Spectator N0. 2679 : Choc-A-Block By Doc
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'historic' Tower Colliery Still In Business
I apologise in advance for including this under NEWS but it seemed the best place. A really good news story from my part of the world, that is still successful in 2015, 20 years after the workers buy-out. If it had been up the Tory government of the time, this mine would have flooded years ago and 100's of much needed jobs would have been lost, to say nothing of its very valuable coal. If anybody wants to know why the Tories are so unpopular in Wales, you need look no further than Tower Colliery. See what ordinary people can do, given the chance ::::
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Answers
The Witham Seam was in Notts and Lincs mikey, as I said good thick seams of high quality coal running as far as the east coast. The lads at the Tower should feel really proud of what they did,really showing the powers that be what could be achieved by a good,
15:25 Sat 03rd Jan 2015
you have rather spun this one mikey.
tower colliery last produced coal in January 2008 and was closed at the end of that month, with much of the workable machinery transferred to a local privately owned drift mine.
coal production in this part of wales is now represented by a strip mining operation, which has produced the most ugly wart on the landscape, 200 acres in size and up to 165m deep. whilst the tower miners still own the site, the work is mostly undertaken by opencast firm Hargreaves.
tower colliery last produced coal in January 2008 and was closed at the end of that month, with much of the workable machinery transferred to a local privately owned drift mine.
coal production in this part of wales is now represented by a strip mining operation, which has produced the most ugly wart on the landscape, 200 acres in size and up to 165m deep. whilst the tower miners still own the site, the work is mostly undertaken by opencast firm Hargreaves.
Mikey, when will you stop posting this disingenuous, ever-spinning ‘drivel’? You seem to think no one else can read! More mines closed under the Labour government than under the Tories – as you well know.
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It would appear part of the Conservative Government, at least, were active in keeping Tower open
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From a Welsh mines website:
On 9 January 1972 the British miners went on strike for the first time since 1926. The strike lasted for seven weeks and 135 pits closed in south Wales. A state of emergency was declared and to economise on electricity Edward Heath's government had to reduce the working week to three days. As a result of the strike, the miners' wages were increased, becoming among the highest among the British working class.
By 1984 the coal industry was in decline and the National Coal Board wished to close 20 pits, a situation that would have led to 20,000 men losing their jobs. The National Coal Board claimed that the contract made with the unions in 1974 was no longer valid because of the changes that had occurred in the British economy.
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They don't seem to have their blinkers on, why do you?
On 9 January 1972 the British miners went on strike for the first time since 1926. The strike lasted for seven weeks and 135 pits closed in south Wales. A state of emergency was declared and to economise on electricity Edward Heath's government had to reduce the working week to three days. As a result of the strike, the miners' wages were increased, becoming among the highest among the British working class.
By 1984 the coal industry was in decline and the National Coal Board wished to close 20 pits, a situation that would have led to 20,000 men losing their jobs. The National Coal Board claimed that the contract made with the unions in 1974 was no longer valid because of the changes that had occurred in the British economy.
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They don't seem to have their blinkers on, why do you?
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According to this Wiki link, 239 redundant miners used £8000 of their redundancy money in the workers buy-out. This relatively small sum of money then assured their jobs for the next 13 years. The miners had jobs, Britain has had all that coal to dispose of, and the taxpayer was saved millions of pounds in benefit payments over the years. The men also had their dignity, the value of which is difficult to calculate.
So everybody benefited, except the Tory Government of the time, that said that the mine was uneconomic, and were therefore left with considerable egg on it face when it turned out to highly profitable.
Zcas...not dismissive at all...just facts. My apologies if it my words seemed somewhat curt.
Sycamore. Perhaps these people prefer to be working rather than dole-bludging ? Hirwaun and the surrounding area is an economic blackspot, and has been since the mass closure of the pits in the 1980's. Ask the men if they would rather be on the dole or working....that is the no brainer, as has been suggested by Talbot.
