A FORMER coal miner has taken a trip down memory lane as his latest book details his family’s long history down the pits.

Brian Turner, 80, of Millwood, in Chilton, in County Durham, is the fourth generation of his family to work in the region’s mines.

The Chilton Town councillor ventured underground at the Randolph Colliery, in Evenwood, County Durham, as a 16-year-old.

He worked in several pits in County Durham, including at Chilton Colliery, and in Staffordshire for the National Coal Board.

In later years Mr Turner also worked as a group engineer for the private mining company the Young Group at colliers in the North-East and the Midlands.

Mr Turner retired in 1994 while at Woodside Drift Mine, in Consett, County Durham.

He has written his second book called Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: An Industrial and Social History of the South-West Durham Coalfield.

It chronicles Mr Turner’s family history in the mines plus the stories of the pits and the other miners who worked at the coal face.

Mr Turner said: “The book is a labour of love and I enjoyed writing it. It took me ten-years to write the book but mining is in my family’s blood.

“I have spoken to all kinds of people. It’s my reminiscence of my time in the mines and I have fond memories of that time, but it was hard work.”

This is Mr Turner’s second book as he wrote Chilton, Windlestone and Rushyford: An Industrial and Social History in 1999.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: An Industrial and Social History of the South-West Durham Coalfield launched today. (Thursday, March 19)

It has 161 photographs in and it costs £17.50. It can be ordered from ELI Press, 121 Low Etherley, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, DL14 0HA or online at Amazon.