Edit this article

Last edited 25 Apr 2024

Disaster Planning: Notts

• Maps indicating development in old industrial net between Nottingham and Sheffield (late forties). Sources: A.P. Nicholson.

"...the information required by man to act in the present is contained in the long-term consequences of action, rather than in short-term known results."
Hasan Ozbekhan (1971) 'Large Systems and their Regulation'.

• Table 1: UK 'Definition of Disaster'. Source: IFRC. Click image to view.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency defines the term 'disaster' as:—

"An occurrence of a natural catastrophe, technological accident, or human-caused event that has resulted in severe property damage, deaths, and/or multiple injuries." FEMA

1 FOREWORD
2 INTRODUCTION
3 (1) The architectural legacy of Richard Beeching in Nottinghamshire.
4 (2) The architectural legacy of Nicholas Ridley in Nottinghamshire.
5 (3) The architectural legacy of Cedric Price in Nottinghamshire.
6 CONCLUSION
7 References
8 Further reading
9 Related articles on Designing Buildings

[edit] FOREWORD

The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 ... was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which nationalised, or brought into state control, the coal industry in the United Kingdom. Wikipedia

The Transport Act 1947 nationalised nearly all forms of mass transport in Great Britain and came into effect on 1 January 1948. British Railways came into existence as the business name of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission (BTC) on 1 January 1948 when it took over the assets of the Big Four railway companies. Wikipedia

Thus this article is predicated on a known fact, namely:—

... that the coal industry and the railway network were public property.

[edit] INTRODUCTION

Using the FEMA definition of the term 'disaster', this article assumes:—

... that there is sufficient evidence available to define both the Beeching cuts and the Miners' strike as disasters.

For example:—

"Out of 18,000 miles (29,000 km) of railway, Beeching recommended that 6,000 miles (9,700 km)—mostly rural and industrial lines—should be closed entirely, and that some of the remaining lines should be kept open only for freight. A total of 2,363 stations were to close, including 435 already under threat, both on lines that were to close and on lines that were to remain open." Wikipedia

"In 1983, Britain had 175 working pits, all of which had closed by the end of 2015." Wikipedia

• Table 2: Known facts about the results of the Beeching cuts (left) and the Miners' strike (right).

In March 2024, Norman Fellows created two supplementary articles about the Beeching cuts and the Miners' strike, namely:—

Thus this article claims:—

... that two reports by Richard Beeching—i.e. 'The Reshaping of British Railways' (1963) and 'The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes' (1965)—led to severe damage to public property in the railway network in Nottinghamshire; and
... that a report by Nicholas Ridley—i.e. 'Report of Nationalised Industries Policy Group' (1977)—led to severe damage to public property in the coal industry in Nottinghamshire.

It also claims:—

... that a report by Cedric Price— i.e. 'Potteries Think Belt (sic): A plan for the establishment of a major advanced educational industry in North Staffordshire' (1966)—led to his proposal for “Possible Thinkbelt development in old industrial net between Nottingham and Sheffield 30-40 miles (i,e, half length of Los Angeles)” (1969).

However, the purpose of this article is therefore:—

to establish a valid equation between contemporary social aspirations and architecture.

[edit] (1) The architectural legacy of Richard Beeching in Nottinghamshire.

This article assumes:—

... that Richard Beeching worked from a premise which prioritised economic aspirations; and
... that the Beeching reports perceived the architecture of the railway network in Nottinghamshire as expendable.

Tables 3 and 4 below indicate the extent of the damage to public property in the railway network in Nottinghamshire.

• Map indicating the closed Radford Junction - Shireoaks East Junction line. Source: Martin Firth.

Radford Junction - Shireoaks East Junction

Date closed to passenger services

12 October 1964

Mileage closed

28m 52c

Stations closed

Basford Vernon

Bulwell Market

Hucknall Byron

Linby

Newstead

Annesley

Kirkby-in-Ashfield (East)

Sutton Junction

Mansfield (Town)

Mansfield Woodhouse

Shirebrook (West)

Langwith

Elmton & Cresswell

Whitwell

Services operated

Nottingham (Midland) - Mansfield (Town) - Worksop

• Source: Martin Firth.

• Table 3: Radford Junction - Shireoaks East Junction

• Map indicating the closed Nottingham (Victoria) - Woodhouse Junction line. Source: Martin Firth.

Nottingham (Victoria) - Woodhouse Junction

Date closed to passenger services

5 September 1966

Mileage closed

32m 74c

Stations closed

London (Marylebone) / Bournemouth / Swindon - Sheffield (Victoria) / Manchester (Piccadilly) / York / Newcastle

• Source: Martin Firth.

Hucknall (Central) and Beighton stations were closed prior to Beeching.

n.b. This line crosses the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border between Kirkby Bentink and Tibshelf (Town) stations.

