thus Cedric Price anticipated the slow death of the coal industry. Furthermore, he proposed in its place:

"A plan for an advanced educational industry in North Staffordshire'
('Potteries Thinkbelt', ib.)

The first article also shared Cedric Price's conclusion:—

"The possibility should not be ignored of Great Britain's becoming an increasingly imbalanced community primarily involved in servicing other countries and providing facilities for hardy historiophile holidaymakers."
(Cedric Price, 'Life-conditioning', ib.)

The purpose of this follow-up article is therefore:—

to investigate further an architectural response to such a possibility, namely:—
"Possible Thinkbelt development in old industrial net between Nottingham and Sheffield 30-40 miles"
(Cedric Price, Non-plan, Architectural Design, May 1969)

[edit] Why have I chosen particular articles and projects?

First of all, I have chosen two article from the web:—

Robert James Waller (2003) 'The Dukeries transformed : the social and political development of a twentieth-century coalfield';
Professor John Beckett and Dr Denise Amos (2009) 'The coal industry in Nottinghamshire'.

Secondly, I have chosen the following two projects:—

Chris Matthews with Clare Hartwell (created 2022) 'Model Villages of the Nottinghamshire Coalfield;
Norman Fellows (created 2023-11-13) 'Dukeries Thinkbelt', Designing Buildings.

[edit] • Robert James Waller (2003) 'The Dukeries transformed : the social and political development of a twentieth-century coalfield'

This book draws my attention because of its title. However, the anticipated development in new industrial net was made impossible in 1984-1985 by a major event in British history, namely:—

the Miners' strike. [1]

• 'The Dukeries' Source: Waller

Bevercotes
Clipstone
Gedling
Harworth
Hucknall
Ollerton
Rufford
Sherwood
Silverhill
Steetley
Sutton
Thoresby

• List of collieries in Waller's 'Index'

In the 'Introduction' Waller wrote:—

"As far as the twentieth century is concerned, the period for which we have most evidence and which might be considered the most relevant to the future course of the coal industry, the received picture of the coalfields is either one of a stable stereotype, or more likely one of stagnation and decline."

• 'Physical Map of the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Coalfield' Source: Waller

[edit] • Professor John Beckett and Dr Denise Amos (2009) 'The coal industry in Nottinghamshire'

This 'overview' draws my attention on The Nottinghamshire Heritage Gateway because of its title, namely:—

The coal industry in Nottinghamshire. [2]

• Collieries in Nottinghamshire, c.1949

• Collieries in Nottinghamshire, c.1980

"The mid-Nottinghamshire reserves were exploited in the years after the First World War with the opening of the Dukeries coalfield, which stretched from the Yorkshire border to Cotgrave in south-east Nottinghamshire. This in turn led to the development of new mining villages in an area between Worksop and Mansfield, with rural villages such as Edwinstowe, Clipstone, Ollerton, Bilsthorpe and Harworth experiencing rapid growth from an invasion of miners. Ollerton, for example, grew from 676 to 3,912 between the 1921 and 1931 censuses as a result of the opening a the colliery in 1925. New collieries opened as a result of this initiative were Rufford (1915), Clipstone (1922), Blidworth (1926), Bilsthorpe (1927), and Thoresby (1928)."

"The coal industry was nationalised by the Labour government in 1947, but it remained a major employer in Nottinghamshire for the next four decades. By 1986 24,000 industrial workers were employed by British Coal in Nottinghamshire (excluding Manton and Shireoaks/Steetley which were in the South Yorkshire area). Production in Nottinghamshire rose from 7.46m tons at nationalisation in 1947 to a peak of 14.37m in 1963. Bevercotes, the first fully-automated colliery in the world – and Cotgrave, were both opened in the 1960s.

In the years after 1945 the coalfield was a major supplier of almost all the consumer regions in England serving the domestic and industrial needs of the London market, the south and East, South Lancashire and Cheshire. By the 1960s the picture was changing, with production moving away from the domestic market to the supply of the electricity industry. Production on the south Nottinghamshire coalfield was 8.54m tonnes in 1981-2, and the proportion acquired by the Central Electricity Generating Board was 79 per cent of output. Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station alone consumed 65 per cent of the output of mines in south Nottinghamshire."

"The future of the industry was increasingly called into question as workable reserves were exhausted. During the 1960s nine collieries ceased production, and by the 1970s the position of the coal industry came increasingly under threat and following strained industrial relations and periods of strike action in the mid-1970s and mid-1980s the decision was taken to reduce the number of local collieries. As a result, production in Nottinghamshire declined rapidly:

Learn More

By the end of 2008 only Thoresby and Welbeck collieries remained in production. Welbeck, however, was closed in 2009 and in April 2014 UK Coal announced that it planned to close Thoresby Colliery in 2015 with the loss of over 500 jobs. The closure of Thoresby marked the end of deep-pit coal mining in Nottinghamshire."

• Table 1: Two articles from the web.

[edit] • Chris Matthews with Clare Hartwell (created 2022) 'Model Villages of the Nottinghamshire Coalfield', Miner2Major Heritage Buildings Project

This project draws my attention because it focusses on the plans and layouts of some of the former colliery villages.

• Learn More

• Contents

• Foreword

• Preface

• Cover and selected pages from the mining book [PDF]. See Guides below.

