coal mines to re-open in wales do you want to be a miner ?

http://environment.guardian.co.uk/energy/story/0,,2001789,00.html


The Welsh assembly energy minister, Andrew Davies, said: "Most people in Wales think of coal as part of our history. But it is, in fact, a fuel of the future."

Well how much of a fuel of the future if we only have 500m tons left in the uk and what state do we have to be in to be going back to coal mining .

Would any of you fancy being a coal miner ? my grandfather was a south wales miner and died of pneumoconiosis and silicosis, my dad was a south wales miner for a while too.

Ive still got all my grandfathers tools if he was still alive Id be phoning him with the news

 

My grandfather earned his passage money mining coal in Wales.

 

yep at one time they were the biggest mines on earth .

my grandfather worked in a 18 inch seam with a short pick had to put in his own wooden pit props as well all working on his side I think he started work at 13-14 , he was the toughest man Ive ever seen , you got paid on the amount of coal you got out so it was really really hard .

most likely your grandfather worked in simular conditions

 

He worked only a few months and sailed for New York in 1924.


How log was your Grandpa at it ?

 

Not quite sure but most of his life he quit when they brought in metal pit props , he was a union official during the general strike and he worked on a rescue team in one of the biggest mining disasters I think he got a medal for that , also he was a miner through world war two .

The reason he didnt like metal pit props is although they are much stronger they dont give warning before collapsing , with wooden ones they groan all the time and you have the chance to run like hell which he had to do a few times .

my grandfather would have been in the pits in 1924 so for all we know they could have met although there were lots of guys and pits in south wales then .

My dad mined a bit after world war two after leaving the navy he didnt like it much, my other grandfather was head cashier of a mine for a while after running a trading post on the amazon and travelling to the wild west .

 

My grandad on my mother's side was a miner. I'm not sure how long he worked there, but I remember he was at the local pit, Prince Of Wales Colliery.

Thinking about it, there were about five pits in the local area...Pontefract, Glasshoughton, Sharlston, Rothwell, Wakefield (now the mining museum)...probably more. It was a huge industry.


I've heard they've found a way to get more energy from smaller amounts of coal, and limit the amount of harmful gases that burning coal produces. Mixing it with straw or something? I'm not sure. It was big news here a while back, with the prospect of pits re-opening.

 

a coal mine rebirth would be good to see " as long as employers make sure health and safety and a decent wage for its employees are top priority" would be good also for british heritage again "remember visiting a slate mine last year which has been turned into a sorta museum but still felt a bit like a ghost town .

 

llechwedd by any chance paul?

 

i would like to be sixteen again

 

have"nt been to llechwedd autumn " its a place called llanberis slate museum in snowdonia ....beautifull picturesque village ......

 

End of an era it was when those coal mines closed down. I think the reopening of the mines is yet another blow to the UK, that and the Las Vegas casino. I Bet when i go to Manchester in a few years time I will see a giant Eiffel Tower and a man with a sombrero.

 

So you can finish pubery again? kidding

I think re opening coal mines is a good thing. We are importing natural gas, which provides us 35-40% of our energy needs, and these costs will continue to rise

It will provide employment in areas which currently have very little prospects

And health, safety, and mining techniques have improved vastly in the years since it was such a big industry in the UK

 

Hallo Kier, nice to see you back here

 

Closing the mines was a big blow for a region's economy that's for sure and the fact in a political sense it has disabled the ability to keep hold of your employee rights across the board regardless of most jobs, Thatcher years and all that shite it has proved to be a good thing in the long run. Whether you're a Welsh miner or anyother it sounds romantic when we think of the job but I know I wouldn't last a week doing it. As for people's health, it has improved since they closed down. It may have created mass unempoyment and a heavy depression for the coal mining regions but al least you get to see daylight and breathe without wheezing. Keep them closed I say as most people have found other more healthier means of making a living over the last twenty years even if it is claiming benefit.

 

Oh yeah man, definitely, sign me up for some pneumocholiosis....

 

well if we have 500mil tons of reserves and in the 1990s we were getting 50mil tons a year that means our reserves will last us ten years at that rate, we have used up our own gas and gas unlike oil cant be transported in a easy manner around the world , so once russian gas and scandinavian gas is gone we wont have gas so people with gas central heating and gas cookers take note its going to get mighty cold .

you can import coal but again its going to be costly and with everyone using coal its going to be harder to find any for sale , also using all the worlds coal is going to speed up global warming which will mean higher sea-levels , and there comes a point with global warming where we will be unable to control or reverse it .

we are at present in a car heading for the edge of a cliff and the driver of the car is telling us there is no edge and no cliff and its a flying car, but soon we will find hes telling lies .

Although we are used to things going on the way they are going on its not going to last .

if youve seen the film day after tomorrow thats one possible outcome of global warming the ice melts and stops the gulf stream and we have a ice age up here , or you could have our best land flooded with all our big citys gone and billions of refugees, to avoid this we need to move away from fossil fuels and get a low energy lifestyle.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChiefCowpie
i would like to be sixteen again

jeez... i just noticed i misread it... miner and not minor

 

thanks...and to you too Sal, didn't want to dance in my glory too much though!

Jonny, you're right dude. Coal would act as a transition into (either or both) renewable and nuclear energies. If nothing is done, we will be in a huge energy crisis around 2018

It's not ideal, but neither nuclear or renewable technologies will be able to take all the slack that soon in my opinion, without great cost to the country.