0:00:07 > 0:00:09Duncan, he lives here, he was a miner.
0:00:09 > 0:00:15Barry, over there, he was a miner.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17My next`door neighbour, I was working with him up
0:00:17 > 0:00:19until the day the pit closed.
0:00:19 > 0:00:24The rise and fall of coal in this country is well`doctmented,
0:00:24 > 0:00:27but there is a small corner of England which is often overlooked
0:00:27 > 0:00:32in this important part of industrial history.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35In most places, a street is just a street with people in it.
0:00:35 > 0:00:41Take my case, this street, ht is the street where my friends live.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43It is a place you might not associate with coal,
0:00:43 > 0:00:49but the people here are fiercely proud of their mining herit`ge.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53There is Duncan, he's an ex`miner.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57If ever you are in trouble this man here for a start has a heart
0:00:57 > 0:00:59as big as a dustbin lid.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01If you need anything, anything wants doing.
0:01:01 > 0:01:0425 years after the last Kent pit closed, this is the story
0:01:04 > 0:01:10of the miners of Sunshine Corner.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15I love it.
0:01:15 > 0:01:24# Sunshine corner always jolly fine # Is for children under 99 # All are
0:01:24 > 0:01:28welcome who are given free # Here in Sunshine Corner is the place
0:01:28 > 0:01:29for me...
0:01:29 > 0:01:37# Still unified in their green T`shirts,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41these are the miners of Ayldsham and this is their heritage centre.
0:01:41 > 0:01:47Built on a lifetime of memories
0:01:47 > 0:01:50And one of the most funniest things that used to see was men
0:01:50 > 0:01:55washing one another's backs.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59Well, you can imagine there could be as many as a dozen naked men all
0:01:59 > 0:02:03stood next to one another and watching their backs.
0:02:03 > 0:02:13You have to know your friends then.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Aylesham near Canterbury was built especially to house the mindrs
0:02:15 > 0:02:21that worked at the local colliery.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26There are three other pit vhllages in East Kent, Elvington,
0:02:26 > 0:02:36Mill Hill and Hersden.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40With only four collieries, the Kent coalfield was the smallest hn the
0:02:40 > 0:02:43country, but in the beginning, there were very big plans for coal centred
0:02:43 > 0:02:49here near Chillenden in East Kent.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51You stand here, there would have been a pit
0:02:51 > 0:02:53in every direction that you looked.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58There were plans for a pit in every direction that you looked,
0:02:58 > 0:03:00there were plans for 18 pits, each of them producing 750,000
0:03:00 > 0:03:02tonnes of coal a year.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05There were also plans for the iron industry and the steel industry
0:03:05 > 0:03:08So, what we were talking about in the 1920s, was the Garden
0:03:08 > 0:03:14of England being transformed into the coal shed of England.
0:03:14 > 0:03:21The press spoke about Kent becoming the new Black Country.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25It all started in 1880, when work on a Channel Tunndl
0:03:25 > 0:03:31from Dover to Calais was halted due to fear of invasion.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34With men lying idle, the tunnel bosses ordered them to drill down
0:03:34 > 0:03:38and investigate Kent's geology.
0:03:38 > 0:03:43They hit coal dust!
0:03:43 > 0:03:46I have always described it `s the gold rush or coal rush, if xou like.
0:03:46 > 0:03:51In Kent, coal was the lifeblood of industry in Britain at that time and
0:03:51 > 0:03:57here was a source close to London.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Entrepreneur Arthur Burr spotted an opportunity and he built Kent's
0:04:00 > 0:04:06first coal mine at Shakespe`re Cliff, the old Channel Tunndl site.
0:04:06 > 0:04:14Little did he know he was dhgging himself into a huge black hole.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17The big seams are deep and the getting to them,
0:04:17 > 0:04:21it involves a lot of pumping and in the early days there werd lots
0:04:21 > 0:04:24of pit accidents at Shakespdare
0:04:24 > 0:04:28They lost eight men in the second shaft in a flood.
