Indicative Summary GEMS: Anthropology

Introduction

Two years of social anthropological fieldwork in two former mining villages in east County Durham were undertaken as part of the wider socio-economic enquiries conducted within WP3 of the GEMS project. Research focused on:

1 the extent of residents’ awareness of the potential surrounding the extraction of mine water heat from the area’s abandoned coal mines

2 the possibilities for community involvement in its realisation.

These issues were probed by applying qualitative social science methods. A post-doctoral researcher resided in Murton and became involved with community projects through volunteering and joining in a range of local activities. Research centred on a parish council, a walking group, a public library, two heritage societies, a food bank, and two places of worship. In addition to participating in the interactions of daily life, the researcher accompanied residents at special events, including the Durham Miner’s Gala, a miners’ religious service, two nature surveys, the opening of a new store and King Charles’s coronation celebrations. As well as these immersive methods, our researcher carried out 37 semi-structured interviews with local people.

The neighbouring settlements of Murton and Seaham were selected due to the inclusion of mine water heat schemes within the new development of Seaham Garden village, situated close to Seaham town and within striking distance of the village of Murton. Furthermore, in 2021 Durham County Council explored the feasibility of using the Hawthorn Combined Mine in Murton as source for mine water heat to power a business park and a local housing estate. We thus anticipated some degree of familiarity with the concept of deriving heat from abandoned mines.

The material gathered between June 2022 and December 2022 and February 2023 and October 2023 has yet to be fully analysed.

Preliminary Findings

Initial analysis of the interviews indicates a distinct lack of familiarity amongst residents with mine water heat as a technology, coupled with considerable dismay about the various ways in which regeneration has been implemented: two outcomes that appear to chime with the results from participant observation.

Evidence is emerging to suggest that any attempt to examine Seaham or Murton solely through the lens of their historical involvement with coal is likely to be of limited utility. Older residents have considerable interest in and concern about coalmining history. However, both Seaham and Murton have undergone extensive change since their five mines were shuttered in the 1990s. Ongoing demographic alterations through immigration and emigration have undermined the social structures and events associated with mining that once bound the people of both settlements. These changes militate against efforts to use a “coal community” framework in the face of an evolving, but definitively altered, economic profile.

The close connections that once existed between people’s sense of locality and perceived place within a particular social class has greatly diminished. Residents’ previous involvement in local politics has faded, with participation currently reduced to a minimum. Informants commonly express feelings of having been consistently overlooked by government. Diverse residents shared the opinion that local government most often fails to address concerns that matter most to locals, while simultaneously diluting the quality of public service provision. The result is a mixture of anger and resignation that gives way to apathy.

It is therefore hard to figure how plans for engaging people in in energy innovation could best be organised around particular social groups or collective entities in either Murton or Seaham. Levels of participation and involvement in public life that interviewees recall from earlier times have disappeared. Policy initiatives or fact-finding ventures initiated by formal political institutions are likely to struggle due to the lack of faith that people place in them.

Finally, the introduction of social media has significantly transformed the nature of social interaction in both Seaham and Murton. Much community discussion takes place online and tends to be fragmented into silos according to age and duration of residency. Thus, without careful consideration a digital campaign or other attempts to raise awareness of the potentialities of mine wate heat could easily overlook sections of the population whose voices should be heard.

We therefore consider it essential to recognise that any programme of energy transition in this area would need to be preceded by an investment into capacity building, in order to begin to build the trust required between local residents and the relevant local authorities. There are community organisations that could play a significant role in this work, but they are in need of consistent support financial and policy support. Given the disaffection resulting from over a decade of ‘austerity’, a longer term plan of action is required that offers real opportunities for community engagement that take seriously the concerns of local residents and enables equitable shared benefit from any infrastructure development.