Mines

Mourning for a mine, as the working life of Lumley 6th Pit in County Durham draws to a close.

When a community is born from a workplace, its closure can seem like a death in the family. This episode of ITV current affairs series This Week covers the closure of Lumley 6th Pit in County Durham with dignity. Although it was part of pit closure programme that would lead to industrial turmoil in the following decades, this seems a more natural passing. But having marked the loss the audience moves on, and the film offers no answers for the mining families left to whither on the vine.