Win a copy of "Coal: The Rise and Fall of King Coal in New Zealand" Eldernet Gazette

Matthew Wright is one of New Zealand's most published historians and writers.
Wright_SydneyNov2011He has qualifications in music, history and anthropology, among other fields, holds post-graduate degrees in history, and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society at University College, London. He published his first short story in 1976 and since the early 1980s has worked extensively as a writer, professional historian, reviewer and journalist. His work includes more than 500 articles, academic papers, reviews and over 50 books on topics ranging from travel guides to biography, engineering, military and social history, principally published by Penguin and Random House.
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Wright is perhaps best known for his historical work, which has received academic and popular recognition. His book Hawke's Bay - The History of a Province (Dunmore 1994) won a J M Sherrard Award in local and regional history in 1996.
Well when I looked at this book I thought mmm.. boring - but then I thought really I should read it as I come from a long line of English coalminers, and my husband was a miner , one of the last from the Thatcher government clear out!! Once I got into it I found a lot of it very interesting, I won't deny some of it went totally over my head, such as refrences to the engineering details involved in initially 'sinking a mine' , and also the economics and politics of it all. But I loved the historical stuff and the fact that mining communities seem to be much the same throughout history the world over. The associated drinking, fights, strikes and the terrible blow to families when a miner is seriously injured or killed, and families are left without the breadwinner. Also that stigma that is attached, a dirty, low paid job. But of course safety issues are definately a little more advanced than they used to be, though it was thought provoking when i read the chapter re the 1879 Kaitangata disaster. There was a serious gas explosion, yet all the bodies were recovered after 1 day, with no state of the art equipment. Obviously the rescuers were not totally unharmed, but they were determined to do whatever they could to get the men out regardless, and they did.
The days of coal playing a huge part in our lives is long gone, and in lots of ways I'm pleased. But to quote my husband -
" It was a unique place to work, the comaraderie was so great, and the men dedicated to watching each others backs, but the stress of the job would show in each man in different ways, the tough drinking, the relentless put downs and teasing of others, old fashioned bullying of newbies and arguing over work delegation. I loved the time I was there, it was a great experience - but no, I would never want to go back to it".
Loved the bit where Christchurch town planner Edward Jollie wanted to make the streets wider with boulevards, which would take away the smoke from all the home fires and would act as lungs for the city. LOL!!