Coal Faces (hardcover)
The demise of the British coal mining industry is one of the most remarkable and tragic stories of the last fifty years. In 1965, over 455,000 miners worked in coalfields across Britain (down from a peak of 1.2 million in 1920). Today, in 2024, just four underground coal mines remain, providing jobs for fewer than 300 miners.
Coal Faces is a story in pictures of the last 60 years of coal mining in Britain, seen through the eyes of some remarkable photographers. As the government finally puts coal mining to bed in favour of renewables and other greener sources of energy, this book is an epitaph to an industry that powered the Industrial Revolution, provided the fuel to heat our homes and ensured we had the tanks, ships, planes and missiles to fight two world wars.
Seventeen photographers have contributed to this important record, sharing their work and recollections in their own words. Their photographs record the period before the Miners' Strike of 1984-5, the momentous Strike and its aftermath. Each photographer has taken a different perspective, creating collectively an essential tribute to the men, women and communities that made Britain an economic powerhouse.
The Photographers
John Bulmer, Mik Critchlow, Simon Hill, Nick Hodgson, Roger Hutchings, Andy Marland, Jenny Matthews, Martin Mayer, Keith Pattison, Mark Pinder, Brenda Prince, Martin Shakeshaft, Roger Tiley, Patrick Ward, Zak Waters, Janine Wiedel and David Gilbert Wright.
The demise of the British coal mining industry is one of the most remarkable and tragic stories of the last fifty years. In 1965, over 455,000 miners worked in coalfields across Britain (down from a peak of 1.2 million in 1920). Today, in 2024, just four underground coal mines remain, providing jobs for fewer than 300 miners.
Coal Faces is a story in pictures of the last 60 years of coal mining in Britain, seen through the eyes of some remarkable photographers. As the government finally puts coal mining to bed in favour of renewables and other greener sources of energy, this book is an epitaph to an industry that powered the Industrial Revolution, provided the fuel to heat our homes and ensured we had the tanks, ships, planes and missiles to fight two world wars.
Seventeen photographers have contributed to this important record, sharing their work and recollections in their own words. Their photographs record the period before the Miners' Strike of 1984-5, the momentous Strike and its aftermath. Each photographer has taken a different perspective, creating collectively an essential tribute to the men, women and communities that made Britain an economic powerhouse.
The Photographers
John Bulmer, Mik Critchlow, Simon Hill, Nick Hodgson, Roger Hutchings, Andy Marland, Jenny Matthews, Martin Mayer, Keith Pattison, Mark Pinder, Brenda Prince, Martin Shakeshaft, Roger Tiley, Patrick Ward, Zak Waters, Janine Wiedel and David Gilbert Wright.
The demise of the British coal mining industry is one of the most remarkable and tragic stories of the last fifty years. In 1965, over 455,000 miners worked in coalfields across Britain (down from a peak of 1.2 million in 1920). Today, in 2024, just four underground coal mines remain, providing jobs for fewer than 300 miners.
Coal Faces is a story in pictures of the last 60 years of coal mining in Britain, seen through the eyes of some remarkable photographers. As the government finally puts coal mining to bed in favour of renewables and other greener sources of energy, this book is an epitaph to an industry that powered the Industrial Revolution, provided the fuel to heat our homes and ensured we had the tanks, ships, planes and missiles to fight two world wars.
Seventeen photographers have contributed to this important record, sharing their work and recollections in their own words. Their photographs record the period before the Miners' Strike of 1984-5, the momentous Strike and its aftermath. Each photographer has taken a different perspective, creating collectively an essential tribute to the men, women and communities that made Britain an economic powerhouse.
The Photographers
John Bulmer, Mik Critchlow, Simon Hill, Nick Hodgson, Roger Hutchings, Andy Marland, Jenny Matthews, Martin Mayer, Keith Pattison, Mark Pinder, Brenda Prince, Martin Shakeshaft, Roger Tiley, Patrick Ward, Zak Waters, Janine Wiedel and David Gilbert Wright.