Can anyone help in identifying the above enamelled badge, which I believe is mining related. The outer scroll is red with gold lettering while the inner coat of arms is of blue, black and gold on a white background. I think the coat of arms are those of the City of Leeds but have no idea what the initials in the legend stand for or the significance of the date "1912". It may be significant that 1912 was a year of significant industrial unrest in the UK's mining industry. One possibility for the initials "N.E.C.M." is "North East Colliery Managers" or alternatively "North East Coal Miners? The term north-east may fit for Leeds as the Yorkshire coalfield was at times referred to as England's North-East coalfield. This was certainly the case in 1947 when the NCB Divisions were first assigned. The Yorkshire coalfield became the North-East Division of the NCB while the Durham & Northumberland coalfield became part of the Northern Division. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. 

 

Submitted By : John Soppitt.

Date: January 2003

 

REPLY No.1

 

I've recently found a stash of similar NECM badges in the Beamish Museum stores. As it happens, it's not a mining badge: 'NECM' stands for "North Eastern Cyclists' Meet". The badges in our collection span 1895 - 1937, so it looks as though it was a long running, possibly yearly meeting of a big, established cycle club.

The design of the badges seems to have reflected the town/ area of a meeting, or- occasionally- major current events (coronations, victory celebrations etc) . If you were interested (and I realise it's not mining memorabilia) I could send you images of a couple of our badges, though I think Richmondshire Museum might have a proper feature on the NEC and probably know a lot more than I do.

Submitted By : Mike Ashmore ( Documentation Assistant, Beamish Open Air Museum).
Date: September 2004.
 

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