Introduction: Mining the future?

Abstract

Edited volume of the proceedings of the Eighth International Mining History Congress 2009. From Introduction: The variety of themes and approaches both presented at the Eighth Congress and contained within this volume provide an opportunity to reflect on the historiography of British mining history, to draw international comparisons and to ponder future directions. Mining history as a subdiscipline of historical research in the United Kingdom developed outside of an institutional framework from the late 1950s onwards. Interested amateurs, alongside experts in associated fields such as geology, engineering, archaeology and local history, sought to understand the post mining landscape above and below ground. This resulted in the foundation of a wide variety of mining history societies, such as the Peak District Mines Historical Society established in 1959 and the Northern Mine Research Society (formally Northern Cavern and Mine Research Society) in 1960.