The first year of Mining Review demonstrates that the formula that would remain essentially unchanged for nearly forty years was in place right from the start. Typically, each edition would offer three or four items, usually taking care to span a range of topics including technical, political, social and environmental matters. The very first edition offers a good example: 'Cutter Loader' explains the design and operation of a piece of mining machinery, 'Five Day Week?' is a dramatised pub conversation about the potential implications of the said ruling, and 'The Miner's Song' offers a musical interlude, setting the scene for innumerable Mining Review items about how miners spend their leisure. The first six editions were produced by John Taylor at the Crown Film Unit, the documentary unit of the government-run Central Office of Information. Following these, Donald Alexander at Data Film Productions took over, and remained the official producer of Mining Review until the National Coal Board's own film unit took charge in 1963. However, aside from the peculiarity that editions two through six did not title individual items, there is little difference in treatment: there was little point in tampering with what was already established as a winning formula. The most radical departure was the final edition of the first year, which was entirely devoted to coverage of the National Coal Board's annual report. This is a complete list of items screened during Mining Review's first year: September 1947 - No. 1 Cutter Loader
A look at the Meco-Moore cutter loader. Five Day Week?
The possibilities of a five day week for miners. The Miner's Song
Carroll Levis presents the title song.
October 1947 - No. 2 Bestwood Training Centre in Nottinghamshire
Opencast mining for coal.
Football match at Workington.
Welsh miners discuss output.
November 1947 - No. 3 The 1947 N.U.M. conference at Rothesay.
Soil subsidence caused by mining operations.
Joe Baksi, American boxer, visits British miners.
December 1947 - No. 4 The free miners of the Forest of Dean.
A miner who is also a shepherd.
The coal washeries at Denbigh.
January 1948 - No. 5 The problem of smoke elimination.
The Miners' Gala at Durham, 1947.
February 1948 - No. 6 The Hunslet locomotive used underground.
A tour of the Ruhr by British mining engineers.
Hound trails in Cumberland.
March 1948 - No. 7 Living In
A look at Easington training centre New Look For Tanks
Old Sherman tanks converted for opencast mining. Keep It Moving
Emergency measures for the transport of coal in winter weather, with volunteers at Haslmere station helping to move coal supplies. Coal on Ice
Ice hockey featuring players such as Tom Syme, a miner and a member of the British Olympic ice hockey team.
April 1948 - No. 8 Pithead Nurse
Newly established medical centres, with a nurse showing the surgery at Vane Tempest mine near Sunderland as an example. Turn of the Tide
Britain exports coal again, via the docks of Newcastle and Cardiff. Miners With Gloves On
Eddie Thomas seen at home with his family, and in training with his brother and father. His brother Hughie attends the National Coal Board's amateur boxing championships at Manchester. Rolling It Out
The production of conveyor belts for the coalmines by the British Tyre and Rubber Co at their Silvertown works in London.
May 1948 - No. 9 Your Move
The Wilks family move from their cramped, shared house in Holmewood Derbyshire to a new purpose-built and prefabricated house near Chesterfield. Coal Cooker
The operation of the coke ovens at the Fell Coke Company, Consett, County Durham. Dust (1): Medical Report
The first in a three-part look at pneumoconiosis. Coal Quiz Kids
The outcome of a children's quiz about mining.
June 1948 - No. 10 Lighting Up
The manufacture and testing of fluorescent lighting made at General Electric Co, North Wembley, and its subsequent use at Chislet Colliery in Kent. Dawnshift
Canteen women at Coventry Colliery, featuring Mrs Downs, Mrs Atkins and Mrs Burdett. Dust (2): Suppression Underground
Part two of Mining Review's look at pneumoconiosis. May Day
The Scottish Miners' Gala with the march from Holyrood Palace, speeches by Will Lawther, President of the National Union of Mineworkers, Abe Moffat, President of the Scottish Miners and Emmanuel Shinwell, ex-minister of Fuel and Power.
July 1948 - No. 11 No Tipping Here
How spoil from coal mining is being carried back underground or used to help at sea erosion sites. Also looks at how existing spoil heaps are being levelled and landscaped. A Pit is Reborn (1): Nantgarw
Plans for the re-development of this South Wales pit, abandoned in 1927 as uneconomic. British Ambassador
The arrival of a miner from County Durham, Harry Wilkins, in Copenhagen and the official welcome to commemorate the arrival of British coal to Denmark for the first time in eight years. Coo!:
Miner Tom Lancashire from Kent and his pigeon "Atomic Mealy" which he has entered in a pigeon race. Dust (3): Rehabilitation
The final part of Mining Review's look at pneumoconiosis.
August 1948 - No. 12 Annual Report
The National Coal Board's annual report. Michael Brooke, with data from the BFI SIFT database
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