This Thursday, 15 June at 7pm the Working Class Movement Library hosts an unusual free event celebrating ‘the creative power of coal’.
This year is the 70th anniversary of the nationalisation of the coal industry. Vesting Day for the National Coal Board was 1 January 1947. Blue and white flags were unfurled outside each pit proclaiming “This colliery is now managed by the National Coal Board on behalf of the people”.
The event is centred around a book, The flame still burns: the creative power of coal, which explores the sheer power of an industry which created rich, diverse cultures in the different mining communities, and continues to inspire fresh creative work today.
Granville Williams, the book’s editor, will introduce a selection of films produced by the versatile and creative NCB Film Unit between 1947 and 1984. The NCB sought to ‘win hearts and minds’ through a monthly 10-minute newsreel/cine-magazine, Mining Review, and a high quality monthly magazine, Coal.
The aim of such publicity was to boost recruitment, bind the distinct cultures and histories of the different coalfields together and promote a positive, modern public image of coalmining.
Come and find out more on 15 June… Admission free; all welcome.
