Over a period of more than 150 years between the late eighteenth century and the 1930s the South Yorkshire rural landscape was transformed by coal mining and the movement of coal. But it was not just the development of collieries, canals and railways that caused this transformation. The population of the coalfield grew at a phenomenal rate and the new mining population, many of them migrants from other parts of the country, had to be housed near to the collieries where they worked. Small residential colonies were built near the new collieries, existing rural villages expanded, new satellite villages were established and completely new mining communities were created, the later ones carefully planned and laid out in the form of geometrically designed estates. This copiously illustrated book explores the history of the physical and social development of these very varied mining communities, drawing on a wide variety of sources. It is the first book to cover this subject and includes topics such as the settlement that was specifically built for blackleg miners, the development in one village of a large Welsh-speaking colony, how Earl Fitzwilliam housed his colliers and their families and the views of well-known writers like Fred Kitchen, Roger Dataller and George Orwell on the colliery villages. The book will be of great interest not only to readers living in South Yorkshire but also to the descendants of South Yorkshire miners now living in other parts of the country and elsewhere.

The last 150 years has been the most tumultuous in the industrial history of South Yorkshire, and at the heart of this has always been mining and its allied industries. South Yorkshire Pits takes us from the beginnings of the industry, where land ownership brought wealth from what lay beneath it. Here, we have a concise record of the sinking, operating and eventual closure of the pits which, in January 1947, were taken over by the National Coal Board. There is also a clear record of the social and employment conditions under which the mines were operated, including child and female labour and the legislation abolishing them. This is an indispensable reference work for all interested in South Yorkshire's mining industry.

In the period that we now call the Industrial Revolution mining disasters wrecked the lives of thousands of South Yorkshire families and devastated entire communities. The Husker pit flooding of 1838 in which 26 young girls and boys were killed shocked Victorian society and and was a significant factor in the 1842 Report on Employment of Women and Children in Mines; but earlier, long forgotten disasters are also explored. The Barnsley area was particularly hard-hit during the middle decades of the century with major mining accidents, usually great explosions of firedamp occurring, for example, at Lundhill Colliery (189 men and boys killed); Oaks (361 fatalities, Britain’s worst pit disaster) and Swaithe Main (143 dead). Scenes of grief, mourning and remarkable heroism provided spectacular copy for Victorian newspapers and magazines such as The Illustrated London News, focusing on the very uncertain and dangerous life of the miner. Despite the importance and widespread occurrence of South Yorkshire mining disasters, which also included dreadful winding accidents and gas emissions, their story has never been told in a single volume.

Sometimes witty, sometimes cynical, these stories were inspired by people with whom the author came into contact, events of which he became aware and influences which he came under as a boy. They convey the anxieties of the 1930s and '40s and the insecurities of the mining communities. Often raw and earthy, they paint a picture of a society peopled mainly by migrants from the older coalfields, thrown together by economic and social forces and not yet secure in their new identities. The author's awareness of British social history helps to place the stories within the context of what was happening in the world beyond the slag heap.

Coal has been mined in South Yorkshire for hundreds of years. Today, little remains of an industry that employed many thousands. This publication traces the development of the mines from before 1850 through to nationalization and the formation of the NCB.

Metropolitan Planning in Britain is the first comparative analysis and assessment of metropolitan areas and their strategic planning for almost two decades. Changes in population distribution, styles of local government, business practices, and attitudes to the environment have all had an impact on cities in recent years which planners and other policy makers must take into consideration. Based on a series of research projects and the activities of a study group supported by the Regional Studies Association, the book examines in detail nine major urban areas, their specific characters and requirements, and how metropolitan planning is adapting to fulfil those requirements. It also discuses the possible future evolution of metropolitan planning, especially in the light of new regional arrangements and devolution.

First published in 1993, The History of the Yorkshire Miners 1881-1918 is concerned with the workers in the Yorkshire coal industry, their union, and the broader mining communities in which they lived from the formation of the Yorkshire Miners’ Association in 1881 through to the end of the First World War. The period covered is of considerable importance for the consolidation of the Yorkshire Miners Union, and indeed for the building of a national miners’ federation and an international miners’ organisation, in both of which the role of Yorkshire’s leadership was central. The decades straddling the turn of the century were characterised by volatility in the mining industry, which was reflected in a number of strikes. Carolyn Baylies traces these general processes and focuses, in detail, upon a number of episodes during which union struggles and community involvement coalesced. She explores the dynamic between district and local levels of the union, and the tensions that accompanied a progressive rationalization of bargaining machinery. This book will be of interest to students of history and sociology.