Who used to work down the pits?

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I have two with the re-lighter striker but. One has a silver top section and the other bronze. Any idea of the difference?
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Silver tops were usually reserved for colliery managers, undermanagers etc, bronze dor deputies & overmen

I would have to check but it is more likely in my opinion that the restriction on numbers in a hazardous area would be related to local rescue capacity. Particularly if we are talking from the late 60's onwards.

No Yorkys right ......9 men was an accident,,more was a disaster iirc
 


Wearmouth disaster of 1992 had 2 fatalities according to DMM
Was that the train incident or when the lads were drowned? I remember Terry who I mentioned above being haunted about the drowning incident which I believe was during salvage operations after production had finished.

Silver tops were usually reserved for colliery managers, undermanagers etc, bronze dor deputies & overmen



No Yorkys right ......9 men was an accident,,more was a disaster iirc
Thanks mate. I now know I have a mangers lamp and a deputies lamp! Both from the Protector Lamp and Lighting Co in Eccles.
 
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My grandad did it from the age of 16 till he reached retirement age. I used to stop at my Gran and Grandads every Friday night and without fail I'd be woke up every Saturday morning by the sound of him coughing his lungs up because of almost 50 years of coal dust.

He died just over 10 years ago. A wonderful man, one of my childhood heroes.
 
Was that the train incident or when the lads were drowned? I remember Terry who I mentioned above being haunted about the drowning incident which I believe was during salvage operations after production had finished.


Thanks mate. I now know I have a mangers lamp and a deputies lamp! Both from the Protector Lamp and Lighting Co in Eccles.

On the 9 man subject, this was a rule for entering a heading where there was one way in & the same way out.
At the entry to the heading there was a "9 man board" which had a bar with a kink in the middle and 9 wahers on the bar. When you entered the heading you moved a washer from the left hand side of the kink to the right hand side.
If there was 9 washers on the right hand side you couldn't go in as this told you that there was already 9 men in there, - the maximum number allowed. You then had to wait until somebody came out before you could go in
 
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My Grandad (me dad's dad) - worked all over the country in the pits. From the Durham Coalfield to Yorkshire & Staffordshire. Kids born all around the place! My dad was born in Yorkshire, his brothers & sisters different places too.
Grandad's back was fucked after a pit accident, and him & me grandma got a job at a big country house in Hertfordshire doing the cooking/gardening.

The face-workers deserved every penny they got IMHO.
 
My Grandad (me dad's dad) - worked all over the country in the pits. From the Durham Coalfield to Yorkshire & Staffordshire. Kids born all around the place! My dad was born in Yorkshire, his brothers & sisters different places too.
Grandad's back was fucked after a pit accident, and him & me grandma got a job at a big country house in Hertfordshire doing the cooking/gardening.

The face-workers deserved every penny they got IMHO.
There were a lot of lads from the ne at lea hall near rugeley and at the south Derbyshire collieries.

A Derbyshire councillor called bob southern was a big SAFC fan.

http://m.burtonmail.co.uk/warm-tributes-caring-man/story-21480895-detail/story.html
 
This thread continues to be massively interesting!

Its nice to be able to give people an insight on what it was like underground. In the recent era people would be amazed at the way things were done down there. 200 hp diesel locos pulling 250 man capacity trains, 400 horsepower trolley wire locos flying about down Easington colliery, 500 to 1000 horsepower shearers cutting & loading coal at 500 - 600 tonnes per hour. Even our grandfathers who worked down pit would be gob smacked if they had been able to come back in the 80s & 90s to see what it was like. Quite an amazing industry............. sadly all gone now never to come back again!
 
Cracking thread this! I've got quite a few artefacts from the pit, lamps, hats and minerals etc.. I'd never sell them but they must be worth a pretty penny.

Aye, I've got a couple of really old oil lamps (Glennys) from the 1930s, a silver top managers lamp, 2 deputy's re-lighters, & a brass presentation lamp which I was given when I left one of the pits I worked at.
Would never sell them at any price.
Als0 I've got some fossils somewhere that I dug out of the roof at Murton colliery
 
Its nice to be able to give people an insight on what it was like underground. In the recent era people would be amazed at the way things were done down there. 200 hp diesel locos pulling 250 man capacity trains, 400 horsepower trolley wire locos flying about down Easington colliery, 500 to 1000 horsepower shearers cutting & loading coal at 500 - 600 tonnes per hour. Even our grandfathers who worked down pit would be gob smacked if they had been able to come back in the 80s & 90s to see what it was like. Quite an amazing industry............. sadly all gone now never to come back again!
I am glad that you are sharing your experiences joe, thanks for taking the time.

I remember a lot of things that I was told as a kid, and I have loads of respect for those who worked in the industry.
 
Aye, I've got a couple of really old oil lamps (Glennys) from the 1930s, a silver top managers lamp, 2 deputy's re-lighters, & a brass presentation lamp which I was given when I left one of the pits I worked at.
Would never sell them at any price.
Als0 I've got some fossils somewhere that I dug out of the roof at Murton colliery
I said earlier in the thread that they belonged to my Granda and were given to me when he passed away.. Due to his position when the pit closed he has some excellent things. Might get them valued just out of curiosity.
 
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