Pit-folk and Peers – Volume 2

The Remarkable History of the People of Fryston: Volume 2: Diamonds and Rust (1909-2023)

Volume 1 of this two-part history of the contrasting social classes of Fryston, West Yorkshire, focused primarily on the towering cultural, political and philanthropic figure of Richard Monckton Milnes (the first Lord Houghton), and emphasised the great significance of his Fryston Hall estate as a major hub of Victorian society. It also traced the emergence of Fryston Colliery, following its sinking in 1873, and the creation of a small, adjoining village for mineworkers and their families.

This present volume switches attention onto the important political, ambassadorial and literary activities of Houghton’s son and heir, Lord Crewe, and the considerable historical impact generated by later generations of the Milnes-Crewe dynasty. It also documents the continuing fortunes and accomplishments of the local mine and its associated community.

Lord Crewe’s sound judgement and astute diplomatic skills earmarked him as one of the most highly respected and influential Liberal politicians of the early twentieth century. Among his descendants were several illustrious individuals whose membership of royal and elite political circles served to embroil them in many landmark – and controversial – developments of the era. One notable example was that of a grandson who secretly (and unconstitutionally) took over the prime ministerial responsibilities of an ailing Winston Churchill. The election of a second grandson as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland heralded an unprecedented upsurge of sectarian conflict.

Fryston Hall itself was demolished in 1931. Its frontal porticos and other physical components were transported to nearby Airedale by volunteer miners and their families, who used them in erecting the magnificent Holy Cross Church. This was only one of numerous stupendous feats achieved by the residents of this ‘mining Shangri-la’.

In the 1940s and 1950s, for example, Fryston Colliery pioneered a charitable scheme providing motorised vehicles for paraplegic miners; local mineworkers built with their own hands a welfare hall and a village sports stadium (the ‘White City of the North’); and a Fryston pit deputy was awarded the George Medal for staging a daring underground rescue. Pivotal to these exploits was the ambition and inspiration of a charismatic local ‘pony boy’ turned ‘socialist pit manager’, who subsequently helped instigate, and became president of, the groundbreaking British Association of Colliery Management.

This volume not only retraces these singular activities but also documents the often arduous, everyday reality endured by the mining families, including their experience of two global conflicts and engagement in bitterly fought industrial stoppages.

David Waddington’s continuing historical account of the ‘pit-folk’ and ‘peers’ of Fryston extends from the village’s heyday of the early to mid-twentieth century, via its near extinction following pit closure in 1985, onto the subsequent, though controversial, attempts to revitalise it two decades later.

Taken together, his two volumes uncover a local heritage arguably unrivalled elsewhere in the British coalfields.

We will be releasing Signed Advance Copies of this title from late June. Select Signed Hardback from the Format menu then click Add To Cart above to pre-order your advance copy.

To get both Volume 1 & Volume 2 together, select Deluxe Edition from the Format menu above and then click Add to Cart above to secure both editions for £30.