Fuel Poverty.

The Coal stocks are deep mined George and as such are uneconomical to mine compared to importing coal from the strip mines of other countries , but I never thought extraction of gas from shale would have such an impact , so I expect that we might be able to one day release our underground reserves with a similar method

Thanks for that Rob. I know when there was a lot of Polish coal being stacked in Southampton Docks some years ago the 100 year prediction was being bandyed about. We at the time deluded ourselves into thinking we were saving our stocks and using other peoples. Just goes to show how nigheive we can be at times.
George
in Southampton

When My late father and most of his brothers worked the Derbyshire Coal fields in the 1960's there was always a prediction of 100 years of coal . It is very deep , and technologically difficult to mine , the seams in some cases are over 10 Miles long but are less than 1.2 Metres deep in places , and easily waterlogged . This meant that the old miner on his knees with a pickaxe could mine them , but a mechanical trepanner could not . Hand mining was notoriously life threatening , roof falls , trapping , and water being constant hazards .and the Derbyshire miner being a militant breed on a good day , attendance was poor , and health the same . It is there , but like a lot of things that are do able , it is not something I would have ever want to have done , these mines were all loss making , that is why Harold Wilson closed them . Fracking of Shale was not even a wild dream then , but if you can Frack Shale , I really don't see why you could not Frack Coal . I remember in 1967 when the survey ship discovered Oil off the Falklands , it was said then it was uneconomical to drill due to the pockets being small , butt-the Bendy-Straw drill has made it a viable proposition , assuming we don't give it to the Argentinians . One of the reasons that Tony Blair is not on my Christmas Card list is his attempt to give Gibraltar to Spain , jointly then solely , so I wonder what he promised the Argentinians . To strip mine here will destroy the landscape to start with , personally I would not want to see it , but there again , I would not like to be given a good Fracking

The Mines in Britain were destroyed by Scargill. He refused to allow the Mainenance teams to go down and keep the mines in good condition. a Continuous endless job.
The mines then flooded, the Roofs and the floors collapsed and crushed all the mining equipment, Every mine was destroyed, And many millions of pounds of equipment lost for ever. Some of the tunneling and cutting machines cost over five million pounds each A lot of money and investment was lost. The Miners were on movie Star wages and conditions and benefits, they did not need to go on strike, but they were intimidated by Rent a Mob, most of whom were not miners but Thugs. smashing up miners cars, and their homes, and intimidating their wives and children because of Scargills political ambitions.
My brother and friends were miners, not anymore.
It became impossible to create a new mine 3 to 5 thousand feet deep and all the associated tunnels. Yes coal is there but it is now virtually impossible to get at it.
So it is cheaper to import coal from Australia, Poland and the USA .
The Mining Industry was destroyed by the Union.
Cheers
Brian.

As far as I was aware the miners were on strike because of pit closures so they were on strke to keep those pits open.I was on holiday in Spain at the time and I got talking to this English guy who was painting the outside of his appartment.He had BBC radio on as i was talking to him and the miners strike was mentioned.He said to me "I cannot understand these miners I wish someone would offer me 40 grand for my job I would snatch their hand off".The miners were being offered severence pay at the time of 40k.I pointed out to him that that was just about three years wages at the time many of them were young men and wanted a job for life as there was no other work in many areas were tthe mines were and that was the only industry.What i pointed out to him next he could'nt believe and he soon changed his mind about taking 40k and he also wanted to know why it was not reported in the papers what I told him.He was a supporte of Maggie but soon changed his mind in favour of the miners.What did I tell him??I told him that they would get the 40k be in reciept of the dole for six months then after the six months they would be self sufficient and recieve nothing from anywhere!!!!It would be no use having a world cruise and buying a new car or loosing it on the horses,TOUGH that should've lasted you until you retired.I seen a documentary some ex policemen came on,some of the "Rent A Mob " were policemen and soldiers Maggie was'nt going to be beaten.
Regards.
Jim.B.

