Stories from the Bing

Categories: Industry
My Papa was a miner. My Dad used to have to run down to his pit with his piece (lunch) when he was young, as he always used to forget it. My wife's Granda was also a miner. After quite a bad pit accident, instead of being given medical attention or sent home, he was given a cup of tea and, most importantly, a cigarette. After he'd calmed his nerves, he was back at the coalface within about an hour. I'm not going to continue reminiscing here. I'm only writing this because I have never been far away from the remnants of our industrial past in the area where I stay. Even still, there are two visible coal 'bings' (slag heaps) within walking distance of my house. There are semi-buried rail lines near the Clyde which were used by the pits, until recently a huge piece of derelict slag next to the main Glasgow-Motherwell track, and a memorial to an infamous mining disaster fifteen minutes on foot. That's why when we talk about an old industrial landscape, I always take it for granted that people have experienced the same things. It's seldom the case that they have, of course, and the catchment area for our school is typically a much newer suburban landscape. When I have mentioned bings in the past, I have had a job explaining what I mean. That's why tomorrow I want to show you a few images

Read this doc on Scribd: Old Industry

I would want to use this to show you some of the features of an old industrial landscape. I am, however, thinking of doing a bit of jenga if I can get my hands on it beforehand. I want to use this to demonstrate the importance of certain factors in influencing industrial location, or more importantly the effects of 'removing' these factors. Hopefully before it all topples, I'll be able to explain the concept of inertia.
I have a couple of videos which we can use to then examine how industry changes, and how new locational considerations supercede the original ones.