tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post8476290995541988534..comments2024-03-09T11:34:22.175+00:00Comments on The History Girls: Black Diamonds by Catherine Bailey. Reviewed by Penny DolanMary Hoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241989732624913706noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-24031397752565948462013-03-19T20:37:20.620+00:002013-03-19T20:37:20.620+00:00Sorry for the late comment but I've been away....Sorry for the late comment but I've been away. My grandmothers family came from Elsecar - Just to the North of Wentworth and many of my forebears worked in the Fitzwilliam mines. Black Diamonds is a great read but if you want a more in depth analysis of the Fitzwilliams approach to business it's worth getting hold of a copy of "Aristocratic Enterprise" by Graham Mee (2nd on ABE books for about £1) which I think was based on a Phd or similar research into the Fitzwilliams businesses through the 18th & 19th centuries. <br />GavinGavin McLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14630089445696518084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-21190029746871506112013-03-17T15:48:45.460+00:002013-03-17T15:48:45.460+00:00This sounds interesting. It reminds me a bit of th...This sounds interesting. It reminds me a bit of the story - what little I know of it - of Shipley Hall, which used to be near where I was brought up, in Ilkeston, on the Notts-Derby coalfield. D H Lawrence is said to have based the Chatterleys' house on it; my mother could remember it. We used to go for walks in its former parkland, but there was very little trace of the house left. The owners had sowed the seeds of its destruction; they made a great deal of money from mining, but the tunnels had gone underneath the house, and during the great strike, in the 20s, they were not properly maintained, and so the house suffered terminal damage from subsidence. The only physical trace of it my friends and I ever found was a strange small ruin, which had what appeared to be a pentagram on the floor. The house always seemed to me to be a ghostly presence in Shipley Wood, now Shipley Park.Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-59761227360240129402013-03-17T11:42:01.771+00:002013-03-17T11:42:01.771+00:00Sally, thanks for your comment - and agree about t...Sally, thanks for your comment - and agree about the rich hotel guest. <br /><br />I found there were lots of moments when I thought "Ah!" in the book - for example, the way that pits that were sold into private company (as opposed to paternalistic hands) were said to treat their workers much more harshly. PFI/privatisation of schools? nhs?<br /><br />And plenty more, big and small and some incredibly poignant. I don't want to spoil the book for anyone yet to read it.Penny Dolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-29745361352021637322013-03-17T10:33:43.443+00:002013-03-17T10:33:43.443+00:00Thank you for this post. I found 'Black Diamon...Thank you for this post. I found 'Black Diamonds' a compelling read. I agree that the paperback cover is just - well, awful. But anyone who is as interested as I am in the vast social gulf between rich and poor in the early twentieth century, could do no worse than read this this fascinating book. I know it helped colour my fiction. Neither side came out smelling of roses. <br /><br />I have heard about the plans to restore Wentworth to its former glory although I would prefer it if were to end up in some sort of public ownership so that everyone can enjoy it rather than a few (rich or corporate) hotel guests.Sally Zigmondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07520579251842006765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-91911099868932251912013-03-17T09:18:52.959+00:002013-03-17T09:18:52.959+00:00Extreme wealth - it intrigues and appalls at the s...Extreme wealth - it intrigues and appalls at the same time - but the 3-day bonfire ... awful!<br /><br />Thanks for this review!Joan Lennonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15763862159032836768noreply@blogger.com