1st Edition
Leisure and Recreation in a Victorian Mining Community The Social Economy of Leisure in North-East England, 1820-1914
'Amusements they must have, or life would hardly be worth living...' Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, 1895
This text explores life in the mining villages of the north-east of England in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries - a time of massive social and industrial change. The sporting lives of these communities are often marginalized by historians, but this thoroughly researched account reveals how play as well as work were central to the lives of the working classes.
Miners contributed significantly to the economic success of the north-east during this time, yet living conditions in the mining villages were 'horrendous'. Sport and recreation were essential to bring meaning and pleasure to mining families, and were fundamental to the complex social relationships within and between communities.
Features of this extensive text include:
* analysis of the physical, social and economic structures that determined the leisure lives of the mining villages
* the role of 'traditional' and 'new' sports
* comparisons with other British regions.
Table of Contents
List of Plates
Acknowledgements
Map of East Northumberland
Introduction
Chapter 1 - The Social Context: East Northumberland, 1820-1914
Chapter 2 - Non-Sporting Leisure During the Nineteenth Century
Chapter 3 - The Strength of Tradition
Chapter 4 - The Transformation of Traditional Sports
Chapter 5 - New Sports for New Times
Chapter 6 - Football: A Symbol of Sport in East Northumberland
Conclusion
Bibliography
Notes
Biography
Alan Metcalfe
Nothing reveals more glaringly the limitations of braod generalisations about a 'working class' or a 'working class culture' than a close apprasial of particular working class communities. Northern History, University of Leeds