The Price of Coal

by Barry Hines

Book by Hines, Barry

Genres: Fiction, Plays, British Literature, Novels

159 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Barry Hines (June 30, 1939 – March 18, 2016) was an English author, playwright, and screenwriter. His novels and screenplays explore the political and economic struggles of working-class Northern England, particularly in his native West Riding / South Yorkshire.

He is best known for the novel A Kestrel for a Knave (1968), which he helped adapt for Ken Loach's film Kes (1969). He also collaborated with Loach on adaptations of his novels Looks and Smiles (1981) and The Gamekeeper, and a 1977 two-part television drama adaption of his book The Price of Coal.

He also wrote the television film Threads, which depicts the impact of a nuclear war on Sheffield.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the author of A Kestrel for a Knave one would expect a hard hitting reflection of working class, mining life and this does not disappoint. Set in 1977 the book now reflects a lost world, the last deep seam coal mine in Britain having closed recently. Despite the miners' strike being only seven years away, this was a time when people believed that in the future they'd travel to the pit head on a monorail, the mining industry's destrction seemingly inconceivable. It presents a warts and all picture of a mining community, complete with its social and political faultlines.

Despite being firmly from the area and intimate with the South Yorkshire dialect, Barry Hines resists the urge to include this in the text, aside from a few 'Owts' and such (Irvine Welsh has no such restraint in using Scots dialect throughout his now extensive canon). I wonder if this is due to publisher pressure, aware that southern readers believe that theirs is the only correct way of speaking. Having lived in Barnsley for many years I can report that the population has some difficulty in understanding anybody from anywhere else and is blissfully unaware that no one can understand a word they are saying. I must say that I rather like this attitude.

The book is full of strong characters and is fair to all; although the pit managers are ridiculed it is clear they are capable men of humanity who know their business and the compromises inherent in it. Despite a habitual insolence, the men act as part of a team. There is plenty of humour exemplified by an incident where a man's 'snap bag' is checked for explosives even though the managers know whose the bag is and that it contains jam sandwiches. The plot focuses on Syd's family, a miner, his wife and three children, one of whom also works at the pit, despite being a skilled cricketer. Syd is a socialist and a quiet, 'club man' intellectual, reading his daughter's text books so that he can support her learning.

Syd's radicalism is galvanised when it's decided that the pit will enjoy the privilege of a royal visit. He is not alone in resenting that he's expected to bow and scrape to a person of hereditary status who has arguably never benefited his community and has little insight into working people's lives. This leads to some strong arguments in the club, at one point threatening the snooker table's fine green baize.

The royal visit rapidly turns into an exercise in semi-hysterical sycophancy; weeks of preparation and expense for a few minutes of the royal presence. Only the areas the prince will visit are tarted up. The more insighful note that nothing of this kind would be dreamt of to benefit them. Ludicrously at one point a brick is painted white to match a window frame, which it's holding up because nobody has got round to replacing its sash cord.

Once the royal helicopter has disappeared, things rapidly return to normal. The pressure is on to maximise production and return a 'down' coal face to production. Disaster strikes and a rescue situation develops. Syd is missing and the action begins to switch between the damaged mine and the anxious relatives, not all of whom get good news. The difference between the royal visit fantasy world and the grim reality of deep seam mining is brutal.

Gradually rescue teams inch their way towards the trapped men, or sometimes what is left of them; plot spoiler aleret - a body held together by what is left of its clothes is found. The rescue process is sometimes quaint with caged canaries being used to test for the dreaded 'firedamp' explosive gas. This is a nightmare for the rescuers and some can't cope; in current parlance, all would need counselling to fend off PTSD.

I will not reveal what has happend to Syd, but to say the ending is left hanging and clearly nothing will ever be the same again. The managers are left crushed and social and class divisions disappear at this time of crisis. They are shown working comfortably with the local union representative. Grim humour continues to surface: washing in the prince's dressing room, a manager finds himself looking at a glass presentation case containing a bar of soap that the former has used. How tawdry that visit seems then.

