Last Saturday I paid another visit to the National Coal Mining Museum (
www.ncm.org.uk), which has a splendid visitor centre and attracts a good tourist interest, if the numbers I saw then are anything to go by. However I was disappointed by the paucity of books on sale in the gift shop. The few there looked dry and uninspiring, and it seemed to me that they are missing a great opportunity. Surely there must be many more books on and around the mining industry and its social history for adults and children. And not only non-fiction but quality fiction too. I'm convinced it would add great value to the gift shop.
But it struck me that the NCM's location near Wakefield is only 4 miles away from the bookshop by road - we are on its doorstep, as it were. Hence a visit to the museum could be comfortably combined and enhanced with a visit here on the same day! And to continue the mining theme of the day, amongst our great range of titles, we have a little gem of a book for children called 'Pitfall!'
This is a wonderfully evocative book set in the industrial revolution with a lovely story of disaster and salvation - well told in a modern style. What makes it stand out are the abundant illustrations. The stark black and white artwork perfectly captures the grimness and grime of the times, and of the hard lot of children then. And the imagination is as powerfully stirred also by the depiction of the light of God's grace shining in a dark place.
As you may have gathered by now, I highly recommend it! Especially at £2.95.
So add the NCM + bookshop combination to your list of holiday must-sees when in Yorkshire, and you won't be disappointed.
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