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Mining Review 15th Year No. 5

A visit to Peterlee, Co. Durham, plus news from Britain's coalfields.

1962 9 mins

Overview

A cheerful report from Durham new town Peterlee kicks off this coal industry newsreel. The tone is typically upbeat (though a shot of an old mining village adds a nostalgic note). Similar thrusting optimism fuels the final item, looking back at 'Year of the Miner' 1961 (this issue was released January 1962). The star of the show being the Coal Board's new head honcho Lord Robens - no wallflower, he!

Under Robens' chairmanship, the industry would significantly downsize through the 1960s, yet it still sought new blood as another item in this issue, covering recruitment efforts, demonstrates. A story reporting on a day out for disabled and orphaned children on the Bluebell steam railway, paid for by a Kent colliery, rounds out this typical issue of Mining Review.