Easington Colliery - Past, Present and Future

[Real Geordie]

“We shall fight them on the beaches, we shall ………” well, maybe or maybe not Boris. This is recently shot footage of the countryside and beaches surrounding Easington - in gloriously sunny weather ! The pit cage monument appears in early shots. There have been a number of videos in the past showing the town of Easington Colliery slowly falling into wrack and ruin and with a grey overcast sky. This might help redress the balance - amazing how the land and coastline have recovered from all the coal waste dumped in the sea and on land.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JmvrtI6EPc 6 mins 2160p/4K available

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iE5Tl7tCpQ 3m40s 1080p

[Real Geordie]

Most of you will be familiar enough with the backstory of the miners strike of 1984 and the various characters involved - Margaret Thatcher, Arthur Scargill and Michael Heseltine are all referenced in BETM. Here are two videos which give on the one hand some context to the era - the 1980’s - and the other allowing the various parties to the dispute to put forward their side of the argument. The BBC Panorama documentary is from 1984 during the strike. The first edition of Panorama was broadcast in 1953, and it is the world's longest-running news television programme, still going strong today. Learn some facts and figures about the strike so you can bore unsuspecting theatregoers to tears in the interval when BETM finally gets going again ! More effective than pepper spray in dispersing a crowd. Looking at some of the footage of the time, even though I lived through the period, it seems such a long, long time ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHDZpCIJAU0 10 mins/1080p available

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m3Cvw5Ybmg 50 mins/240p (HD not available)

[Real Geordie]

The Durham coastline. From agricultural land with a relatively sparse population, through the pollution of the mining and other heavy industries, back to reclaimed countryside for leisure purposes. Coal slurry was simply dumped in the sea, the sea becoming as black as ink, each tide washing back coal particles onto the beaches. Should you ever feel tempted to visit Easington, the coastal pathway route is as good a means of access to the town as any.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBxS1iP-lzo [3 mins/1080 available]

[Real Geordie]

A short walking video which starts at the remembrance garden to the miners killed in the 1951 explosion and also takes in the pit cage monument - otherwise coastal location shots

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITvT1cgM14Q [4mins/1080p available]

Most are aware that Easington people do not in fact speak Geordie, and have their own distinct accent - although an outsider would never be able to spot the difference. I recently came across an article which goes into some historical depth regarding the origin of the Geordie accent, which I have slimmed down below. Interestingly one theory put forward is that Geordie was originally a term used to refer simply to miners.

“........One of the most distinctive and best known features of the North East is its famous dialect which is a lively, friendly and endearing if sometimes impenetrable feature of the region’s heritage. During the 20th and 21st century the North East ‘language’ has been somewhat watered down, perhaps through the influence of mass-media, but is still distinguished by its musical tones and peculiar words and pronunciations that often originate in the old languages of Germanic and Scandinavian Europe. The dialects of the region take numerous forms like the Geordie of Tyneside; the Northumbrian dialect of Northumberland; the Wearside or ‘Mackem’ dialect of Sunderland and the Pitmatic dialect spoken in parts of Durham as well as the south Durham and Teesside accents.Geordie words are of great antiquity. Indeed many old words and phrases commonly used in the old works of Chaucer and Shakespeare that are no longer used in other parts of Britain have survived as common usage in the North East. What exactly is a Geordie? One theory is that it was the name given to the workers of the railway pioneer George ‘Geordie’ Stephenson, another is that it was a term for a miner deriving from the use of Stephenson’s ‘Geordie’ Lamp. Certainly Geordie was regularly used to describe a pitman during the nineteenth century and during much of the earlier part of the twentieth century it was applied to most natives of the North East. In almost every instance [publications late 1800’s] ‘Geordie’ is used in a slightly patronising sense to describe pitmen and their apparently naïve ways. Several of the ‘Geordies’ described [in the publications] are not residents of Tyneside and include ‘Geordies’ from the mining districts north east of Durham City as well as from the Herrington area of Sunderland and from Castle Eden on the Durham coast [Castle Eden is 4 miles from Easington]. It is clear that at this time ‘Geordie’ was by no means a term confined to a native of Tyneside let alone Newcastle. This would seem to support the theory that pitmen were the true ‘Geordies’ ………….“

https://englandsnortheast.co.uk/geordie-origins/ [For reference - full article]

This is a video illustrating the difference in accent/dialect between the north and south of the region. There is no love lost between the three rivers. The guy on the sofa in the studio, Matt Baker, is an Easington lad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlSlf3b_BSs [5 mins 480p]

[Real Geordie]

This is a dance performance at Easington Social Welfare Centre, Seaside Lane, Easington Colliery by two dancers from Hit The Ground Running Dance Theatre Company. It seeks to explore why and how society fails to adequately address men’s mental health problems. It’s some 35 minutes long [HD @ 1080]. The dance progresses from the opening monologue on the stage, to the bar, to the boxing ring, to the snooker room, to the main dance floor. It’s certainly different. Stick with it and see what you think - never predictable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01D8VhEb1bU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aUsDFbQDMU

[LiamM]

I wanted to recognize that today is the 70th anniversary of the Duckbill Flare, an explosion in Easington Colliery on 29 May 1951. The explosion resulted in the deaths of 83 men including 2 rescue workers. The explosion was in the district of the mine which used duckbill excavators, hence the name.

The disaster was particularly deadly because it happened during the shift change so there were two shifts of miners in the mine at the time. Psychologically, it was devastating in part because after the nationalization of the mines, it was thought that the dangerous conditions that had plagued the industry were behind them.

The disaster is commemorated in the song "Last of the Widows" by Jez Lowe, a folk singer from Easington Colliery. It was written for the 40th anniversary.

Album containing "Last of the Widows": Many other songs by Jez Lowe refer to themes that will be familiar to those familiar with BETM.

Lyrics for "Last of the Widows"

Wikipedia article about the Duckbill Flare.

[Real Geordie]

The fate of Easington Colliery School remains undecided, and many feel that until this central eyesore is removed the development of the community will not progress. As the half joking final comment says “They’ll have to make them into luxurious apartments and tell them Billy Elliot lives there”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ebNONLNpRA [4 mins 4K HD available]

It looks like the miners picnic is going to become an annual event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H97fHyZsL9g [5.40 mins 1080 available]