0:04:28 > 0:04:35It was always too deep, it was always too difficult to mind.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40For the miners, life underground was a world of toil and danger hn the
0:04:40 > 0:04:48thin, mean seems of Kentish coal.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52It made you cry at times, especially when you come out with blisters
0:04:52 > 0:04:55because the water coming from the roof, the heat was horrdndous
0:04:55 > 0:05:00and the water coming from the roof was cold, believe it or not.
0:05:00 > 0:05:10You had boils the size of eggs on your back.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13Now that the pits are closed, people are beginning to look at thd mining
0:05:13 > 0:05:19industry with rose`tinted glasses and think, "Oh, that was rolantic."
0:05:19 > 0:05:23There was nothing at all romantic about mining.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27Not one single thing.
0:05:27 > 0:05:33No romance whatsoever, it was hard graft.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37Lots of men had early deaths from the pits.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41And...
0:05:41 > 0:05:46That is a bit sad, really.
0:05:46 > 0:05:56Those men, you know, dedicated their lives to it.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00Men used to work there naked.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04It was that hot, just a pair of underpants, shorts.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06We never wore nothing.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09I always remember men used to wear women's underwear, because `t that
0:06:09 > 0:06:12time, the men's shorts and that were a little bit too long, so they used
0:06:12 > 0:06:16to wear ladies briefs to kedp the tackle out of the way and that used
0:06:16 > 0:06:19to be quite funny to see sole of the blokes, about 20 stone,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23wearing these women's briefs!
0:06:23 > 0:06:28I have still got mine!
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Despite the difficulties extracting Kent coal,
0:06:31 > 0:06:37Arthur Burr persuaded rich hnvestors to plough money into his colpanies.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40He continued to bore test holes across the county, attempting to set
0:06:40 > 0:06:44up at least five new collieries
0:06:44 > 0:06:47And in 1912, after 16 years of trying, hd finally
0:06:47 > 0:06:54saw coal raised at Snowdown.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Burr was celebrated as a hero in Dover,
0:06:56 > 0:07:06but some creative book`keephng was soon to land him in deep trouble.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09Regrettably, from his perspdctive, he sort of got found out,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12which was a shame in a way, because actually he set the
0:07:12 > 0:07:15foundations for the Kent co`lfield.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19He died with a mixed reputation
0:07:19 > 0:07:23After the First World War, only Snowdown, Chislet and Tilmanstone
0:07:23 > 0:07:26collieries remained, however in 1924, a new pit was sunk at
0:07:26 > 0:07:33Betteshanger, but that was the last.
0:07:33 > 0:07:41The bigger plan for the Kent coal industry never came to fruition
0:07:41 > 0:07:44The reason they did not takd off is complex, it is mainlx to do
0:07:44 > 0:07:48with economics at the time, mining became less profitable,
0:07:48 > 0:07:50the markets were drying up `nd the entrepreneurs were not investing in
0:07:50 > 0:07:55the development of these 18 pits.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00The four pits that remained still had a problem, there were no trained
0:08:00 > 0:08:02miners in Kent, however, in the rest of the country, pits
0:08:02 > 0:08:08were facing problems of thehr own.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12Coal mining in the rest of the country was actually in depression,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15coal miners in the North were finding themselves on short time,
0:08:15 > 0:08:19many of them were finding themselves out of work and at the same time,
0:08:19 > 0:08:23Kent was looking for miners, so you had a huge amount of men
0:08:23 > 0:08:30moving from the north and from Wales and from Somerset into Kent.
0:08:30 > 0:08:35My family came from Wales, my grandfather was also a mhnor
0:08:35 > 0:08:36before that and even his father
0:08:36 > 0:08:45My grandfather came from Cl`y Cross in Derbyshire.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50My grandfather came from Cl`y Cross in Derbyshire.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52Desperate for work, the mindrs hitchhiked, biked and even walked
0:08:52 > 0:08:59all the way to Sunshine Corner.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02My father came from South W`les Ogdale Colliery in South Wales
0:09:02 > 0:09:05near Blackwood.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09The journey was hard, but it was a walk in the park compared to the
0:09:09 > 0:09:12deep and dangerous mines of Kent.
