The aim of this particular ‘on the frontline’ account is to allow the voice of a pit overman, Jack Ditchburn, to tell his own story of being a miner, a trade unionist and a ‘boss man’ – a man who saw himself as miner first and foremost and as manager second. Jack...

This paper aims to discover how, with the decline and ending of the deep coal mining industry in many parts of the UK its legacy is being re-evaluated by those involved in various aspects of economic and social regeneration. It opens by exploring the way coal mine workers and their communities...