Digging The Seam

The 1984–5 Miners’ Strike was one of the most important political events in British history. It was a bitter dispute that polarised public opinion, divided nation and families alike, and the results in terms of the destruction of centuries of industrial and cultural tradition are still keenly felt. The social and political consequences of this dispute, which have resonated for the past quarter century, have been subject to detailed analysis and reflection. The consequences for the arts and popular culture are less clearly mapped. This book attempts to begin to redress this imbalance and signal the importance of popular cultural activity both during and after the strike. The essays that appear in this book represent diverse and multidisciplinary responses to the questions raised by the strike and its relationships to a broad range of cultural forms which include literature, film, photography, music, theatre, television drama and documentary, painting, public art and heritage interventions. These responses are organised around four themes that map the interrelatedness between cultural representation, cultural intervention and historical memory. The first deals with the idea of mining culture and pre-strike representations in popular sentiment, film and literature. The second examines the role cultural forms played directly in the context of the strike, as a means of political commentary, activism and fund raising. The third looks at subsequent cultural renderings or reconstructions of the strike and the final section looks at the current process of memorialisation and commemoration. The book draws together a range of voices from academia, heritage, cultural and mining backgrounds, and offers both a historical perspective on the range of cultural activities in the course of the dispute and subsequent readings and re-readings. It aims both to provide a record of cultural intervention and stimulate new dialogues and perspectives.

Containing cases decided by the courts of Berks County, Pennsylvania.

"What would you do if someone you love dearly suffers a fatal disease? Pray for a miracle, search for all possible remedies and put everything at stake for the sake of a cure? This is the dilemma that faced all those who loved Lamchwa. Lamchwa had to shoulder responsibility of his mother and his siblings at an early age owing to the death of his father in a cave-in at a coal mine. By dint of his honesty, grit and hard work, he rescues his family from the grips of poverty. He then falls in love with an amazing and brilliant scholar but is caught in the web of a love triangle. Then, unexpected events shatter his dreams of a perfect world and pushes everyone connected to him in turmoil. Can he overcome the killer disease that threatens his life, his family and his love?"

An introduction to fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas), how they used, and the problems they can cause.

In the 1840s an unusual industry started in Cambridgeshire, open-cast mining of a fossil deposit, thought by some to be dinosaur droppings. It was used as the raw material in the manufacture of superphosphate - the world's first chemical fertiliser. This book investigates the social, economic and environmental impact of the diggings in Guilden and Steeple Morden.

Beginning with the classic "Dragonriders of Pern, Anne McCaffrey has created a complex, endlessly fascinating world uniting humans and great telepathic dragons. Millions of devoted readers have soared on the glittering wings of Anne's imagination, following book by book the evolution of one of science fiction's most beloved and honored series. Now, for the first time, Anne has invited another writer to join her in the skies of Pern, a writer with an intimate knowledge of Pern and its history: her son, Todd. DRAGON'S KIN Young Kindan has no expectations other than joining his father in the mines of Camp Natalon, a coal mining settlement struggling to turn a profit far from the great Holds where the presence of dragons and their riders means safety and civilization. Mining is fraught with danger. Fortunately, the camp has a watch-wher, a creature distantly related to dragons and uniquely suited to specialized work in the dark, cold mineshafts. Kindan's father is the watch-wher's handler, and his son sometimes helps him out. But even that important job promises no opportunity outside the mine. Then disaster strikes. In one terrible instant, Kindan loses his family and the camp loses its watch-wher. Fathers are replaced by sons in the mine-except for Kindan, who is taken in by the camp's new Harper. Grieving, Kindan finds a measure of solace in a burgeoning musical talent . . . and in a new friendship with Nuella, a mysterious girl no one seems to know exists. It is Nuella who assists Kindan when he is selected to hatch and train a new watch-wher, a job that forces him to give up his dream of becoming a Harper; and it is Nuella who helps him give new meaning to his life. Meanwhile, sparked by the tragedy, long-simmering tensions are dividing the camp. Far below the surface, a group of resentful miners hides a deadly secret. As warring factions threaten to explode, Nuella and Kindan begin to discover unknown talents in the misunderstood watch-wher-talents that could very well save an entire Hold. During their time teaching the watch-wher, the two learn some things themselves: that even a seemingly impossible dream is never completely out of reach . . . and that light can be found even in darkness.

On the run from a posse, a killer becomes a slave When Luke Walsh hears Dee Dee Bright calling for help, he breaks down her hotel room door. He finds the dance-hall beauty half-naked underneath a brutish man, and draws his gun without thinking. Suddenly a marshal is dead, and Luke’s life isn’t worth dirt. He escapes into the desert, but when his water runs dry and his horse drops dead, he prepares for the end. He collapses, only to wake in the back of a stranger’s wagon. Taken captive by outlaws, he soon wishes he had not survived. As a slave working in a gold mine, Luke endures a new life of savage discipline in which the only law is death. The worst surprise comes when Dee Dee Bright arrives, flanked by her outlaw lover. The woman who ruined his life is not through with him yet, but Luke Walsh knows how to settle a score.