Our Funders:

The Co-operative Group

Our Web Site Designer:

Black Cat Design

Other Links:

Digging up the Past: a photographic archive from the South Wales Coalfield - one of our members and volunteers, Bernard Ingram has put his extensive photographic archive online.

Coal Mining Links:

British Mining Database - a central point to find information about mines throughout the UK and Ireland. The information is primarily historical.

Bonniesworld - A personal family history page containing stories and links about the life of coal miners aimed at giving people a feel for the rough life their ancestors endured to carve a better life for their descendants.

Bevin Boys - From December 1943 until the end of the war, 48,000 Bevin Boys were directed to work in the coal mines. Bevin Boys represented 10% of male conscripts aged between 18 and 25 during the Second World War and were chosen by ballot to serve in the mining industry rather than in the armed services.

Children in the Mines - The Royal Commission reports of 1842.

Coal Mining History Resource Centre - lots of information.

Conditions in the Mines - Miners had to work long hours in the dark and wet with a number of hazards to deal with which were not to be found in many other workplaces. Find out more here.

Coal Mining Research Services - Vast site includes mining documents, images and photo collections, films, historical reference and statistical books, geological maps and plans as well as Harry Tootles Mining Dictionary .

A Database of Mining Deaths in the UK - Over 90,000 names of people who died or suffered injury in the mines of Great Britain from 1850 to 1914.

Miners Reunited - Database of ex-UK miners and their new occupations all over the world.

Mines Rescue UK - Fascinating and often moving, this site charts the history of the Mines Rescue Teams involved in many tragic disasters.

Miners' Advice - Online HQ of the National Union of Mineworkers.

Mining Europe - Information and photographs about coal mining throughout Europe.

Mining for Coal in Victorian Ystradgynlais - Ystradgynlais and the Upper Swansea Valley, was the scene of great industrial development. This web site is part of the Powys Digital History Project.

Mining History Information Pages - Details of events, research and work in progress in the field of mining history and archaeology.

Mining History Network - online resource and good starting point for those wishing to study and discuss mining.

Modern History Sourcebook: Women Miners in the English Coal Pits - From Great Britain, Parliamentary Papers, 1842.

National Coalmining Museum for England - Caphouse Colliery is on the western edge of the Yorkshire coalfield, where mining has been carried out for centuries. In 1988 the Yorkshire Mining Museum opened at Caphouse. The Museum was granted National status in 1995.

Pitwork? A Coal Mine Dad? - In years to come kids may be asking their parents, what were pits? what were miners? The history books will outline the main features of mining, but may not capture the more down to earth aspects of working below ground. This site was created by an ex-miner.

The Social Impact of Pit Closures - This previously unpublished paper dates from the Autumn of 1992.

Undermined? Britain and the Miners' Strike - Members of South Yorkshire's mining communities talk about the Miners' Strike of 1984-85.

Welsh Coal Mines - Catalogues all the mines within the Welsh Coalfields. Full of detailed information and photographs.

Women in the Miners' Strike 1984/85 in the Northeast of England - accounts of the role of women in the strike and much more. Also contains information about the changing roles of women in the mining industry.

Wales:

Bedwas Navigation Colliery, Monmouthshire, South Wales - about one of what were hundreds of collieries comprising the South Wales Coal Mining Industry at its peak in the early 20th Century.

Big Pit National Mining Museum, Blaenafon, Torfaen - Big Pit is a real colliery. It was the place of work for hundreds of men, women and children for over 200 years - a daily struggle to extract that precious mineral that stoked the furnaces and lit the household fires of the world.

CADW - Cadw's mission is to protect, conserve, and to promote an appreciation of the built heritage of Wales.

Cefn Coed Colliery Museum - a museum housed in the original buildings of the former Cefn Coed Colliery.

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales - has a national role in the management of the
archaeological, built and maritime heritage of Wales.

Royal Commission Report 1842 - South Wales' child coal workers.

South Wales Coalfield Collection - Contains records of trade unions, miners' institutes, co-operative societies, and individuals connected with the mining community.

Wales: history and culture - intended to offer a variety of resources for those interested in Wales, from the perspective of a English cymrophile.