Through careful consideration of how to apply these methods and possible means of presenting the results, we will be able to build a meaningful approach to this site. These are not simply methods by which empirical data can be gathered about a complex of (empty) buildings (see Figure 5). What I deem to be of utmost importance, and part of the unique character of a recent archaeological site, is the introduction of memory as an investigative tool. The creation of an oral historical record should not be seen as a separate recording method, but should inform and bind the various methodologies together. Emphasis will be placed on how the extant building remains were caught up in, and helped structure, the human experiences of working in, and living with, a large industrial complex. This study will investigate the development and role (at local, regional, and national scales) of a specialised plant within the political and social climate of the post-nationalisation coal industry, and the subsequent collapse of this industry.

Instead of thinking about the space the buildings define, it will help to consider the processes and activities that took place within those spaces. The idea of recording industrial processes, as opposed to recording simply the buildings themselves, is not new; Malaws (1997) gives an excellent account of the theory, methods, and reality of recording the Taff Merthyr Colliery in South Wales. The site was still operating at the time, and so provided the surveyors with the kind of detail that we as archaeologists usually struggle to obtain (see Figure 6).

People making coke...

A building's form, function, and space each has meanings in the field of social relations, each is capable of signifying who we are, to ourselves in society and in the cosmic scheme of things. And each speaks of both power and bond relations. (Markus 1993: 30).

The seemingly overt function of particular buildings within the complex may hide from view the more subtle activities, assumptions and knowledges that were taking place and being formed in these areas. During the collection of some of the documentary material for the archive, these undercurrents became more apparent. The material collected included a selection of works records, original promotional documents, and a large collection of photographs taken by one of the Works Managers, Mr Stuart Kay, over a period of several years (see Figure 7).

There are immense numbers of plans, charts, and technical drawings which document the original design of the Works, and changes that were made to them (see Figure 8). Schematic diagrams relate chemical processes to particular buildings or installations, indicating different activity areas and routes of movement. However, it is perhaps only through the oral evidence that we will know how the 'mapped reality' was realised on the ground. Can we identify unmapped changes to original designs? Were there any makeshift alterations or non-standard procedures in operation?

Some of the archive files contain figures detailing the output of the plant, efficiency ratings and general running costs (see Figure 9). While these rather dry sets of empirical data may seem dull or uninspiring, they can help us to focus on the site in different ways. They can extend our view, enabling us to build up an idea of the contribution of production at a regional and national scale. We can compare the production at Avenue Works with that of other plants and think about how it relied upon and fed different kinds of industry. Likewise, these data can draw our view inwards, to more immediate surroundings. Wage lists, incomings and outgoings make us think about the impact that the closure of the works would have had on the local economy. These figures are the tangible remnants of management and control, and without a doubt featured in the decision to close the plant down.

The changing 'image' of the Works is also something that is apparent in the archive material. My favourite document is a promotional brochure produced by the National Coal Board in 1956 which presents the clean, efficient and technical face of the works to the public. The Board was understandably proud of this engineering achievement, stating that 'this scientifically planned and integrated smokeless fuel and chemical works is undoubtedly one of the finest in the world' (1956). Constructed over a period of four years in the 1950s, the Works cost ten million pounds to complete (see Figure 10). The brochure includes descriptions and images of pristine equipment and new site buildings, emphasising the clean bright colours of the myriad pipes and towers (Figures 3 and 4). There are plenty of dials and generators and astonishing perspectives (Figures 5 and 6). The centre page shows a schematic three-dimensional aerial view of the entire Works, which isolates the site from its landscape context; there are no hills or houses to be seen, no spoil heaps or smoking chimneys. It is the very model of cleanliness and efficiency.

What is missing from this brochure is the people. There is only one photograph of a person, who is poring over a plan, but we certainly know that he did not run the plant by himself. Of course, promotional material has a specific function, and it would make no sense if it presented anything other than a positive image. It tells us something about the desire of the National Coal Board to inform people; it almost seems as if they were not promoting a product as much as a technical achievement. The context of post-war Britain is important here -- ten million pounds for a construction project does not seem a large sum today, but in Britain, food rationing had only just ceased and the brochure vocalises this massive investment in the infrastructure of the country. The image of the Works has also played an important part in the history of the plant's development and decline (see Figure 11). The working reality of the plant was not, as we know, the clean and colourful ideal promoted in the brochure, and as time went on, efficiency decreased, coupled with an increase in pollution.

A very powerful set of images was taken in the mid 1980s as part of a 'clean-up' campaign, designed to show that the plant could still operate efficiently and could reduce pollution and emissions (Stuart Kay, pers. comm.) (see Figure 12). These photographs are the direct result of concern with the public image of the Works and part of a statement to prove that the accumulated grime of the last twenty years could be defeated. They are a reflection of a growing concern with environmental issues, and, perhaps, a direct response to pressures from a Conservative government that was hitting the coal industry hard (Figures 9-11). I like these pictures very much, and even though they are as staged as those in the National Coal Board brochure, they somehow seem more honest. The plant in these pictures needs the people that are working there.

The photographs taken by Stuart Kay are a really valuable contribution to the archive. They capture the diverse nature of the plant through different seasons, weather and working conditions, and they were taken for a whole variety of different reasons (see Figure 13). Some are general overviews, some show particular buildings, others show people at work or at rest (Figure 12). At last an impression of a working plant comes into view. Concepts of gendered space emerge; out of several hundred images, the only picture of a woman shows an administrative office interior (Figure 13). This may reflect bias in the photographic record, but it may also illustrate the structure of the work force. While I do not yet know the proportion of men and women employed at the Works, I suspect their (?'traditional') roles were fairly clearly defined in both functional and spatial terms. This photograph also reminds us to investigate the relationship between labourer workforce and management -- who had access to what? How was activity monitored on site? Were surveillance cameras in operation? Were working schedules started and finished with audible signals? How did it smell?

Perhaps most poignant are his pictures of the last working day at the plant. In September of 1992, the last charge of coke was processed. Figure 14 shows the charge being pushed from the oven before being moved to the quenching tower to be doused in water. For those watching, this must have been an emotional time (see Figure 15). Avenue Works closed shortly afterwards in October 1992.

Closure
Archaeology has an active role to play in the creation of even our most recent histories. I hope we will achieve a more socially informed approach to a huge industrial complex by carrying out this work. We need to gain a picture of a working plant, one that operated day and night, that produced smells and sounds which escaped the site's boundaries, and involved a work force for 24 hours of the day. The differing human perceptions of the structures we build, inhabit and work in are important questions being asked by archaeologists today. If such questions are being asked of earlier material, which has often left only the slightest traces in the ground, we are surely in a privileged position to be working with a complex that was in operation entirely within living memory. These memories are a part of the fabric of the buildings themselves.

References

Copyright © A. Badcock 1998

Copyright © assemblage 1998