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From the


Archive - December 2007


Life underground at Binley Colliery, Warwickshire


Words and pictures by Maxine Burns T


he city of Coventry is renowned for many things - the Blitz, Lady Godiva and its cathedrals. What is less well known however, was the thriving coal mining industry which was once the mainstay for much of Coventry’s working population. One such mine was Binley Colliery. Binley colliery was opened in


1907. It was owned by Merry and Cunningham, Coalmine owners from Glasgow, and for the next 50 odd years stood proud, smoking and ominous! A heaven or hell, depending on who remembers it.


seems curiously at odds with this fanciful description. However, the men, engineers and miners, settled in well and the first coal was mined in 1910.


The mine went from strength to


strength and by 1924 there were nearly 500 men working at the pithead. Industry had at last arrived in these small villages and things would never be the same again. By 1926 Merry and Cunningham’s days at the top were over. The pit went into liquidation and was taken over by ‘The Binley Colliery Company.’ The workforce grew rapidly. Men


• A line drawing of Binley pit around 1940


flee their homes in search of work. Some in the coal mines, others to the growing motor industries, the Midlands being one of few areas with such vacancies.


• Claybrookes Marsh. named after two miners who died. It is now a nature reserve at Brandon Marsh near Coventry


A 19th Century report describes the miners as, ‘a generally healthy, tall, athletic and powerful race of men, continuing their labour to an advanced age’ although the report then went on to describe an ‘extremely poor and scant diet,’ which


44 March 2011


arrived from around the country, largely Scotland, particularly Glasgow. They arrived complete with an accent unintelligible to many of the local populace. The depression, which had taken over the country, forced many to


The villages and surrounding area of the mine was changed considerably. Houses were built at an alarming rate to house the growing workforce and their families. The miners organized their ‘village’ and soon became self contained. A mission was established by the local church, they had their own co-operative store, a band and of course, a male voice choir. They received a free coal allowance of 600 kilos per month, delivered to their houses by horse and cart. A children’s park was soon followed by a bowling green and tennis court. All were paid for and maintained by the miners. These must have been glorious occupations after the hardships of their working lives. The shift began with a journey to


another world, in a cage descending many metres in almost freefall. Grim faced men would clutch at the bars, ears popping. An authentic white knuckle ride. A cacophony of noise awaited the men as they spilled out of the cages at the pit head. Throbbing engines, humming fans and hissing steam. Accidents were frequent and many men were maimed or killed.


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