'Me Grandad worra pit mon': The changing face of the South Derbyshire Mining Community, 1947-2022

My PhD (commenced part-time October 2021) explores individual and societal changes in the former
coalmining area of South Derbyshire, capturing the heritage of the region and creating new
interdisciplinary models for understanding the nature of community. In particular I adapt concepts of
'Emotional Communities' (Rosenwein, 2010) and 'Affective Communities' (Studdert and Walkerdine,
2016) to ask new questions about the role of women in community building and the intergenerational
transference of community beliefs through hierarchies of symbolism that link younger generations to
regional pasts. The opportunity to analyse the area's mining history - an atypical, non-striking region with
deeply rooted communities - will imminently pass as the last miners age.
As well as methodological, gendered and intergenerational contributions, the research is a corrective to
idealised portrayals of mining communities. Though the belief in a romantic and ideal-type community
(Dennis, Henriques, and Slaughter, 1969) has dissipated, areas fitting this model most closely still
dominate, skewing perceptions of community identity. Beyond academia, the PhD provides new
understandings of the region for policymakers/stakeholders, contesting simplistic assumptions of
community uniformity across mining areas.
Five research questions develop from these contexts:
- In what ways did/do social activities and relations shape senses of emotional community in South
Derbyshire?
- How did/does the physical landscape instil emotional community?
- How did/do men and women experience community? How do experiences overlap?
- How do concepts of community transfer intergenerationally?
7 / 22
- How does rediscovering the particularities of this area change thinking about concepts of coalfield
community?
During my first year I have: completed a draft literature review; gained project approval; agreed a thesis
structure, including chapters on social relations, place, gender and intergenerational transference;
developed strong contacts with South Derbyshire Mining Preservation Group who are highly supportive of
the research, providing assistance and data; and conducted and transcribed two interviews.
My core method is oral history, with 10 interviewees (identified through my local community
connections) already set up. This number will capture diversity of age, connections to different pits,
length of participation and social situation, providing a strong research base for a project of this size and
nature. I will also use related interviews (Carswell and Roberts, 1992; Bell, 2006) from the East Midlands
Oral History Archive, alongside previously collected interviews (ethically approved) from my
undergraduate dissertation (An Oral History of the South Derbyshire Mining Community, 1945-2000).
These interviews offer irreplaceable data from miners who have now passed away. I have begun initial
NVivo coding of the 18 interviews in hand and attended relevant coding courses. I will also utilise
autoethnography to reflect on my own experiences and cultural knowledge, yielding unique insight of the
region by someone who has lived there. Supporting archival analysis has begun and involves newspapers
(e.g. The Burton Chronicle), local history collections (Beryl Greening and Shaw Archives), trade
directories, maps, photographs, and physical objects (e.g. memorabilia) and buildings (Gresley Old Hall -
Miners' Welfare club). Using data beyond the oral interviews provides the research with triangulation,
producing robustness and further dimensions of lived experiences.