The Diary: An off-beat look at the week

Last updated at 09:11, Thursday, 26 November 2009

Counties twinned by tragic history of mining disasters

Wellington Pit: Just one of the pits that had more than its fair share of tragedy

IT’S a far from cheery subject for this time of year but Maureen Anderson’s Northumberland & Cumberland Mining Disasters will provide an absorbing, if at times harrowing, read. So many lives lost, so much hardship... so far removed from the relatively comfortable lives we lead now.
There is somewhat of a mining kinship between the two counties, with miners from our west coast frequently going over to the north-east to look for work, though a level of east-west bitterness surfaced in the 80s miners strike when our last mine, Haig, was being shut down and there seemed little point to striking.
Maureen’s book charts in chronological order, from 1710 to 1951, a chilling list of tragedies that struck the mining communities of both counties. It is presented in four parts; the first covering 18th century accidents, the second, those between 1806-41 (which sadly included many children) and third, the period from 1844 until 1888 which covers a variety of incidents including explosions and flood. The final section, part four, looks at modern disasters between 1910 and 51.
Included in the latter of course are Cumberland’s biggest disasters, in terms of lives lost – 136 at the 1910 Wellington, which is coming up for its 100th anniversary, and the 1947 William, in which 104 men and boys paid the ultimate price of coal (a typo on the back cover gives this date as 1847 which is unfortunate).
As the cover notes remind us, the day-to-day life of a miner was fraught with danger, especially when pits were in private hands. Despite government inspection and regulation, accidents occurred which devastated local families and communities. The tragedies included great acts of bravery by volunteer and official rescue teams and they attracted widespread press and media coverage.
Lists of names of those who were killed and injured, which will be of great interest to family historians, are included where known. And there are lots of good illustrations.
Interestingly, the author was born in Scotland and raised in Australia. Returning to Britain in the 1970s she settled at Seaton Carew, Teesside. Her interest in researching family and social history led to to publish books on a variety of subjects relating to the north of England. Her previous volume was Durham Mining Disasters.
Northumberland and Cumberland Mining Disasters by Maureen Anderson is part of the Wharncliffe Mining Heritage Series and is available from Haig Museum, price £12.99.
St Bees cleans up on Britain’s best-loved soap
THE nation’s best-loved soap mentioned St Bees FOUR times in a recent episode. There was much talk about the Coast to Coast walk from various Coronation Street characters and the village kept getting mentioned as the starting place.
It was almost as if the writer was trying to plug the walk as much as possible for some reason.
Anyway, nice to get a bit of local recognition on prime time television.
Putting the facts right on the history of Pelham
JONATHAN Stanley has contacted Diary to point out the error of our ways. It seems our recent references to Pelham House and its history didn’t get it quite right.
To clarify, Pelham House, formerly Ponsonby Hall, at Calderbridge, was built in 1774 by George Edward Stanley and was not built by the Ponsonby family. Its original name was due to the fact that it lies in the parish of Ponsonby, which was bought from the Ponsonbys in the 1300s.
The Stanleys’ previous family home had been at Dalegarth Hall, Eskdale. We are happy to set the record straight.
Whitehaven whippets ready to be film stars
WHITEHAVEN whippets and their coalmining keepers are to feature in the upcoming Keswick Film Festival, February 25-28. KFF director Ann Martin has contacted us to let readers know she has booked King Coal from the British Film Institute. This will include the Whitehaven Whippets footage and A Cumbrian Adventure.
Not so much confusing as just plain desperate
MORE now from our series on press releases that really try too hard. Take this one: “Why Cheryl Cole is still with husband Ashley is more confusing to millions of Brits than complicated credit card interest rates, a study revealed yesterday” (this according to a list compiled by price comparison site www.confused.com).
Struggling with the names of rural Cumbria
THIS part of the world has been in the centre of the international media spotlight for the last week for all the wrong reasons.
All journalists can stumble under the pressure of deadlines but we should, for the record, point out to the BBC World Service that our county is not called Crumbia. Take note, Radio 2, that there isn’t an Alderdale Council up here. Note well, Auntie Beeb, there isn’t a Gretna Bridge in Keswick – it’s Greta.
I suppose we should just be grateful that the village of Torpenhow wasn’t affected.
We’re a family, get us into there
AFTER their stint in the Australian bush, bouncy TV twosome presenters Ant and Dec will be on the look out for local families to take part in their new programme.
They are searching for fun-loving and competitive families to take part in a show called Push the Button. Each show will feature two families of five, going head to head for the chance to win a large cash prize.
Families wishing to apply as a team can be a mixture of both immediate and extended family, but the team must consist of five members.
Each team must include at least two adult family members, and the youngest participant must be 15 or older.
Anyone wishing to take part can email a request for an application form to pushthebutton@ gallowgatetv.com, telling the show producers what makes them a winning family.