| "Beneath Black Skies" Heritage Sponsors
Over the last 12 months we have been working on the documentary "Beneath Black Skies: Illawarra Coal mining stories beneath the surface"
This documentary looks at the local history of coal mining in the Illawarra with personal stories that will resonate nationally. The Illawarra is home to two of Australia’s largest and most tragic disasters, the Bulli Disaster of 1887 and the Mt Kembla Disaster of 1902. Between them 177 men and boys lost their lives during a day at work.
We recently filmed a re-enactment of the Battle of Bulli which happened shortly before the Bulli Disaster. The Battle of Bulli occurred in 1886 when after a lengthy strike, management brought in the use of non-union labour or ‘scab’ labour as they were known. The women stopped the train on its tracks and tin-kettled their pots and their pans pleading with them by holding up their babies, for them to return home to Sydney. The women won the day, however the men involved in the strike were blacklisted and not allowed to return to work at the Bulli mine. A few months later the mine blew up killing 81 men and boys, leaving the more militant unionists behind.
Thankyou to the Thirlmere Railway Heritage Museum and all the extras who turned up on the day, we had a fantastic response! Thanks too to Sarah Schols who assisted us on the day. These re-enactments could not have been possible without our sponsors who believe in conserving our cultural heritage good or bad.
|
