(Dipton and Burnopfield Community History Pilot Project)

It is important and only natural that the present generation should look forward to the future with great expectations and excitement with the advent of the new millennium being upon us, heralded by unprecedented rapid growth and advancement of knowledge and skills in virtually every sphere of science and technology. Nevertheless, it is equally important to remember what has gone before in order to understand and appreciate what our forefathers had endured in the past in order to improve the quality of life and prospects not only for themselves, their families and communities, but also for generations yet unborn.

Although settlements were established in the area now known as Dipton and Burnopfield for centuries before the exploitation of coal on a commercial scale, their growth and expansion were primarily the result of the rapid expansion of the coal industry and the influx of manpower that was generated. The following, therefore, is a brief synopsis of coal mining in general, but with particular emphasis on the Northern Coalfields and the exploitation, not only of the minerals, but also of the workforce and their communities.

Coalfields with seams of coal near the surface have been mined as early as the 12th Century, but the first coalfields to be developed on a commercial scale were those in Durham and Northumberland, having the advantage of being close to seaports, giving them a commercial advantage over their landlocked competitors by having the benefit of mining coal at prices which could not be matched by them.

Large scale development of the coalfields commenced in the second half of the 16th Century and continued until their virtual demise in the late 20th Century.

Working and living conditions and exploitation of labour throughout Britain in the early years of the Industrial Revolution were generally appalling with miners probably suffering the worst conditions of all at the hands of many unscrupulous Coal Owners, or as they were more commonly known "The Masters".

Perhaps the following brief extracts from Journals and Reports of years gone by may give the reader a glimpse into the hardship and inhumanity to which I have made reference:-

Frederick Engels the co-worker of Karl Marx in Social Science recorded his "CONDITIONS OF THE WORKING CLASS IN ENGLAND IN 1844", stated that he had found the conditions of workers so deplorable from the wages, health and moral standpoint that he saw no escape from violent revolution, which he considered as certain and inevitable.

"In 1840 a Royal Commission enquiry into the employment of children in the mines found a state of affairs too revolting to dwell upon, citing that for 14 to 16 hours in the day, children of five, six and seven years of age were doomed to labour in the mines, scarcely seeing daylight except in midsummer and on Sundays".

"Political and social rights were unknown. The people were half starved and existed in mental despair, few could read or write".

It should be remembered that prior to 1869 miners were employed on a "Yearly Bond", which was usually entered into on 5th April and which fixed the rates of pay and conditions available at each individual colliery for that period. Once the miners had ‘signed on’ they had no rights, either individually or collectively to be a party to any Agreements between Coal Owners, whereby labour was bought and sold. If anyone broke the Bond, he was liable to arrest, trial and imprisonment. Indeed the miners lot was little better than cattle being bought and sold in a Cattle Market.

It was common practice that if a miner’s coal tub came to the surface with the coal not filled to the level of the tub, it was rejected and he received no payment for it. In addition, if it was considered that too much stone was mixed with the coal, the miner could be fined a day’s wages. In both instances, the contents of the tubs were confiscated by the Coal Owner and sold. In reality a miner could work the full week and at the end of it be in debt to the Master!

Several attempts were made to form Miner’s unions here in the North-East and elsewhere in other coalfields, but these were crushed by the Masters. Finally, however, the miners’ tenacity and determination was rewarded when in 1869 the system of Yearly Bonds was abolished by a Court of Law.

In the same year, the Durham Miners’ Association was formed as a benefit society, with the aim of improving the running of collieries and the protection of its members from injustice.

In 1876 the Unions membership was 40,000 by 1913 it had grown to 225,000 with its headquarters being located in 1916 at Redhills in Durham City.

At the beginning of 1945 the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) was created from the Miner’s Federation of Great Britain.

In 1946 The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act was passed by Parliament and came into effect on 1st January 1947, whereby the coal industry was taken into public ownership. The culmination of the dreams and aspirations of many people who in many cases had dedicated their lives in the crusade for and pursuit of social justice for the miners and their communities.