Britain's Black Diamonds
Melvyn Bragg reveals archive footage telling the history of modern Britain. In south Wales, he looks back to the 1930s and salutes Britain's coal miners.
Melvyn Bragg, accompanied by a vintage mobile cinema, travels across the country, to show incredible footage preserved by the British Film Institute and other national and regional film archives, to tell the history of modern Britain.
At the Big Pit Mining Museum in south Wales, Melvyn looks back to the 1930s and salutes Britain's 'black diamonds', brave miners who risked their lives digging for the coal that powered an empire. Vicky Stradling tells the shocking truth about one of the worst disasters in coal mining history. Melvyn goes underground to learn about the limited safety equipment used by coalminers in the 1930s. And David Bogg reveals the occupational hazards of working with pit ponies.
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Trail: Britain's Black Diamonds
Duration: 00:14
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Melvyn down the pit
Duration: 03:14
Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
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00:13White Noise Research
An Afternoon On Condale Lake
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Melvyn Bragg |
| Series Producer | Dympna Jackson |
| Executive Producer | Ruth Pitt |
Broadcasts
- Thu 8 Sep 2011 18:30
Fri 14 Oct 2011 03:40- Thu 31 Jan 2013 14:45
- Sat 3 Aug 2013 10:10
Mon 24 Feb 2014 19:30- Wed 28 Jan 2015 13:00主播大秀 Two Scotland
- Wed 28 Jan 2015 13:30主播大秀 Two except Scotland
- Wed 25 Jan 2017 19:30
- Thu 8 Nov 2018 13:45主播大秀 Two except Scotland & Wales
- Fri 27 Mar 2020 10:30主播大秀 Two except Scotland