[edit] MODEL VILLAGES

[edit] • Annesley Model Village

[edit] • Bestwood Model Village

[edit] • Bilsthorpe Model Village

[edit] • Clipstone Model Village

[edit] • Edwinstowe Model Village

[edit] • Newstead Model Village

[edit] • Ollerton Model Village

[edit] • Rainworth Model Village

[edit] • Warsop Model Village

[edit] • Norman Fellows (created 2023-11-13) 'Dukeries Thinkbelt', Designing Buildings

In March 1984, Norman Fellows created a project called 'Dukeries Thinkbelt' which was eventually self-published in 2016. It was an architectural response to the possibility identified by Cedric Price "...of Great Britain's becoming an increasingly imbalanced community primarily involved in servicing other countries and providing facilities for hardy historiophile holidaymakers", namely:—

"Possible Thinkbelt development in old industrial net between Nottingham and Sheffield 30-40 miles"
(Non-plan, AD 5/69)

Thus this project draws my attention because although the development it proposed was overtaken by the miners' strike an iteration is not impossible.

• Click to read document

• Screenshot of digital images

Learn More

• Click to read document

• Screenshot of digital images

Learn More

• Table 2: Two related projects

[edit] FORMER COLLIERIES IN WEST NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

[edit] • Annesley Colliery

National Grid Reference: SK 517 533

Georeferenced Map overlay on Satellite Image

Learn More

Item 24934 - Annesley Colliery - Map.png

• Georeferenced Map

Item 24935 - Annesley Colliery - Satellite.png

• Satellite Image

[edit] • Bentinck Colliery

National Grid Reference: SK 487 550

Georeferenced Map overlay on Satellite Image

Learn More

Item 24936 - Bentinck Colliery - Map.png

• Georeferenced Map

Item 24937 - Bentinck Colliery - Satellite.png

• Satellite Image

[edit] • Clipstone Colliery

National Grid Reference: SK 597 633

Georeferenced Map overlay on Satellite Image

Learn More

Item 24938 - Clipstone Colliery - Map.png

• Georeferenced Map

Item 24939 - Clipstone Colliery - Satellite.png

• Satellite Image

[edit] • Hucknall Colliery

National Grid Reference: SK 526 480

Georeferenced Map overlay on Satellite Image

Learn More

Item 24940 - Hucknall Colliery - Map.png

• Georeferenced Map

Item 24941 - Hucknall Colliery - Satellite`.png

• Satellite Image

[edit] • Linby Colliery

National Grid Reference: SK 535 503

Georeferenced Map overlay on Satellite Image

Learn More

• Georeferenced Map

Item 24943 - Linby Colliery - Satellite.png

• Satellite Image

[edit] • Mansfield Colliery

National Grid Reference: SK 570 615

Georeferenced Map overlay on Satellite Image

Learn More

• Georeferenced Map

Item 24944 - Mansfield Colliery - Satellite.png

• Satellite Image

[edit] • Newstead Colliery

National Grid Reference: SK 522 529

Georeferenced Map overlay on Satellite Image

Learn More

Item 24945 - Newstead Colliery - Map.png

• Georeferenced Map

Item 24946 - Newstead Colliery - Satellite.png

• Satellite Image

[edit] • Sherwood Colliery

National Grid Reference: SK 537 624

Georeferenced Map overlay on Satellite Image

Learn More

Item 24947 - Sherwood Colliery - Map.png

• Georeferenced Map

Item 24948 - Sherwood Colliery - Satellite.png

• Satellite Image

[edit] • Silverhill Colliery

National Grid Reference: SK 471 616

Georeferenced Map overlay on Satellite Image

Learn More

Item 24949 - Silverhill Colliery - Map.png

• Georeferenced Map

Item 24950 - Silverhill Colliery - Satellite.png

• Satellite Image

[edit] • Sutton Colliery

National Grid Reference: SK 483 601

Georeferenced Map overlay on Satellite Image

Learn More

• Georeferenced Map

Item 24952 - Sutton Colliery - Satellite.png

• Satellite Image

[edit] • Teversal Colliery

National Grid Reference: SK 476 621

Georeferenced Map overlay on Satellite Image

Learn More

Item 24953 - Teversal Colliery - Map.png

• Georeferenced Map

Item 24954 - Teversal Colliery - Satellite.png

• Satellite Image

• Table 3: A survey of former colliery sites in the 'old' net

[edit] CONCLUSION

This article concludes:—

... that the coal industry in Nottinghamshire was part of the Commons;

... that the part of the Commons represented by the coal industry in Nottinghamshire was depleted and has not been replaced by anything of a comparable scale;

... that there were 31 working collieries in Nottinghamshire before the 1984-1985 Miners' strike and by 2015 there were none;

... that the Dukeries coalfield has two parts - the 'new net' in the north of the county and the 'old net' in the west;

... that there is a growing heritage industry in Nottinghamshire;

... that Thinkbelt development in old industrial net between Nottingham and Sheffiled may still be a realistic proposition;

... that the 'Georeferenced Map overlay on Satellite Image' feature is particularly useful.—Opacity: 50% enables one to compare the latest Satellite Image with an OS 1:25,000 map from 1937-61 thus providing an approximate indication of the colliery site as it was before the Miners' strike.

It also concludes:—

... that the article itself constitutes part of a preliminary study — i.e. it should be read in conjunction with another article on the Designing Buildings site, namely:—