The last coal fired power station in the UK has now been decommissioned, roll on nuclear lol! It's an end of an era in the UK's insatiable search for energy to feed our hunger for electricity so although it's no longer here as a pollutant I got to thinking about how historically this came to be.

I'm old enough to remember the Miner's strike in 1984 where miners everywhere in the UK went on strike to protest at the pit closures. It was a 'Great' time to be a policeman on a picket line. 1 week's overtime and I quote "I'll be going to the Canary islands with the wife and kids for 2 weeks with this overtime". Not the case for striking miners and their families alas. And here was naive me at the time thinking the poverty gap from Victorian times was finally narrowing. 🙄

This piece of music (working title was Bittersweet Coal Symphony 😁) is based upon a poem, written and narrated by Ian McMillan, a poet from Barnsley which sums up the demise of the UK coal industry and is specifically about Kellingley colliery in Yorkshire (Big 'K') the last working deep mine closing down in 2015 due to 'Economics'. A bittersweet moment for all concerned. 🫡

The cover is from a marvellous collection of images taken at the time by the photographer Michael Powell. There's some very poignant photographs, beautifully captured IMHO. Check out www.michaelpowell.com to see more 👍

Enjoy

Colin T'
October 2024

End Of The Line

Music to help reflection and give a feeling of belonging.

End Of The Line

Colin Trainer