Memories of mining life revived at Redhills
From Coal House to White House - a miner’s daughter celebrates a new book of pit village memories. Tony Henderson reports
The thousands of miners who, through their small individual financial contributions, paid for their grand headquarters building, did so with a belief in progress underpinned by education.
Fiona Hill, the daughter and granddaughter of pitmen, went on to carve out an impressive career in academia and foreign policy, and is now Chancellor of Durham University.
She was set on her path to the United States and the world of international affairs by a small bursary from the Durham Miners Association (DMA) to complete an intensive Russian language course in the 1980s.
Fitting then that she has launched a new book of mining folk’s memories at the newly restored listed Redhills building in Durham, built in 1915 by the DMA.
It has been revived in an £11m project to serve afresh as a hub of community activity, preserving the history of the mining industry and a showcase for the heritage of the Durham coalfield and its contributions to society.
At the heart of Redhills – constructed when the Durham coalfield employed more than 150,000 workers – is the Pitman’s Parliament, a unique assembly that provided a platform for miners to voice their concerns and shape the future of their industry.
It also allowed miners to debate and pass resolutions on various issues, from pay and working conditions to broader social and political matters.
The Pitman’s Parliament was an important symbol of working-class empowerment and was crucial in shaping the region’s social and political landscape.
Now it will be a venue for cultural events, conferences, and exhibitions, as it stands as a reminder of past struggles overcome and a testament to social progress and community enterprise in the North East.
The living recollections of life in the Durham coalfield have also been captured in a new book - launched yesterday (July 10) to mark the Redhills revival.
Mining the Memories has been compiled through the efforts of Education4Action, formed by volunteers and based at Redhills from 2013, who run an impressive schools programme and recognised the importance of recording the tales from the pit villages.
This is meat and drink to Fiona Hill, who has written the foreword to the book and also a separate contribution titled From Coal House to White House. It could just as much have been Washington in County Durham to Washington DC.
She served as deputy assistant to the President and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the US National Security Council, as well as national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the US National Intelligence Council.
She is a senior fellow in the Centre on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution and a year ago was appointed by Keir Starmer as an external reviewer for a Strategic Defence Review.
Her memories include sitting in the pub listening to her miner grandfather and his mates and the excitement of attending the Durham Miners Gala as a child.
Her father Alf’s home mining village was Roddymoor in County Durham. “Every time I went up to visit, I was always Alfie’s lass or Billy’s (grandfather) bairn,” she says.
“I have always regretted not properly recording and capturing stories of living in Durham pit villages in the 1950s.”
That has been put right by the new book, edited by miner’s daughter, and former teacher and Sunderland University lecturer, Liz Harker.
Education 4 Action says: “We knew the book should deliver a clear message that we were proud of our mining heritage and we wanted to celebrate the way in which, by working together in the union, miners were able to build in Durham a forerunner of the welfare state, providing health, insurance, aged miners’ homes, education grants and classes, welfare halls, sports clubs and a continuous struggle to improve working conditions.
“We realised that the stories that we were hearing were of a time long gone and we were probably among the last generation who experienced life in the thriving mining communities of County Durham.
“Concerned that these stories should not be lost, as so often has been the case, this book was put together.”
At the book launch, Fiona Hill said: “Redhills is the enduring symbol of the Durham coalfield, and a unique group of people - the Durham coalminers, who built Redhills. My father’s side of the family, the Hills, were miners for several generations. They were deeply rooted in County Durham.
“This was intended to be the Pitmen’s Parliament, to give every miner representation and a role in decision-making on issues that affected their communities and daily lives inside and outside work.
“My great grandad, Thompson Hill, regularly came to Redhills to represent his mining community.
“As they advanced through their long working lives, the Durham miners wanted ‘to better themselves,’ as they put it.
“Many of the colliery banners reflect just how deeply committed Durham miners were to their own and to their children’s education.
“People in the North East are fiercely aware of who we are and where we are from. We have great pride in being from the region, and with good reason.
“In the 19th Century, the North East became a leading centre of industrial innovation, which is where the miners of County Durham come into the picture. The people of the region extracted the resources as well as invented and made the technology and manufactured goods that people used all around the world.
“Sadly, most of the physical traces of County Durham’s and the North East’s rich industrial heritage have been destroyed since the mines closed. But we do have this amazing building, Redhills, which has just been wonderfully restored - and now we have this book memorialising life in Durham mining communities.
“As this book of memories makes clear, working down a pit was backbreaking work, but miners and their families created vibrant family and community lives that shaped County Durham and its outlook.
“In 1919, the British government advocated the necessity of establishing a system of adult education. A contemporary report in that period concluded that British people should be able to think for themselves and make informed judgements. All of these were ideas that the Durham Miners had already embraced.
“More than a hundred years ago, the Durham Miners knew that being educated, well-informed, and self-motivated was key to their survival and wellbeing, and to their children having a better future. With Redhills restored and this book launched to commemorate it, we should embrace these ideas again.”
In the book, contributor Marie Toberty remembers communities poor in money terms but rich in love and companionship.
A central theme is that of solidarity, with characters like Tommy Ramsay, a veteran of the 1844 mining strike which saw families evicted from their pit homes. Tommy, with his wooden rattle, toured villages urging the miners to unite.
The Gala, the banners, and welfare halls are all celebrated, as was the way miners expressed their culture through painting, writing, and music.
Redhills has been constituted as a charity to serve as stewards of this heritage on behalf of the community. When it reopens in the autumn, it will feature guided tours, audiovisual interpretations, a living archive of the Durham Coalfield, conferences, weddings, live events, exhibitions, community projects, Youth Parliament, and youth brass bands.
Mining the Memories, edited by Liz Harker, designed by Tommy Anderson of Baseline Shift, £8.