• Table 4: Nottingham (Victoria) - Woodhouse Junction

[edit] (2) The architectural legacy of Nicholas Ridley in Nottinghamshire.

This article assumes:—

... that Nicholas Ridley worked from a premise which prioritised economic aspirations; and
... that the Ridley Report perceived the architecture of the coal industry in Nottinghamshire as expendable.

Table 5 below indicates the extent of the damage to public property in the coal industry in Nottinghamshire.

• Map indicating Collieries in Nottinghamshire before the Miners' strike

1982 New Hucknall (17)	1992 Sherwood (23)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>	1992 Silverhill (25)
1985 Moorgreen (16)	1992 Teversal (28)
1985 Pye Hill (20) (21)	1993 Bevercotes (4)
1986 Babbington (2)	1993 Rufford (22)
1986 Hucknall No.2 (12)	1994 Manton (15)
1987 Newstead (18)	1994 Ollerton (19)
1988 Linby (13)	1995 Bilsthorpe (5)
1988 Mansfield (14)	1999 Calverton (7)
1989 Blidworth (6)	2000 Annesley (1)
1989 Sutton (27)	2000 Bentink (3)
1989 Warsop Main (30)	2003 Clipstone (8)
1990 Shireoaks (24)	<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
1990 Steetley (26)	Harworth (11)
1991 Gedling (10)	Thoresby (29)
1992 Cotgrave (9)	Welbeck (31)

• Table indicating chronological order of pit closures ...

n.b. Hyperlinks to Georeferenced Map overlays on Satellite Images are provided where available.

• Table 5: Collieries in Nottinghamshire open before the Miners' strike together with dates of closure

[edit] (3) The architectural legacy of Cedric Price in Nottinghamshire.

This article assumes, after the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA):—

... that Cedric Price worked from a premise which prioritised social aspirations and architecture; and
... that the Potteries Thinkbelt foreshadowed "Possible Thinkbelt development in old industrial net between Nottingham and Sheffield" (Non-plan, 1969).

Table 6 below indicates the continuing legacy of the Thinkbelt study.

• Panel. Source: A. Jacob Levin

• Facsimile by Norman Fellows.

• Table 6: Collages comparing the original conception in Staffordshire (left) with an iteration in Nottinghamshire.

The map of the Dukeries Thinkblet reproduced below shows proposed main routes, transfer, faculty and housing areas in more detail.

• Site Plan of the Dukeries Thinkbelt ©© Norman Fellows. Click here to see on Google Maps

[edit] CONCLUSION

(1) Firstly, the Beeching reports were supported with legislation. For example, according to Wikipedia:—

The Transport Act 1962 dissolved the British Transport Commission (BTC), which had overseen the railways, canals and road freight transport and established the British Railways Board, which took over on 1 January 1963, with Dr Beeching as its first chairman. The Act put in place measures that simplified the process of closing railways by removing the need for the pros and cons of each case to be heard in detail. It was described as the "most momentous piece of legislation in the field of railway law to have been enacted since the Railway and Canal Traffic Act 1854".
Wikipedia

Furthermore:—

The Act put in place measures that enabled the closure of around a third of British railways the following year as a result of the Beeching report, as the Act simplified the process of closing railways removing the need for pros and cons of each case to be heard in detail.
Wikipedia

Thus this article rejects the premises Beeching worked from and concludes firstly:—

... that the economic aspirations upon which the Beeching reports were predicated led to severe damage to public property in Nottinghamshire.

(2) Secondly, the Ridley report was not supported with legislation. For example, from the report itself:—

"There is a strong case for avoiding legislation in the field of public industry as far as possible. Not only is legislative time scarce but it would stir up an unnecessary hornet's nest. The only necessary Bill would be one to end the public sector monopolies."
(Ridley, p.13)

Furthermore, according to Wikipedia:—

The Coal Industry Act 1987 (c. 3) changed the name of the National Coal Board (NCB) to the British Coal Corporation. With the passing of the Coal Industry Act 1994, the 16th and last Coal Industry Act, the industry-wide administrative functions of British Coal were transferred to the new Coal Authority from 31 October 1994.
All economic assets were privatised.
Wikipedia

Thus this article rejects the premises Beeching worked from and concludes secondly:—

... that the economic aspirations upon which the Ridley report was predicated led to severe damage to public property in Nottinghamshire.

In addition, the Ridley report also stated:—

"There are whole towns dependent on steel works, coal mines and ports, which might be severely deprived if full efficiency policies are carried out. The responsibility for dealing with these is that of Government rather than the Industry."

and proposed three possibilities, namely:—

"The Government can either refund the industry for the continuation of uneconomic plants for social reasons;
or it can use its financial strength to bring in new industries;
or it can compensate financially the victims of industrial change."

However, the Government did not do any of these possibilities.

(3) Thirdly, and in contrast to the Beeching and Ridley reports, the Cedric Price report did lead to a constructive proposal, namely:—