Miners Lockout

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Reconstruction of a miners lockout from Ebbw Vale in 1927.

Pre-nationalisation, work in the coal industry could be precarious - mines often were closed at very short notice. This was known as a lockout. This is a reconstruction from 1927 showing Welsh coal miners arriving at the pit to find it has been closed even though they had been instructed to come in to do some maintenance work at the pit. The walk to work in this case ( and this was not atypical) had been 4 miles. The miners had no option but to turn around and walk another 4 miles home. Further they were now unemployed.
From: Coal House Omnibus 2
First broadcast : 04 November 2007

Teachers' notes

Age Group : 11-14

Subject : History

Topic : Industrial Wales and Britain

Keywords : Coal industry

Notes : Useful clip to show the decline in British coal mining from the 1920's on. Shows how incidents like this would bring the community closer together. See Coal House


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