research establishment at Stoke Orchard in Gloucestershire was founded in 1950 with Jacob Bronowski as Director of Research. It closed following privatisation of the coal mining industry. The Stoke Orchard library was safeguarded after closure and is now held by the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers. Subsidiaries NCB subsidiaries managed coal based chemical products (Coal Products Division) and the production of helmets and other mining equipment (Tredomen Engineering Ltd). In the mid 1970s, the activities of Coal Products Division were transferred to two new companies; National Smokeless Fuels Ltd and Thomas Ness Ltd, although they remained wholly owned by the NCB. Films In 1952, the NCB established a film unit. The board was keen to train its staff and new recruits and initiated a scheme to produce technical films as well as commissioning films from outside companies. More than nine hundred films were made before the unit closed in 1984. Housing The NCB was a major landlord, owning thousands of houses rented to miners and others involved in the industry. At the time of the 1984-85 miners strike, it owned around 170,000 houses of various ages. Shortly after this the government instructed the NCB to sell its stock of houses, some of which were bought by the miners or former miners, and others were sold to property speculators. Arms See also Aberfan disaster Edwards v National Coal Board Energy policy of the United Kingdom Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom European Coal and Steel Community National Coal Board Labour Staff Association References Notes Bibliography Further reading Monopolies and Mergers Commission. National Coal Board: a report on the efficiency and costs in the development, production and supply of coal by the NCB. Cmnd 8920, 1983 National Coal Board Report of the advisory committee on organisation (Fleck Report). 1955 External links National Coal Mining Museum for England Durham Mining Museum list of pits in Northern England North Staffs pics Scottish Mining Museum Big Pit: National Coal Museum – Wales Coal in the United Kingdom Defunct mining companies of the United Kingdom Former nationalised industries of the United Kingdom Energy companies established in 1946 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1946 Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 1987 1946 establishments in the United Kingdom 1987 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom History of coal mining