Born and raised in Chilton, Brian Turner spent a number of years working underground as a miner after completing an engineering apprenticeship with the National Coal Board at Randolph Colliery in Evenwood, followed by coal face training at Chilton Colliery.
After 35 years spent in mining and other associated industries in various capacities – deputy work underground and a number of engineering positions in the Durham and Staffordshire coalfields – Brian spent the final 12 years of his career as a mechanical engineer for a private mining company in the North East.
The end of his career coincided with the demise of the Durham mining industry and Brian retired in 1994 from a small drift mine near Consett.
However, rather than hang up his helmet for good, Brian decided to write a history of the local South West Durham area’s mining community.
The book includes historical details of the Shildon Lodge, New Shildon, Middridge, Thickley, Brussleton and Adelaide mines.
In his foreword to Brian’s book, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, An Industrial and Social History of the South West Durham Coalfields, Dr F W Smith, Consulting Geologist and past President of the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, says the coalfield, “has been poorly recorded in the past despite the unusual blend of large and small collieries, drift mines, the remarkable variety of coals and geological conditions and its location in the borderlands between industrial and rural Durham.”
The book, priced £17.50, was launched by the author at Bishop Auckland Town Hall on Thursday 19th March. The book is available from the Crier office on 01388 775896 and online at amazon.com.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
