David John Douglass was born into a mining family and a mining community in the North East. Thanks to the NUM and Ruskin College he went on to obtain a university degree but, unusually, chose to go back down the pit and worked underground until the end of the industry. Although he never worked at Selby he was responsible for picketing in the Selby area durin the miners strike. He has subsequently worked determinately on miner’s welfare isues. He has published a number of books including the “Stardust and Coaldust” trilogy. You can find out more at https://www.douglashistory.co.uk/history/dave_douglas.html
These exclusive 2023 interviews are an important insight not only to life uncerground but to the rise and fall of the coal industry. Dave believes, and argues persuasively, that there was a future for British coal with sufficient reserves to supply the nations’s energy needs indefinately. He cites government fears of the influence of the union that witheld the investment in ‘clean’ coal technlogy that would have made this possible