Gibbs, Ewan (2016) Deindustrialisation and industrial communities: the Lanarkshire coalfields c.1947-1983. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/7751/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Deindustrialisation and Industrial Communities: The Lanarkshire Coalfields c.1947-1983 Ewan Gibbs, MSc, M.A. Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Ph.D in Economic and Social History School of Social and Political Sciences College of Social Sciences University of Glasgow November 2016 Abstract Deindustrialisation and Industrial Communities: The Lanarkshire Coalfields c.1947-1983 This thesis examines deindustrialisation, the declining contribution of industrial activities to economic output and employment, in Lanarkshire, Scotland’s largest coalfield between the early nineteenth and mid-twentieth century. It focuses on contraction between the National Coal Board’s (NCB) vesting in 1947 and the closure of Lanarkshire’s last colliery, Cardowan, in 1983. Deindustrialisation was not the natural outcome of either market forces or geological exhaustion. Colliery closures and falling coal employment were the result of policy-makers’ decisions. The thesis consists of four thematic chapters: political economy, moral economy, class and community, and generation and gender. The analysis is based on archival sources including Scottish Office reports and correspondence relating to regional policy, and NCB records. These are supported by National Union of Mineworkers Scottish Area and STUC meeting minutes, and oral history testimonies from over 30 men and women with Lanarkshire coalfield backgrounds, as well as two focus groups. The first two chapters analyse the process of deindustrialisation, with the first offering a top-down perspective and the second a bottom-up viewpoint. In chapter one deindustrialisation is analysed through changes in political economy. Shifts in labour market structure are examined through the development of regional policy and its administration by the Scottish Office. The analysis centres upon a policy network of Scottish business elites and civil servants who shaped a vision of modernisation via industrial diversification through attracting inward investment. In chapter two the perspective shifts to community and workforce. It analyses responses to coalfield contraction through a moral economy of customary rights to colliery employment. A detailed investigation of Lanarkshire colliery closures between the 1940s and 1980s emphasises the protracted nature of deindustrialisation. Chapters three and four consider the social and cultural structures which shaped the moral economy but were heavily altered by deindustrialisation. Chapter three focuses on the dense networks that linked occupation, community, and class consciousness. Increasing coalfield centralisation and remote control of pits from NCB headquarters in London, and mounting hostility to coal closures, contributed to an accentuated sense of Scottish-ness. Chapter four illuminates gender and generational dimensions. The differing experiences of cohorts of men who faced either early retirement, redundancy or transfer to alternative sectors, or those who never attained anticipated industrial employment due to final closures, are analysed in terms of constructions of masculinity and the endurance of cultural as well as material losses. This is counterpoised to women who gained industrial work in assembly plants and the perceived gradual attainment of an improved economic and social position whilst continuing to navigate structures of patriarchy. 2 Contents List of Tables 4 List of figures 4 Acknowledgements 5 Declaration 6 Abbreviations 7 Maps 8 Introduction 10 Chapter 1 Scottish Economic Development c.1945-1980s 20 Chapter 2 The Moral Economy of the Coalfields and the Management of Deindustrialisation 66 Chapter 3 The Scottish Mining Community: Locale, Class, Nation and Sectarianism 120 Chapter 4 Gender and Generation 167 Conclusion 211 Appendix: Biographies of Oral History Participants 216 Bibliography 221 3 List of Tables 1.1 Male Employment in Lanarkshire 30 1.2 Female Employment in Lanarkshire 31 1.3 Unemployment in Lanarkshire 31 1.4 Scottish Coalfield Employment 32 4.1 Generation, Temporality and Employment Structure in the Lanarkshire Coalfields 170 4.2 Male Generational Responses to Deindustrialisation in the 1980s 185 List of Figures 1.1 ‘Map of the Lanarkshire Coalfields’ 8 1.2 ‘Map of the Scottish Coalfields’ 9 2.1 ‘Map of Peter Downie’s