WATER OVER A FOOT DEEP. THREE-QUARTER DRIFT - 10s M.GATE 26-2-86

high pit wilma :- Windy-driller,still stuck in a drill hole,after word came in to abandon the job,the pit had received notice to close.[Thatcher got her way at last...]TO HELL WITH THE SCUM MINERS......]

mjtmail (tiggy) :- we'll be back down underground before you know it. £800 a ton, its bound to happen

high pit wilma :- Hi tiggy! Yeah,your right,and i bet it will happen within the next five years.
This country is still sitting on hundreds of millions of tons,but don't be surprised if those lot in brussels,dictate that it has to be shared
with the EU countries...like we don't own a thing now.

Dr. Drewboy :- what a working place...

yes and in germany we also have a lot of coal. for an example "Bergwerk Lohberg/Osterfeld" which was shut down in 2005 has still 270mio. t of bituminous coal!

high pit wilma :- Yes,Dr Drewboy,it was really bad conditions we had to work in,down the 3/4 seam,at Bates Pit.
So your government is just like ours,placing all faith in oil,and gas.
One day it is going to end............

Erik Novoa :- Now that's mining. If it ain't wet, it ain't fun! It was like this alot when I was mining in Nevada.

high pit wilma - Hiya, batterymule!! Good to hear from you,and thanks for your comments! 50 years ago,it wasn't much fun working in 18" high coal seams,handfilling with a big "George Rock" [brand name] pan shovel,...so called because it was shaped like a huge pan,with a pointed edge to dig into the coal with,and a ton weight when it was empty!![as opposed to the normal "square-mouthed" shovel iv'e seen miners using in other pits.] We used to have 13 yards of coal in a "stretch",[or "stint" as they say in other parts of my country,like Yorkshire,and Lancashire].,to fill off in a shift,and this was with a 6 foot jib on the AB15 coalcutter,so lying on your side, in rivers of water running down the face,and roofwater dropping into your eyes and ears and running down all over you........naa,i didn't think THAT was fun,especially when my mates were asleep,at 12-0 midnight,and i was riding a cage down a black,deep,hole,to start my shift!!!! But i think i DO get your gist!!....we can laugh now,well... i can,cos i'm a retired gentleman of leisure.......leisure?....i'm working harder now than i did when i was working!!!! By the way,an AB15,denotes a coalcutter called Anderson-Boyes,and the 15 denotes the height of the machine...which was 15 inches high.[ we put 3 inch thick wood planks in to support the roof,and the cuttermen had to cut about 2" of floor stone,to make height for the cutter to pass through the face. There was so much roof pressure,and crush,that this extra height was lost as soon as the face was filled off,due to a "face-break" forming,as you were actually filling coal off.....in front of your eyes.....very scary!!

Erik Novoa :- I completely understand, working in low coal, when it is wet as hell, must suck. The last mining job I worked was a hard rock molybdenum mine in Nevada, USA and it was always very wet underground. If the pumps shut off for any period of time the hole flooded. We were rehabbing an old mine and then doing some stope development once the old decline was basically finished. Lots of water coming through the broken mountain above us. My pard and I were drilling our round on day in a scene not unlike your image above, except we were running an incline to intersect the ore vein. And I'll be damned if we weren't drilling through some of the most solid rock I had seen yet in that mine when the hole I am drilling starts shooting water at me. I thought for a moment my hand had slipped and the drill was blowing the hole but it hadn't. The drill was still steadily advancing and water was pouring out of the hole. I drilled three more holes in that rib and all 4 holes I had drilled were blowing a solid stream of water the rest of the shift. The next shift had to load our round because there was too much water pressure to load half the face. A few of my friends and I are kind of nuts when it comes to mining, and we love working underground and being underground. Even though I don't do it professionally any more, I would if I had to in a heart beat.

high pit wilma :- Heh heh!....like you said,pard,it's fun,ain't it!!!
Cheers,and thanks for your interesting comment,i think if you and me got together,and my son,who is a mine explorer,we'd talk through the night!