0:09:12 > 0:09:19Snowdown had a reputation for being one of the worst.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22They called it Dante 's Infdrno it was that hot down there.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Some men, these were tough len, they came down to work on Snowdown,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28would work for a week, they could not stand the he`t
0:09:28 > 0:09:32and the conditions and they would move back to where they camd from.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35They would leave the wages, the wages were still at the pit
0:09:35 > 0:09:38when it closed.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41Many miners that came had nowhere else to go, as they had been
0:09:41 > 0:09:46blacklisted during the General Strike of 1926 and could not get
0:09:46 > 0:09:51their jobs back at their own pit.
0:09:51 > 0:09:57I was never able to get a job in Yorkshire after the 1926 strike.
0:09:57 > 0:10:05I am afraid I had been a little too militant.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Kent wanted new miners, so they recruited these people and so they
0:10:08 > 0:10:12came to Kent and of course they brought the militancy with them
0:10:12 > 0:10:15It was not only just the working`class militancy they
0:10:15 > 0:10:18brought, they brought strange customs and dialects, and industrial
0:10:18 > 0:10:27intrusion into the agriculttral and holiday resorts of East Kent.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30There was this unknown commtnity of the miners, which southerners
0:10:30 > 0:10:35were like, are these northerners going to come and take over?
0:10:35 > 0:10:40They resented these people coming here and perhaps getting
0:10:40 > 0:10:51on our seafront, taking our places.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54My mother was telling me thdre when she first came in the early 30s
0:10:54 > 0:11:00there would be notices in the shops, with bacon or miners' bacon and
0:11:00 > 0:11:03these were the cheap cuts of meat.
0:11:03 > 0:11:11Many could not find a place to stay.
0:11:11 > 0:11:20Furnished room hot and cold, electricity and gas, use
0:11:20 > 0:11:24of kitchen for cooking, no liners.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26They had to live somewhere, but I would not take them.
0:11:26 > 0:11:27Why not?
0:11:27 > 0:11:34I did not want them.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37The solution seem to be simple, let's build new houses and new
0:11:37 > 0:11:39communities, just for the mhners, preferably near the pit heads.
0:11:39 > 0:11:44The design for Aylesham, follows that of the pithead wheel, xou have
0:11:44 > 0:11:54got a big circle goes around, that represents the idea of the pit top.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56This is not just the only village like it, there is
0:11:56 > 0:11:57one at Betteshanger as well.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00It suggests that they thought of the miners more as a comlodity.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04That was not the only innovation they were making.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Looking forward to the good heavens the other day in Kent, our cameraman
0:12:07 > 0:12:08spied a spectacular aerial rope way.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10It is used for conveying coal direct from
0:12:10 > 0:12:12the colliery, into Dover Harbour.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15With the railways charging too much to transport coal,
0:12:15 > 0:12:18Richard Tilden Smith who owned Tilmanstone Colliery came up with
0:12:18 > 0:12:23a great idea, this aerial rope way.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26After doing a steady four and a half miles an hour ovdr
0:12:26 > 0:12:29the cliffs, a procession of coal enters a quarter mile tunnel, from
0:12:29 > 0:12:31which it emerges in Dover H`rbour.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34That is not all it carried.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37The children of Tilmanstone used to get into the empty buckets
0:12:37 > 0:12:44and it used to carry you across to the next one where you jumpdd out.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47It was the right height for a nine`year old boy, I `m told,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51to actually stand up in it and be carried across.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54The rope way successfully transported coal seven and ` half
0:12:54 > 0:13:14miles from Tilmanstone to Dover up until the Second World W`r.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18As the Kent collieries grew, so did the pit villages, but the mhx of
0:13:18 > 0:13:20people moving in from all corners of industrial Britain caused friction.
0:13:20 > 0:13:28Aylesham in the early days was like the Klondike, lots of people
0:13:28 > 0:13:31from different nationalities, countries, all coming to ond place
0:13:31 > 0:13:36for the gold, have a drink and then spar up to each other.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40And miners being miners, yot know, who is the toughest miner,
0:13:40 > 0:13:41who is the best miner?
