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Apart from a short guided tour, early 60s, a short distance into the Dr. Pit, probably with a chocolate bar in me pocket, never ate underground but always found the stories and the reasoning behind sarnie fillings interesting and amusing. Extracts from some of the members comments on the sixtownships site :- Mick Riley :- Used eat mine on the kist next to a transformer - Geoff Glass :- Used to sometimes eat mine sitting on transformer Nancy Luke :- Dad always had his jam sandwiches ,cheese attracted the rats lol.x Bill Engles :- My Dad (Joe Engles, Ellington) always took something for his Gallower too. Margaret Vare :- they had bread n jam .......they say it was the only thing that had any taste down the pit .... Pam Farquhar :- My grandad Tyler used to take an extra jam sandwich doon the pit and bring it back for me mam when she was a little girl she said it tasted lovely x Doreen Armstrong :- My dad used to take sugar on bread when he worked down the pit (for a short time in his life) because he said everything tasted the same down there!. Lawrence Whitfield :- I've had my bait in worse places than that so have most miners.The paper wrapping the sandwiches would be used to hold the bread as you ate it,you never knew where those hands had been!, It was a flask of tea I'm my day but that had its hazards,uncovered the top would get covered in coal dust or even worse,shit fleas.I didn't mind swallowing the dust but I drew the line at the fleas. John Dawson :- Lawrence if i had no paper held me sarnie on the corner and threw the corner bit away on the belt. Seen some throw food on the ground and you know they generated the deadly and termed "Shit Fly" Had to sit with my lamp out as if it was on it attracted them to you. Mind you must have swallowed many accidentally too. Lawrence Whitfield :- As long as we didn't know it was ok,it was awful if one of the little buggers got up your nose though a good pinch of Singletons snuff helped get it down again.Once the snuff got dried up in your locker it would blow a safe door off. Lawrence Whitfield :- One bloke down Lynemouth never carried bait or water,he would sneak a drink out of someone else's bottle as it hung on a dog in a prop.In the end the blokes got fed up & laced the water with Epsom Salts,they reckon the result was spectacular.. Rob Hardy :- Had to sit in tub sometimes to have bate cos it was too wet to sit Malcolm Common :- I remember at Burradon as you got out of the cage at the Bensham Seam Inset somebody had chalked on one of the Girders " Your'e late Your'e Late your much too late Geordie Johnson's snatched your bait " also when walking into a flat you would see the little bait parcels wrapped up and hung up from the centre of the arch girders with cap wire in an attempt to to prevent mice getting into jacket pockets and eating your bait while you were on the face. ------------------------------------------------------------------ and I'm sure HPW will explain any pit terminology, like Kist - A chest or the Deputies' office underground often used as an assembly point for men to find out where they will be working ?

Thanks Vic and HPW. We are so lucky here to have access to all your mining knowledge! As for the bean-can, I am delighted to have now found out what it is. I've only ever seen it on pictures but in my naivety I've always thought it was some kind of bait-box! Which brings me to another question: Where do miners keep, and eat, their 'bait' when underground? Surely, you can't have a 'canteen' underground. Another thing that was interesting to read was how the bean-can worked - by converting carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. Many people think that carbon dioxide is dangerous, but back in the 70's when barbiturate drugs were dished out like Dolly Mixtures (remember them?), for insomnia, respiratory difficulties caused by overdosing were treated with carbon dioxide. - not oxygen as - carbon dioxide is what stimulates the repiratory centre in the brain.

Anyway, all this talk of eating down the pit has reminded me of an old joke I first heard from my Dad. I doubt whether any of you haven't heard it before and I can't remember the exact words but the theme went something like this ... BILLY: Y'aal reet Geordie marra. Wud y like a bullet? Aa got them from the bottom shop t'other day. GEORDIE: Aye, aa wadn't mind Billy. Wot are they? BILLY: Sugared Almonds, Geordie. GEORDIE: Ah, sorry Billy mate, aa divn't care too much for the sugar. A couple of days later ... BILLY; Fancy a bullet Geordie? GEORDIE: Not if they're them sugary things ye had t'other day Billy. BILLY: Ner, tha's nee sugar on these Geordie. So Geordie takes a handful and munches on them ... GEORDIE: Almonds, and they're very tasty marra. Did ye get these at another shop then? BILLY: Ner. They're wot aa had t'other day but aa've sucked aal the sugar off them!

I remember my Dad taking his bait to the Dr. Pit for him and Taffy, his pit pony. His marra always took something 'posh,' like Spam, which the lads called 'pink lint' I believe. I'm sure most of you know that Cornish pasties were taken down the tin mines for bait, and the ridge of crust provided a means of holding the pasty with dirty hands without affecting the filling. This was important because the ore often contained arsenic as well as tin.

