James White – Local History Coal Mining Enquiry

Local History, Mining

A notice at the chapel in The 1900s Pit Village announces the death of James White (12 years old) who has died at the Pit. Children will be asked to play the role of investigators and, by interviewing different people, uncover what has happened, what James White was like and who (if anyone) was responsible for his death.

Each group will visit characters to interview them, they will take notes and start to put the story together. Once back at the chapel, the children will then decide in their groups what should change at the mine so that the accidents will not happen again.

Please note that during the activity the group will be split into smaller groups to go and interview different characters in The 1900s Pit Village. School staff need to play an active role in supervising these groups.

During this local history enquiry, children will find out:

• The working arrangement of the coal mining communities in the past both on the domestic and industrial side of life
• How to solve a problem through team work.
• How to develop and use thinking skills such as questioning, planning, making decisions and judgements and the synthesis of information

There is an associated resource for this activity and teachers can book outreach sessions in school (subject to availability).

Season: All year round

To book and to find out more: email bookings@beamish.org.uk or phone 0191 370 4026.