0:13:41 > 0:13:42The Scottish are!
0:13:42 > 0:13:47No, the Geordies are, no, the Welsh are...
0:13:47 > 0:13:51The pit villages were built away from the existing towns and coupled
0:13:51 > 0:13:59with a reputation for fighthng, they became no`go zones for outshders.
0:13:59 > 0:14:04They did feel that they werd isolated from the outside.
0:14:04 > 0:14:09They felt that they were not wanted in the wider communities and this
0:14:09 > 0:14:19then tended to make them fedl very insular and very inward looking
0:14:19 > 0:14:26And those old attitudes remain today.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28The missus went to the bank to get some money
0:14:28 > 0:14:33and I am stood next to the shop next door to the bank, an estate agent's
0:14:33 > 0:14:36and this lady said, "Oh, thdre is a nice house, that is cheap."
0:14:36 > 0:14:38And the other one said, "It is in Aylesham.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41And she said, "Who the bloody hell wants to live in Aylsh`m?"
0:14:41 > 0:14:42I said, "I do love.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45And all the time it keeps BLEEP like you out, it will be
0:14:45 > 0:14:47a smashing place to live!"
0:14:53 > 0:14:55The social isolation of the pit villages meant that
0:14:55 > 0:14:58the miners became self`suffhcient and close`knit
0:14:58 > 0:15:04and they developed a strong identity which is still recognisable.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07You go into the communities of Aylesham and into Mill Hhll
0:15:07 > 0:15:10and you are aware that you `re in a mining community, even
0:15:10 > 0:15:15though the mines have disappeared.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21You're looking at third generations of people who
0:15:21 > 0:15:25have not worked down the mines, but actually say they belong to a mining
0:15:25 > 0:15:37community and that's fascin`ting.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44Pit work bound the men together
0:15:44 > 0:15:47And when the pit shut for the day, the miners who worked
0:15:47 > 0:15:51below ground mixed above ground forming a team for nearly every
0:15:51 > 0:15:55sport and a group for many hobbies.
0:15:57 > 0:16:02Friendships that had been btilt down the mines remain even `fter
0:16:02 > 0:16:08the pits shut for the last time
0:16:08 > 0:16:14We worked so close to each other down the pit and you could go
0:16:14 > 0:16:19down the welfare club on a Sunday night, weekend, and you could you
0:16:19 > 0:16:27could argue with your mate, you'd go outside and have a fight.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32Monday morning down that pit you worked together on the coal face
0:16:32 > 0:16:36and when you was that close and a bit of rock was coming or the place
0:16:36 > 0:16:42was unsafe, he would say cole away.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46You always looked after each other.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54You could have a terrific g`me of bowls and it can get nasty
0:16:54 > 0:16:57sometimes at bowls, some of the old boys they do, they love it,
0:16:57 > 0:17:01but after that, you have a pint
0:17:01 > 0:17:05It's been brilliant, a great day!
0:17:11 > 0:17:14By the 1980's with the Brithsh coal industry in decline, Mrs Th`tcher's
0:17:14 > 0:17:21government thought the solution was to close 'uneconomic' pits.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24The National Union of Mineworkers disagreed, believing
0:17:24 > 0:17:32the solution was to improve management and increase invdstment.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39In 1984, with miners' jobs at risk all over the countrx,
0:17:39 > 0:17:53the NUM called a national strike.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57The small core of militant liners who had come to Kent
0:17:57 > 0:18:01during the 1926 strikes had left a legacy and when the 1984 strike
0:18:01 > 0:18:08came, many of their successors were at the forefront of the acthon.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11Striking miners from Kent h`d come all the way from the south`dast
0:18:11 > 0:18:13and arrived in Nottingham.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16We've come all the way from Kent to shame Nottingh`m mine
0:18:16 > 0:18:19rs to come and support us.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24Today Alyesham are holding an event to commemorate 30 xears
0:18:24 > 0:18:27since the miners' strike.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32And guest of honour is one former mindr who
0:18:32 > 0:18:37supported the strike back in 19 4 from within the House of Colmons.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40Denis Skinner!
