George Orwell, author of such books as Animal Farm, 1984 and The Road to Wigan Pier was born this day in 1903.
Orwell's book, Wigan Pier, his vision of a fractured society that funnily enough is as relevant today as it was when he wrote it in 1937, is a book that is close to my heart.
When researching his book, Orwell visited the Yorkshire town of Barnsley, watching and talking with the men whose lives were solely dependent on a living made from the coal mines, he used what he learnt there as reference for this book.
Coal was many thing to many people, some became rich because of it, many died because of it but it was the mainstay of my Taylor family's whole existence. Reading Wigan Pier, listening to my grandparent's stories of their life in the mines and writing their story, I know exactly what Orwell meant when he wrote:
"If there is one type of man to whom I do feel myself inferior, it is the coal miner."
My paternal ancestors story, a Life in the Dark, can be read on my website at:
Coal was many thing to many people, some became rich because of it, many died because of it but it was the mainstay of my Taylor family's whole existence. Reading Wigan Pier, listening to my grandparent's stories of their life in the mines and writing their story, I know exactly what Orwell meant when he wrote:
"If there is one type of man to whom I do feel myself inferior, it is the coal miner."
My paternal ancestors story, a Life in the Dark, can be read on my website at:
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