According to this Wiki link, 239 redundant miners used £8000 of their redundancy money in the workers buy-out. This relatively small sum of money then assured their jobs for the next 13 years. The miners had jobs, Britain has had all that coal to dispose of, and the taxpayer was saved millions of pounds in benefit payments over the years. The men also had their dignity, the value of which is difficult to calculate.
So everybody benefited, except the Tory Government of the time, that said that the mine was uneconomic, and were therefore left with considerable egg on it face when it turned out to highly profitable.
Zcas...not dismissive at all...just facts. My apologies if it my words seemed somewhat curt.
Sycamore. Perhaps these people prefer to be working rather than dole-bludging ? Hirwaun and the surrounding area is an economic blackspot, and has been since the mass closure of the pits in the 1980's. Ask the men if they would rather be on the dole or working....that is the no brainer, as has been suggested by Talbot.
Not sure what point you are trying to make Zacs ?
Are you saying that the mine should have closed and become flooded, leaving millions of tons of good quality coal underground for ever, or that it was a good idea to allow the miners to buy the mine out, operate it themselves and remain in work, not on the dole ? Which one is it ?
Try to answer this simple question without a history lesson !
Are you saying that the mine should have closed and become flooded, leaving millions of tons of good quality coal underground for ever, or that it was a good idea to allow the miners to buy the mine out, operate it themselves and remain in work, not on the dole ? Which one is it ?
Try to answer this simple question without a history lesson !
Taxpayers were subsidising the mining industry to the tune of £1.3 billion annually. This figure doesn’t include the vast cost to taxpayer-funded industries such as steel and electricity which were obliged to buy British coal.
Falling production, falling employment, falling sales, and increasing subsidy; that was the coal industry Margaret Thatcher inherited.
She did not swoop in and kill perfectly good industries out of spite. Industries like coal and steel were already dead by the time she was elected. Thatcher just switched off the increasingly costly life support which had kept these zombie industries going.
Falling production, falling employment, falling sales, and increasing subsidy; that was the coal industry Margaret Thatcher inherited.
She did not swoop in and kill perfectly good industries out of spite. Industries like coal and steel were already dead by the time she was elected. Thatcher just switched off the increasingly costly life support which had kept these zombie industries going.
SirOracle...thanks for your support ! I would have thought that this was an all-round Good News story, but reading some of the comments on here today, it appears that its not obvious to everybody. Underground work is indeed everything you say it is and we should be thankful for those men that do the work, for still keeping lights on in Britain.
//Underground work is indeed everything you say it is and we should be thankful for those men that do the work, for still keeping lights on in Britain. //
deep coal mining is one of the last really horrible (and dangerous) jobs left in the uk - but precious little of the deep miner's efforts keeps our lights on, for by the end of this year, there will only be14 coal fired power stations left, and only one deep mine in the uk (at hatfield), will still be producing coal.
deep coal mining is one of the last really horrible (and dangerous) jobs left in the uk - but precious little of the deep miner's efforts keeps our lights on, for by the end of this year, there will only be14 coal fired power stations left, and only one deep mine in the uk (at hatfield), will still be producing coal.
Mikey has fond memories of our 'sick man of Europe' days.
Mind you, there's no doubt in my mind that working class people were better off in the 70s. Remember when the pubs were full every night(lucky if you can eat nowadays) and working people could actually pay their own rent.
Doesn't really say a lot for the 13 years of Labour Government we've just endured, unless, of course, you were one of their favoured (unison) 'workers' and all you care about is lining your own pockets.
Mind you, there's no doubt in my mind that working class people were better off in the 70s. Remember when the pubs were full every night(lucky if you can eat nowadays) and working people could actually pay their own rent.
Doesn't really say a lot for the 13 years of Labour Government we've just endured, unless, of course, you were one of their favoured (unison) 'workers' and all you care about is lining your own pockets.
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