‘Killing yourself to keep yourself’

Dave’s talk is intended to be an introduction to the Somerset Coalfield, one of the West Country’s best-kept historical secrets. Whilst ‘Killing yourself to keep yourself’ will cover geography, geology, land owners, mine owners, mining techniques, accidents and disasters, the talk will focus on the miners’ trade union, the Somerset Miners Association (SMA). It will look at some of the battles with vicious employers the  SMA engaged in, to gain recognition, respect, and improvements to wages and conditions. Dave has undertaken three years of research into the amazing archive of the SMA, held at the Special Collections Department of the Bristol University Library, and, along with historic photographs, will illustrate his talk with copies of some documents from this collection