Population Changes in the Colliery Districts of Northumberland and Durham
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4613845 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Arthur E Smailes (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1938 |
| Volume | 91 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 220 |
| Publication date | 1938-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Geographical Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0016-7398 • E-ISSN: 1475-4959 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1787541 |
| OpenAlex | W2316169704 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
AT the outset of this study of population in the Northumberland and -Durham Coalfield it should be emphasized that over most of the region (see folding-plate, Fig. 1) the settlement consists only of mining communities, entirely dependent upon this single industry. The only exceptions are the riparian settlements on the tidal estuaries, now much more concerned with manufacturing industry and trade than with mining. There are also a few other localities where the iron and steel industry has been an important factor affecting population. Otherwise exclusively mining settlements prevail. Mining is a form of destructive exploitation of the earth's resources, a fact which is neflected by the population cycle of colliery settlements. The stage of youth, immediately following the commencement of mining, is a period of immigration and rapid increase of population. As it passes into maturity, although population continues to increase, immigration falls off as the population already assembled becomes able itself to furnish a supply of youths for the developing industry. Maturity is passed when new developments are no longer able to provide extra work sufficient to support the whole of the natural increase in population, so that an outward balance of migration sets in. This of course may happen before coal-production reaches its maxi? mum. The peak is passed, and population begins to decline, when the employment capacity of the industry begins to show an absolute decrease, a fate which sooner or later must overtake all mining undertakings. Depopulation is sometimes rapid, especially if new developments in some adjacent district serve to attract the surplus labour from the first. Such short-distance migra? tion has been a prominent feature of the population history of this coalfield,1 for a high degree of territorial mobility is in the nature of things characteristic of mining populations. The simple sequence just indicated may be modified at any stage by rejuvenation of the life of the settlement, involving a renewed steepening and upward trend of the population curve. Rejuvenation reflects an intensification of mining activity, carried out either by the extension of existing units of production to new and deeper seams, thus giving them a new lease of life, or by the establishment of new collieries sufficiently near to existing centres of population to be conveniently accessible without causing their displacement
Archaeology · Coal · Coal mining · Geography · Population · Sociology · Demography · History · Mining and Resource Management · Urbanization and City Planning
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,08 |
| Citation span | 1960 - 2026 (67) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |