Great Expectations No. 19 Unity is Strength

For the Miners of Dover

Mixed Media

24cm x 37 cm

2024 

£400

Coal was discovered in Kent in 1890 while borings for an early Chanel Tunnel project were taking place. At the time there were no workers experienced in mining in Kent. All the workers had to be imported from traditional mining areas such as Wales, Scotland, Durham, Yorkshire, Lancashire and the Midlands. In all these places the coal industry was booming; consequently the miners had little incentive to come to Kent. As a result, the Kent collieries had to pay higher wages in order to compete and to incite the new workers.

The result was miners came to the Kent coalfields from all across Britain. This heterogeneous mix of miners led to the Kent coalfields having a mix of wildly different traditions which stemmed from all the coalfields across Britain.