New Book
Beneath this Green and Pleasant Land: A Miner's Life
Reviewed by Eric Lee
East economy and supplied the coal that heated the homes and powered the industry of the nation. Unless you lived in one of the communities that traditionally were located adjacent to a colliery it is unlikely that you would have any knowledge of the conditions and hierarchy that existed underground.
And if you’ve ever wondered just how all that coal reached the surface, the mechanics of the coal face and its machinery, from hewing and putting to the massive technology of the super pit, is explained in the fascinating and detailed book Beneath this Green and Pleasant Land written by ex-miner John Graham. One of his proudest moments came when he handed his very first pay packet to his widowed mother in 1953. He was just 15 years old. That pride in honest hard work followed John right through a 34 year mining career that took him from pit lad to overman, and from Prestwick, Northumberland, to the vast undersea colliery at Westoe, South Shields
John encountered many dangers and experienced many different kinds of fear in his 34 years underground, including roof falls, methane gas explosions and flooding. He also had to live with the fear of redundancy as pits were closed. Humour, friendship, and a general impatience with officialdom saw him through it all. This is a book of life at the coal face with no holds barred.
City and County
February 2010