This is a tautly drawn book that uses excellent, clear and punchy prose that is easy to read. Little more than a novella, The Price of Coal packs a lot in and is full of almost universally believable and likeable characters. Unlike the modern day stereotyping of the working class as 'chavs' on the Wayne and Waynetta Slob model, these are hardworking people with aspirations, skills, solidarity and commitment to their families and community. Barry Hines has used his warm and intimate understanding of that community and the potentially lethal industry that underpins it to fine literary effect.

A good read for anyone, even if this world is now gone for ever.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Price of Coal grew out of a two part television drama that Barry Hines wrote in the late seventies following two incidents in the life of a South Yorkshire coal mine: a royal visit to mark the silver Jubilee and a catastrophic underground explosion a few weeks later. There’s not a great deal of plot, but Barry Hines effectively captures the sense of comradeship and community that existed in pit villages before the strike of 1984-5 and the end of deep coal mining in the UK. As such, The Price of Coal is a fascinating snapshot of an industry and a way of life that was unknowingly perched on the verge of extinction.

[Adam Walls · Rating 5 out of 5]

My second read of, ‘Barry Hines,’ and the first novel I read in a single afternoon! This social realist story thrusts you back in time to the northern mining villages of England, when the monarchy really were treated like royalty, and how such behaviour causes one of the most thrilling and heart breaking disasters I’ve read to date!!

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘I’d have thought the Royal Family would be sick of the smell of fresh paint by now.’

[James Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining social realism with a streak of feisty republicanism. Intriguing to me for it's location in a fictional South Yorkshire mining town, similar to the one I grew up in, and neighbouring places like Hoyland, Rawmarsh and Sheffield. The creeping injustice and malevolence of Thatcherite Britain hangs over the narrative like a shadow

"There's never been a king or queen yet who's done a thing for the working people of this country. They're reactionaries, they're tories to a man, every last one of them"

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Price of Coal by Barry Hines. This premiered as a two part television drama that aired on BBC in 1977. The author’s father was a Yorkshire coal miner, and Hines really brings the reader into the difficult and dangerous lives of miners. The story is fictional, but was inspired by a 1975 explosion at Houghton Main Colliery in Barnsley, which occurred shortly after the royal visit in the story. Hines is a talented writer with a social conscience.

[Lee Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short read enjoyed it because I started my career as an apprentice electrician at the NCB and the book brought back memories of my underground experiences and the dangers involved on a daily basis

[B Mc Cann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second book I've read by Barry Hines having read a kestrel for a knave .
The book is split up into two stories called The visit and back to reality the book is loosely based on a real life visit to a coal mine by Prince Charles I believe .
The first story is satirical almost a comedy at times and tbh not very good, it details managements ridiculously over the top preparations for a visit by the prince of Wales this is actually based on fact ,where a coal mine did go ridiculously over budget preparing for a royal visit , as I said it's almost a comedy satirical and comes across as more of a literary exercise , but stick with it .
Story two back to reality is the aftermath of the visit where everyone is getting back to normal it centres mostly around one family but involves others also without ruining the book for anyone this story pulled the whole lot together and that is why it's getting five stars from me .
Anyone that has worked in a dangerous job or situation where corners have been cut will truly appreciate this read it's brilliant .
""He wanted something more , and just then he wanted it so badly that it became a physical need , like thirst or hunger .But he could think of no drink or food that might satisfy it .So he just stood there , looking over the fields of ripening corn in the sunlight, waiting for the feeling to go off .""
Anyone who has worked a physically demanding job that can take a mental toll on you being unable to wind down before starting a shift that paragraph completely encapsulates this feeling if you know you know .

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uses such concise, simple language to create such vivid imagery - somehow manages to use one sentence to fill in a whole scene

[Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't buy Kindle edition!

The story and quality of writing deserve 5 stars, but the Kindle edition has so many typos that render it practically unreadable. The Kindle edition is not worth buying. Do yourself a favor and find a used paperback edition. Amazon should refund all who purchased this on Kindle.