In 1982 we , the populous of the United Kingdom were subsidising deep mined coal to the tune of £1,088,000,000.00 a yea , over 1 Billion pounds that is £20 a year for every man woman and Child in the country . Now you and I will never agree over Thatcher , and I got my job sold from under me by her , but I am the forgiving type .

I am going to assume that you believe in democracy , one man one vote , the majority wins . That is where Scargill went wrong , he did not have the majority to call the men out , he banned safe pits from being counted in the ballots , and region by region he had little support 20,000 in Nottinghamshire out of 27,0000 members voted against the strike , NUR ( railwaymen ) TUC and EETPU and NACODS ( Mining ) all opposed the strike , but because some regions voted for striking Scargill forced the other regions out by Bully Boy tactics as Brian described . I will agree to differ over Mrs Thatcher , but that strike was one of teh most stupid actions in the industrial history of Britain . The maintenance teams warned him that not allowing essential work would close down successful pits but Scargill ignored the advice , for this one Scargill killed the pits . Coal stocks were the highest for thirty years , who in their right mind strikes in an uneconomic pit when there is a years supply of coal in stock . Ian McGregor had turned steel around , despite job losses and was on his way to turning mining around , King Arthur destroyed that , in one fell swoop .

afternoon jim an interesting point I had an uncle a deputy in the pits who minedunder the sea just south of shieldshe told me that when ships sailed abovethey could hear the ships engines and propellors it was very eerie a little poem acrashing blow from maggies hand sent scargill of to the promised land but sadly he is still drawing from union funds and has rent andcars paid for by the miners isuppose that's his promised land regards cappy

Rob,I dont have an opinion on the miners strike that's why I did'nt pass one on who was to blame.I was merely pointing out how public opinion can be swayed if they dont know the facts.I reckon that most of them on strke did want a job for life and not 40k which I suppose did look very rosy to those outside the industry without knowing the facts and they could'nt understand why the strikers did'nt take the money annd beggar off.
Trgards.
Jim.B.

Hi Jim,
the pits that were uneconomical had to close, you cannot keep flogging a dead horse.
The Successful Pits could have gone on for many many years employing many thousands of men, but Scargill killed them off and thousands all lost their jobs.
So I guess the redundancy of £40,000 at the time was a hell of a lot of money, Some of the men who took it invested it wisely, many started their own businesses and became successful. others just went on the ale and blew it, but that was their choice, Many thousands of workers in other Industries never got anywhere near that much when made redundant.
Also Miners still get concessionary Coal or its equivelent in smokeless fuel, usually more than they can burn. My brother is just now converting to gas heating instead of the solid fuel he gets, He then gets subsidised Gas heating, That makes a big difference to heating bills. So they are still benefiting from the industry. Over the years since the Pits shut, they must have saved many Thousands of pounds in free heating.
I was made redundant by ESSO in 1986 I got less than the miners got but I invested it wisely we had financial advisers same as the Miners got and I still have twice as much as when I started, and that is what pays for my world wide holidays every year.
So what the redundant Miners got was a good deal, many of them wanted to get out of the pit, not a good life down there but it paid well.
Cheers
Brian.

I remember the village pubs , there was a "Tap Room " in the local , where the old miners used to gather , to play dominoes or cribbage , they used to cough and if they spit it would be black , Not many made it to an old age , the lungs were affected by silicosis , the knees had gone , backs weakened , some were deaf , all had arthritis , and the few who made it past seventy were wrecks , I am glad the mines closed , Digging coal killed men , I have a few family gaps , not to count those with missing fingers , My father was a Union NUM local steward . They would hold Union meetings at Chesterfield , and finish at 3:00 with the last item on the agenda being suspended till the next day m so they got two days expenses and were home by 10:30 on the second day . The NUM ran the men , not the men ran the NUM . It taught me that Trade Unionism is good until the wolves take over because the Donkeys are frightened of them