3G; at least be honest, you have a massive problem with Muslims. You have a massive problem with immigrants. You believe that the refugees fleeing a war torn country where they would likely be killed are all ISIS sleepers. You'd fit in well at Britain First. Furthermore, you DO shout down others; you DO pick and choose information that suits your agenda. Perhaps you are so wrapped up in your own self belief that you don't see it? I don't believe I've met you, but sadly I have an image of you as the self righteous pompous oaf at the bar whom everyone avoids. I wonder why? Oh, and the pound still over 76p on the dollar. I'm sure you told us it had recovered.

Potassium superoxide KO2, I used to check and service these for our underground mine rescue teams when I was with our Surface Mine Rescue team, after use during the turn around we would also check and service the Draeger SCBA so the underground teams could rest longer before going back underground, time can be vital in a situation. I think they use compressed oxygen now, probably a lot cooler! Google time....

Thanks Sym! Each time I try that in word,it asks for my product key number,which I don't know how to find,then it tells me I have only 25 attempts at this....blaa blaa...! Webbtrekker,that is a mighty fine likeness of the real thing,even doon ti thi rivets aroond the top of thi Glennie,and the switch on thi side of his caplamp,wat switches atween ya spotleet,and ya taaky - leet!![a smaller powered bulb,more sociable when you were taaking ti ya Marra's at bait-times...you didn't blind them!] Note the "Bean-can" [as we called it!],on his belt. "Self-Rescuer" to be correct. It was a life-saver in the event of a fire or explosion underground. They were made by Draeger-Normalair,of which the local factory is on the Bebside industrial estate,as you go up the slip-road ti the Bebside roundabout,on the left. For those who are unfamiliar with this device,I will try and describe it and it's correct use....briefly,if I can!!!!! Upon becoming aware of a fire or explosion on the OUTBYE side of you,i.e. with contaminated air being brought into where you were working,with a risk of breathing CO..[Carbon Monoxide-"Afterdamp"],[which I just recently covered],you would quickly assess the risks with your nose!! You wouldn't wait for an Official,such as the Deputy or Overman,to TELL you to put your bean-can on,you would do it with no hesitation...seconds count when you are dealing with CO!! BUT,you would NOT,I repeat NOT,REMOVE THE RESCUER FROM YOUR FACE,UNTIL AN OFFICIAL INSTRUCTED YOU THAT IT WAS SAFE TO DO SO! When in use,the canister containing Carbon Granules,and other minerals,converts CO into "breatheable amounts" of CO2..[Carbon Dioxide],which is not poisonous like CO,[Carbon Monoxide,]and so renders the atmosphere to a safe level for life to survive,providing the wearer can reach a supply of fresh air very quickly,as the rescuer only operates for about one hour,and becomes unbearably hot while being worn. It is a natural reaction to want to remove the mask,due to the heat,and the difficulty in pulling bad smoky air through it,because you can hardly breathe when under a stressful situation,and trying to hurry when underground,travelling through deep water,slipping and sliding over rough stony wet ground,is very difficult....even in a good supply of cleanish air.[never mind in a situation like this!] So that's why the rule was brought in,[under mining "Rules and Regulations"],about waiting to be instructed when to remove your mask. The mask was removed from the canister by pulling up on a metal "safety " strap,which held the two halves of the canister together,with the mask safely packed inside. If,somehow,this strap got broken off or damaged in any way,you had to report it to the lamp-cabin man,to ensure you had a fresh one for your next shift. Think!!,if you carelessly forgot,and threw it back into it's docket,then put it back on next day...........then it is needed in an emergency.......you've had it mate!! Chemical reaction takes place the minute it is exposed to the atmosphere,so if the canister is damaged ,or the strap gets broken off,it takes about an hour,then it is useless! Mind,they were the most-cussed device ever used by any miners working in very low seams!![in safe environments!] They got caught on every single obstruction there was ,while crawling down a coal-face...timber props,hydraulic hoses [of which there were hundreds!],electric cables.......big stones...where there had been a roof fall and it was very narrow,or low,to travel through.....you would hear your marra's cursing!!...bliddy bean-cans!!! When worn on the face,they were similar to war-time gas masks,without the freaky eye-holes!!...a clip over your nose to prevent contaminated air reaching your lungs by that route,and a hard mouth-piece which you "bit" on with a rubber gasket enclosing your mouth and cheeks,to seal it also. Then any air you breathed in,entered through the canister of Carbon Granules,and if I am not mistaken,[maybe I am!],the canister also had Aluminium Oxide crystals..[or granules....whatever!] Hope I have painted a decent enough picture of how the "Bean-can"..."Self-Rescuer" saved lives in the event of the aftermath of a fire or explosion. Not only Miners had these devices,anybody who might be exposed to CO ,such as firemen etc,would have these along with the equipment they would normally use. Might I add that the bean-can was useless in any other gaseous atmosphere,such as H2S [Hydrogen Sulphide-"Stinkdamp"...deadly poisonous!],or CO2,[Carbon Dioxide......"Blackdamp"...not poisonous...but asphyxiating as I already explained earlier]. Well,time to pile a few zzzzzzzzz's up again! G'nite folks!