Nov 2, 2022
Durham: Coal Faces and Pack Stations
County Durham was once synonymous with the production of coal. In the nineteenth century, mining transformed the landscape and the population of Durham. Colliery villages sprang up everywhere and migrant workers flocked to the North East from all parts of the UK. Today the collieries have all gone, but the villages and the memories of this dirty, dangerous industry remain.
In episode 3, we meet Hugh, who grew up in a village called Pittington, close to many of Durham's former mines. Since 2020, 4 Amazon fulfilment centres have opened their doors - all within 30-minute’ drive from Hugh's home. e remembers how friends and acquaintances from school often found themselves working in these vast, high-tech warehouses outside of term time. Having heard lots about Amazon in the news, Hugh wanted to find out more about this retail giant and what it means for post-industrial communities living in the North East.
Hugh talks to Dan, an old friend from school who worked at Amazon during the coronavirus lockdown. He has a coffee in Pittington with his dad Robin who qualified as a geography teacher in 1984 - a time when the local economy was changing fast. We meet David Temple, a shipbuilder who became a miner at Murton colliery, where he worked for 20 years and lost several friends in industrial accidents. We also hear from Jay, a current Amazon employee who previously worked in the railways before being made redundant. Hugh puts questions to Amy Harhoff, corporate director of regeneration, economy and growth at Durham council and speaks to journalist James Bloodworth who wrote ‘Hired: six months undercover in low-wage Britain’.
Presenter: Hugh Morris
Producers: Hunter Charlton & Ben Tulloh
Assistant production: Anna Bud and Guy Gardiner
Executive producer: Arlie Adlington
Artwork: Edd Wellesley-Davies
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