A Brief History
A Forgotten Time
Following the miners strikes On 6 March 1984, the NCB announced that the agreement reached after the 1974 strike was obsolete, and that to reduce government subsidies, 20 collieries would close with a loss of 20,000 jobs. For generations, a job in the pit had provided secure, relatively well-paid, dignified, structured work. Many communities in Northern England, Scotland and Wales would lose their primary source of employment...
Much of the unemployment from the closure of the mines is 'hidden', masked by the removal of miners from the official unemployment register through early retirement or being classed permanently sick. The way ex-miners were re-absorbed into the labour market was a turning point for assessing the efficiency of a flexible labour market. The decline of the mining industry and their abrupt finality left behind wide-ranging and long lasting social and economic impacts.
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Left Behind
Durham County's last pit closed in 1994, today the unemployment rate is 6% – 1.4% higher than the UK average. In Wales, the unemployment rates in ex-mining communities tended to be lower than the national average, this is the case in County Durham. More than jobs were lost when the pits closed, these towns lost community spirit and promised futures.
What's the problem?
Former mining villages fell into disarray as workers and their families were forced into unemployment and search of work, many had no skills or opportunity to retrain and start a different career. The controversy of the the UK mining industry as a workplace is irrelevant to the cause. The relevance is that the community spirit, the thriving industry, the opportunity the pits provided for families were taken and never replaced. All that remains are villages that cannot keep up with the times.
...and now?
Socially the County Durham ex-mining villages suffer a loss of purpose, a lack of opportunity and face austerity, what were once thriving villages suffer degradation, increasing crime rates and earn lower household incomes. Main buildings and former colliery housing lay dormant, face demolition and become eyesores - and their former mining sites lay barren and left to dimmish along with their history.
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So, what can be done?
The industry area, the land and the wider opportunity for industries remain strong in County Durham. The history is integral to the foundations of the UK as it stands today, the close-by beaches of East Durham mining villages remain as scenic as they always were, a huge contrast from the deteriorating street views. The colleges and schools nurturing the youth of today all hope for brighter futures for all those residing in ex-mining villages. We see a window of opportunity, to bring back life into County Durham, through industry bidding, education and community led projects, all starting with a little section on the East Durham Coast.