Described as ‘the great experiment of socialism’, 1947 marked the Nationalisation of the Coal Indusrty, when over 900 pits were taken from the hands of private coal companies and given over to public ownership by Clement Attlee’s Labour Government. All mines and collieries with over thirty miners came under the newly created National Coal Board (NCB). This single body oversaw production and development, regulated wages, introduced widespread safety and welfare reforms and invested heavily in technological improvements.