LondonAccord:Coal
Grandfather's Black Diamonds!
It is undoubted the fact that the coal was the engine of the industrial revolution and that the hard work of the miners made the progress possible.
Black Diamonds - the rise and fall of an English Dynasty the Catherine Bailey's book presents the contrast between the luxurious lifestyle of the coal-mining aristrocacy and the poverty of the exploited miners. Right from the beginning the decline of the dynasty is announced by the death of the 6th Earl Fitzwilliam in 1902. His granson Billy becomes the 7th Earl. He was an excellent manager and an model employer. In the time when miners were striking all over the county, the ones working at Wentworth continued work undisturbed. The miners respect and trust for the Earl's family could never be shaked. It was unbelieveble when after the WW II a revangeful politicion succeded in destroying the estate by digging up the precious coal even in the court yard of the estate. Shortly after the collieries became unefficient and started to close down.
Brass Off - 1996 movie it is the story of a brass band from a mining village. Coal mines being shut down in the name of progress puts many men out of work which naturally also jeopardizes the existence of the colliery band.
The world's first Act of Legislation to protect us against air pollution appeared in 1956, as a result of the four day fog catastrophe, London, December 1952. A temperature inversion had trapped the coal smoke from the city's furnaces, fireplaces, and industrial units, creating a "killer fog". There were reported 3000 victims right away. Over 13.000 excess deaths occurred from December 1952 through March 1953, when only about 5.600 influenza deaths were officially reported. [1] The Clean Air Act from 1956 was revised in 1968 to add a directive that coal-burning industries should use tall chimneys. Although this helped prevent smogs in London, it probably didn't improve the air quality of the areas the pollution then drifted over, and contributed to acid rain in other countries. [2]
Clean Air Act 1993 put an end of the smog, regulating the energy policy in accordance with the public health protection and environmental costs. [3]
