This text explores recreational life during a period of economic and social change which was important to bring meaning and pleasure to the lives, often described as 'horrendous', of Victorian miners in the north-east of England.

"It has often been argued that 'modern' leisure was born in the period from the mid-nineteenth century to the outbreak of World War One. Then, it has been suggested, that if leisure was not 'invented' its forms and meanings changed. Despite the recent expansion of the literature on Irish popular cultures - perhaps most strikingly sport - the conceptions, purposes, and practical manifestations of leisure among the Irish during this critical period have yet to receive the attention they deserve. This collection represents an attempt to address this. In twelve essays that explore vibrant expressions of associational culture, the emergence of new leisure spaces, literary manifestations and representations of leisure, the pleasures and purposes of travel, and the leisure pursuits of elite women the collection offers a variety of perspectives on the volume's theme. As becomes apparent in these studies, all manner of activity, from music to football, reading to dining, travel to photography, dancing to dining, visiting to cycling, child's play to fighting and attitudes to these were shaped not just by the drive to pleasure but by ideas of class, respectability, improvement and social control as well as political, social, educational, medical and religious ideologies." --

The miners' lockout of 1926 was a pivotal moment in British twentieth-century history. Investigating issues of collective identity and action, Hester Barron explores the way that the lockout was experienced by Durham's miners and their families, illuminating wider debates about solidarity and fragmentation within working-class communities.

In recent years, historians have debated fervently on the reason for the decline of British Labour History as an academic discipline. Most certainly the challenge of Thatcherism to the working classes and trade unions in the 1980s, and the fragmentation of Labour history into gender studies, industrial studies and women’s history, have contributed to its apparent decline. Post-modernists’ challenges to the concept of class, culture and community have done their damage. As a result “Labour history”, in its broad-school sense, has been taught less and less in British universities. Yet it survives and there are grounds for believing that it will revive. This collection of chapters arose from a conference held at the University of Huddersfield in November 2010, held under the auspices of the Society for the Study of Labour History, where nineteen papers were presented. Ten of this disparate array of papers form the basis of this collection. The theme of community and localised struggle form the first section, ranging as it does from the newspapers’ representation of Yorkshire miners to brass bands and the development of separate culture. The second section deals with the more traditional trade unionism and varieties of industrial struggle. The third section focuses upon the political aspects of working-class activity, drawing upon the role of women, and Labour policy on steel nationalisation and defence. The fourth deals with radicalism, ranging from the failure of Chartism, the policy of working-class organisations to emigration, and the failure of the “soft” section of the British left in the 1920s and 1930s. There is no all-embracing concept here for what is a varied collection of chapters. However, what can be said is that British Labour history continues to provide new areas for research. Indeed, its death as an academic discipline has been greatly exaggerated. This collection of book chapters represents the current revival in Labour history which has emerged in a form that brings together community and culture alongside class and political representation to explore the breadth and depth of working-class identity.

This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. An electronic version of this book is also available under a Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC-ND) license, thanks to the support of the Wellcome Trust. The Industrial Revolution produced injury, illness and disablement on a large scale and nowhere was this more visible than in coalmining. Disability in the Industrial Revolution sheds new light on the human cost of industrialisation by examining the lives and experiences of those disabled in an industry that was vital to Britain’s economic growth. Although it is commonly assumed that industrialisation led to increasing marginalisation of people with impairments from the workforce, disabled mineworkers were expected to return to work wherever possible, and new medical services developed to assist in this endeavour. This book explores the working lives of disabled miners and analyses the medical, welfare and community responses to disablement in the coalfields. It shows how disability affected industrial relations and shaped the class identity of mineworkers. The book will appeal to students and academics interested in disability, occupational health and social history.

Vice and the Victorians explores the ways the Victorian world gave meanings to the word 'vice', and the role this complex notion played in shaping society. Mike Huggins provides a richer and more nuanced understanding of a term that, despite its vital importance to the Victorians, has thus far lacked a clear definition. Each chapter explores a different facet of vice. Firstly, the book seeks to define exactly what vice meant to the Victorians, exploring how the language of vice was used as a tool to beat down opposition and dissent. It considers the cultural geography and spatial dimensions of vice in the public and private spheres, before moving on to look at specific vices: the unholy trinity of drink, sex and gambling. Finally, it shifts from vice to virtue and the efforts of moral reformers, and reassesses the relationship between vice and respectability in Victorian life. In his lively and engaging discussion, Mike Huggins draws on a range of theory and exploits a wide variety of texts and representations from the periodical press, parliamentary reports and Acts, novels, obscene publications, paintings and posters, newspapers, sermons, pamphlets and investigative works. This will be an illuminating text for undergraduates studying Victorian Britain as well as anyone wishing to gain a more nuanced understanding of Victorian society.

This book examines the largely unexplored social and cultural history of Middlesbrough and the leisure habits and opportunities of its people. It adds to existing studies of urban Britain and provides a specific study on the relationship between leisure and urbanization and industrialization. The book furthers understanding of urban sport and urban history by demonstrating how sport can be shaped by urban growth, whether directly or indirectly, and equally, how sport can also affect the way in which a town develops. This book shows how the study of sport in a particular setting provides another means of examining relationships between different social groups and within a large urban landscape. This book views the town’s sporting history alongside the development of Middlesbrough itself and within the context of the growth of sport in Britain more widely. Furthermore, as a study in urban history, this book addresses existing gaps in our knowledge of the development of towns and cities by examining the town’s sport. Through a detailed examination of local newspapers and archival sources, this book reveals the depth and diversity of the town’s sporting culture. In particular, it illustrates the role of the middle classes in the development of clubs, and the importance of class and social relations in determining an individual’s access to sport. As a consequence, the study also relates how the town’s working class populace was often excluded from the sporting culture, and shows the lack of sporting opportunities available to women. Amateurism is explored through the initial rejection of professional football, but the book also demonstrates the increased popularity of the professional game during this period. In addition, in view of Middlesbrough’s migrant population, the extent of football’s role in forming and reinforcing local and regional identities will be examined.

Using a very wide range of detailed sources, the book surveys the many different experiences of women during the Second World War.

When we think about Victorian factories, 'Dark Satanic Mills' might spring to mind - images of blackened buildings and exhausted, exploited workers struggling in unhealthy and ungodly conditions. But for some employees this image was far from the truth, and this is the subject of 'The Factory in a Garden' which traces the history of a factory gardens movement from its late-eighteenth century beginnings in Britain to its twenty-first century equivalent in Google's vegetable gardens at their headquarters in California. The book is the first study of its kind examining the development of parks, gardens, and outdoor leisure facilities for factories in Britain and America as a model for the reshaping of the corporate environment in the twenty-first century. This is also the first book to give a comprehensive account of the contribution of gardens, gardening and recreation to the history of responsible capitalism and ethical working practices.

Ideal for high school and college students studying history through the everyday lives of men and women, this book offers intriguing information about the jobs that people have held, from ancient times to the 21st century. This unique book provides detailed studies of more than 300 occupations as they were practiced in 21 historical time periods, ranging from prehistory to the present day. Each profession is examined in a compelling essay that is specifically written to inform readers about career choices in different times and cultures, and is accompanied by a bibliography of additional sources of information, sidebars that relate historical issues to present-day concerns, as well as related historical documents. Readers of this work will learn what each profession entailed or entails on a daily basis, how one gained entry to the vocation, training methods, and typical compensation levels for the job. The book provides sufficient specific detail to convey a comprehensive understanding of the experiences, benefits, and downsides of a given profession. Selected accompanying documents further bring history to life by offering honest testimonies from people who actually worked in these occupations or interacted with those in that field.