Image ID: 42365

The Bottom Pit, Hucknall

Courtesy of Mr Poxen

Portland Road
Hucknall
Nottinghamshire
England

The Hucknall and Bentinck miners bagging coal at the Watnall coal stock site during the Miners' Strike. On 9 January 1972, the British miners went on strike for the first time since 1926. The strike lasted for seven weeks and 135 pits closed in south Wales. A state of emergency was declared and to economise on electricity Edward Heath's government had to reduce the working week to three days. As a result of the strike, the miners' wages were increased. Hucknall Colliery pits were sunk by the Hucknall Colliery Company, whose partners were Alfred Ellis, Edward Shipley Ellis, William Paget and William Walker. This arrival of industrialism transformed Hucknall into a boomtown as families came into the area from Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. Pits dominated the work scene for most of the male workers for over 100 years until the closure of Hucknall No. 2 Colliery in 1986.

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Keywordsminersstrikeunionscoalminingcollierymenworkersdisputepayclothing

Hucknall Library