The commission by the War Artists’ Advisory Committee for Moore to draw a series of coalmining scenes in Wheldale Colliery, Yorkshire, was made in August 1941 although Moore did not begin his observations in the mine until December of that year. The drawings in this notebook were made in situ over a period of about two weeks, and from these sketches he filled another three sketchbooks with worked-up drawings done at Hoglands and completed by June 1942.