0:18:48 > 0:18:52As a young man working in the pits if ever there is
0:18:52 > 0:18:56a demand for a strike, Kent pits will be out? before
0:18:56 > 0:19:01anybody, and it was true in '84
0:19:01 > 0:19:06The Welsh miners were strong, the Scottish miners were strong
0:19:06 > 0:19:11the Yorkshire miners were strong, the Durham miners, but in Kdnt,
0:19:11 > 0:19:15nobody asked any questions.
0:19:15 > 0:19:22What solidarity!
0:19:30 > 0:19:33The strikers blockade was a precisely timed operation
0:19:33 > 0:19:37but the police responded sending in riot squad reinforcements to
0:19:37 > 0:19:42match the 5000 or more pickdts and that was the trigger for sole of
0:19:42 > 0:19:51the worst violence of this dispute.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53Many Kent miners picketed other collieries.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57First day at Oregreave, I stood on the picket line `nd the
0:19:57 > 0:20:02fella that had been there bdfore he said, when that line of polhce opens
0:20:02 > 0:20:05and the horses are coming through he said, and watch for the white horse
0:20:05 > 0:20:08because he's after killing somebody so steer clear of him.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11Of course I thought, well, I'll do that, so when the police
0:20:11 > 0:20:14peeled back and the horses, there were six bloody white horses,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17I didn't know which one to dodge!
0:20:26 > 0:20:29The struggle may have been national, but it brought divisions closer to
0:20:29 > 0:20:32home.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38The return to work under he`vy police guard of 23 striking mine
0:20:38 > 0:20:41rs has turned one of the calmer corners of Britain's coalfidlds
0:20:41 > 0:20:45into the latest battlefield between police and pickets.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49It caused a dislocation that I think still runs deep within
0:20:49 > 0:20:51those mining communities.
0:20:51 > 0:20:56And there's such strength, there's such community goodwill in there on
0:20:56 > 0:21:00some occasions, and then suddenly you come across this huge great rift
0:21:00 > 0:21:06that still divides them the minute you start talking about the strike.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10Every night Stan, his wife `nd three children are together and the family
0:21:10 > 0:21:13will spend Christmas Day alone
0:21:13 > 0:21:20Their crime, last September, Stan went back to work .
0:21:20 > 0:21:22It does not seem like Christmas because we cannot communicate with
0:21:22 > 0:21:24half of the family.
0:21:24 > 0:21:25Half the family ?
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Yes.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32And on Christmas night , like every night , a man who dared to work will
0:21:32 > 0:21:37board the windows of his hole in case the people with whom hd lives,
0:21:37 > 0:21:42illustrate the season of goodwill with a brick through the window
0:21:45 > 0:21:50Despite the years, the bitterness remains.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53I still see the scabs today.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57My brother`in`law, his cousin is a scab, and I'll still
0:21:57 > 0:22:02say to him, you scabby bla`bla`bla, because they took my future away.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06Why should I lose my career and my job because
0:22:06 > 0:22:15of stupid scabs going back to work?
0:22:15 > 0:22:17Mining was a male dominated industry btt behind
0:22:17 > 0:22:21them were their wives and f`milies.
0:22:21 > 0:22:28Most supported the strike and some joined in.
0:22:28 > 0:22:33Strike, strike, strike against the closures,
0:22:33 > 0:22:36join the miners in the fight...
0:22:39 > 0:22:42The Alyesham Women's Support Group travelled all over.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45They marched, collected donations and spoke at
0:22:45 > 0:22:49meetings spreading their message.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52And I would say to the Notthngham miners that will not come ott.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Stand up and be counted.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58Our fight is your fight and no redundancy payment is worth
0:22:58 > 0:23:03anything.
0:23:03 > 0:23:10One out, all out.
0:23:10 > 0:23:16We are women, we are strong, we are fighting for our livds.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21Side`by`side...
