Black River Valley (1 Viewer)

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Thanks guys. The West Coast of the South Island is a great place full of history. The people are particularly hard bitten and most of the small towns are pretty run down - it's about as far from the bustle and ideology of Modern Day New Zealand as you can get, which is why I like it. New Zealand's Labour Day holiday came about as a result of the Blackball coal miners' strike in 1908. The hotel in the clip at the beginning is known as the Blackball Hilton and a few years ago the famous hotel chain got its knickers in a twist about the use of the name 'Hilton' and so the hotel in Blackball has subtly changed its name to Formerly The Blackball Hilton! I stayed there - great hospitality.
 
mining is a dicey business. the area i live was once mined for coal and clay ( for bricks ) and there are active mines not far from where i live. we hear of cave ins, explosions, etc every few years...the most famous was quecreek in 02 where they got the miners out by drilling down and making a 1 man elevator. but those arent the only mine disasters...we have houses swallowed up when some of the closed mines collapse...and thre are several mine fires that have been burning for years... interesting bit of history you shared nuuuuman thanks
 

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