Travel to Work’ 92 3.1 ‘Auchengeich Memorial’ 139 3.2 ‘Miners’ Gala Day 1969’ 148 3.3 ‘Gala Day 1969’ 150 3.4 1988 Scottish Miners’ Gala ‘Advertising Poster’ 153 4 Acknowledgements This thesis was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council on a 1+3 grant from the Scottish Doctoral Training College. I would like to thank Dr. Duncan Ross and Dr. Jim Phillips for supervising this thesis and providing continual support and encouragement over the last three years. Conducting this research relied on the assistance of lots of people who gave up their time to conduct oral history with me, and upon those who were friendly enough to put me in contact with friends and colleagues. I also owe thanks to the archivists at the National Records of Scotland, the University of Glasgow Archives and the volunteers at the National Mining Museum of Scotland who made large numbers of documents available to me at short notice. I would also like to thank Professor John Firn for granting me permission to use his records at the University of Glasgow archives. Dr. Annmarie Hughes and Dr. Andrew Perchard have given me scholarly guidance and friendly advice. My examiners, Professor Keith Gildart and Dr. Catriona MacDonald, provided expertise and critical comment that assisted in presenting a clearer perspective in this thesis. I have relied on the support of many friends and colleagues over the last three years. Thanks to fellow Ph.D students Susan Gardiner, Felicity Cawley, Chris Miller and Stephen Mullen for being good people to study alongside, discuss developing a thesis with, and friends in and out of the office. Patrick Orr, Stephen Low, Raquel Candelas, Duncan Hotchkiss, Andy Clark and Laura Dover have dealt with a friend who would discuss his research with anyone who would listen and engaged in critically discussing ideas or proof reading the odd sentence. Lauren Gilmour has been more supportive than I could have asked a partner to be, and provided belief when I didn’t have much in myself. I wish to dedicate this thesis to Ksenija and Petro Szwec, who were reluctant citizens of industrial Scotland, Ukrainian Dundonians, and proud grandparents. 5 I declare that, except where explicit reference is made to the contribution of others, that this dissertation is the result of my own work and has not been submitted for any other degree at the University of Glasgow or any other institution. Ewan Gibbs 6 Abbreviations CCC Colliery Consultative Committee CNTDC Cumbernauld New Town Development Corporation COSA, Colliery Official and Staff Association CPGB Communist Party of Great Britain FDI foreign direct investment IDC Industrial Development Certificate MNE multinational enterprise NACODS National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies and Shotfirers NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NCB National Coal Board NUM National Union of Mineworkers NUMSA National Union of Mineworkers Scottish Area OMS output per manshift SDA Scottish Development Agency SCDI Scottish Council (Development and Industry) SCEBTA Scottish Colliery Enginemen and Boilermen and Tradesmen Association SDD Scottish Development Department SEPB Scottish Economic Planning Board SEPD Scottish Economic Planning Department SIEC Scottish Industrial Estates Corporation SNP Scottish National Party SSHA Scottish Special Housing Association STUC Scottish Trade Union Congress UCS Upper Clyde Shipbuilders WFTU World Federation of Trade Unions 7 Maps Figure 1.1 ‘Map of the Central and Douglas Valley Coalfields, 1944’, Scottish Mining <http://www.scottishmining.co.uk/Indexes/LKS-1944.jpg> [accessed 9/9/2016]. Location of notable collieries: 5 Gartshore 9/11 11 Garscube 12 Wester Auchengeich 13 Auchengeich 14 Bedlay 18 Cardowan 24 Baton 25 Hillhouserig 39 Gateside 43 Bardykes 51 Kingshill 1 8 53 Kingshill 2 90 Douglas Castle 92 Kennox 93 Glespin Figure 1.2 ‘Map of the Scottish Coalfields’ RCAHMS (2005) 9 Introduction Deindustrialisation, the declining contribution of industrial activities to GDP and employment, provides a crucial insight to understanding post-1945 Scottish economic development, and major social and political changes. It was a complex, phased, and highly politicised process which took place over several decades across the mid and late twentieth century. Deindustrialisation had profound effects in altering social and cultural structures, as well as shaping the emergence of a more pronounced sense of Scottish-ness in demands for greater political autonomy