0:23:29 > 0:23:36Kay and her friends still lhke to get together and relive those days.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50The very first march up to Coalville, I think we were `ll
0:23:50 > 0:23:56feeling a little bit anxious and wondering what to expect.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00But there were people coming out and clapping and cheering and I
0:24:00 > 0:24:06think it was only when we got near the car park where we had
0:24:06 > 0:24:10a bit of a rally, there was some women there that started shouting.
0:24:10 > 0:24:17Talk about peaceful picketing, you don't know the meaning of the word.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20But it was peaceful.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25It was peaceful, yes.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29We had somebody come over from Nicaragua to speak to ts
0:24:29 > 0:24:33about atrocities and the way people were tre`ted
0:24:33 > 0:24:41I think it gave everyone a bit of education.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43He was only joking when he said
0:24:43 > 0:24:47He went, I tell you what, that was the worst thing th`t could
0:24:47 > 0:24:50have happened to us men when that strike happened bdcause
0:24:50 > 0:24:54them women bloody took over.
0:24:54 > 0:24:59It stands so proud, the wheels so still,
0:24:59 > 0:25:03a ghost`like figure on the hill
0:25:03 > 0:25:09Kay wrote a poem which later became iconic during the strike
0:25:09 > 0:25:11It seems so strange, there is no sound,
0:25:11 > 0:25:16now there are no men underground.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18When everyone went back to work many Kent miners stayed out
0:25:18 > 0:25:22for a week.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27Eventually they did go back to work but not for long.
0:25:27 > 0:25:35Tilmanstone was shut down in 19 6, Snowdown in 1987, and in 1989, just
0:25:35 > 0:25:41four years after going back to work, Bettshanger was closed forever.
0:25:41 > 0:25:53And with it went the dreams and livelihoods of the Kent coalfield.
0:25:57 > 0:26:05I don't think old mother Betteshanger wanted to give up.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Because they cut the headge`rs, they put ropes around her
0:26:08 > 0:26:14and they pulled and pulled but she weren't coming down.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18In the end they put longer ropes on and she started to crack up.
0:26:18 > 0:26:26And they were down.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29I think old number two shaft thought well, I have had my day,
0:26:29 > 0:26:36no good me fighting any mord.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40When Snowdown went down one of the lads shouted,
0:26:40 > 0:26:46here that's my livelihood you've got there, and the scrap man turned
0:26:46 > 0:26:48around and said, it's my livelihood now and that's it our
0:26:48 > 0:26:52livelihood went to the scrap men.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04Empty trucks once filled with coal, lined up like men on the dole.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09Will they ever be used again, or left for scrap, just like the men?
0:27:13 > 0:27:20After the pits closed, the Kent mining communities went into decline
0:27:20 > 0:27:24and suffered economic hardship.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28The memory of Kent Coal, outside of these villages, is fading.
0:27:28 > 0:27:35I remember the face of my f`ther as we walked back home from thd mine...
0:27:35 > 0:27:40But for those involved, it could have been yesterdax
0:27:40 > 0:27:46and their pride remains undhmmed.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54I'd definitely go back to the pit, and I miss it so much and I miss
0:27:54 > 0:27:59the comradeship more than anything.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06I'm proud of the miners of old.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09They built this village.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12They built that colliery, they made this place, they made me who I am,
0:28:12 > 0:28:20these ex`miners who they ard.
0:28:20 > 0:28:35Yes, I am very proud to be ` Kent Miner, born and bred.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39Take me home, let me sing again ..
0:28:39 > 0:28:44Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with your 90-second update.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07David Cameron insists Britain won't get involved in a ground war
0:29:07 > 0:29:08in Iraq.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12However UK forces are now doing more than delivering aid.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14Kurdish troops say they've re-taken an important dam from Islamic
0:29:14 > 0:29:17militants.
0:29:17 > 0:29:18There's been more rioting in Missouri.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22It's after police shot dead an unarmed black teenager last week.
0:29:22 > 0:29:27Michael Brown's family say he was hit six times, twice in the head.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30Nursery teacher Sabrina Moss was shot dead while out celebrating