HIGH PIT WILMA

Hi Canny Lass! Depends which area the tragic fatality occurred.If they were using a "Simplex" ratchet jack for some reason,maybe against the roof in a very low seam,to move a coalcutter,and the roof broke up,it would naturally cause a roof fall which would "Cant"[knock] out the adjacent pit props which were holding the roof up. If you put a pit prop in against the roof,and it isn't vertical,[on a horizontal seam that is!],you would say the prop was "on the cant".[sloping!] If the coal seam was in a rising plane,you would refer to the seam being "on thi cant",therefore you would put your props in on the cant also,ensuring it was at right-angles to the floor.[whatever angle the seam was ]. In Yorkshire,and other areas,they use terms we haven't heard of! At Choppington High Pit,where roof conditions were atrocious,and accidents happened almost weekly,if not daily,the caunchmen used to put two long thick props in at a cant,with a long plank horizontally,between the props,to "stay" up the stone strata facing,where coal had been extracted from underneath,[the "Caunch"], and they referred to these props as "Brow-stays"..[pronounced.."Brew-stays"],as they supported the "Brow" of the Caunch. Now,supposing other pits did the same thing,they might refer to them as "Jacks"...[speculation!],I know they didn't use this method of support at the other pits where I worked,only Choppington. If I knew what report the quote came from,and could read the whole report,it might be easier explained! I hope at least you have a bit better understanding of some of pitwork methods,Canny Lass! If you visit my Bates Pit Pics,on Flickr,you will see what a "Caunch" is![or other pit pics on other sites on Flickr,it's a great site!] On a closing note,I would eat grass,if the judge didn't lay the blame on the miners,for negligence,and cleared the coal-owners[his cronies!],of any blame. Check out fatal accidents enquiries at the "Old Bailey" ,in the years circa 1890-ish,or anywhere around the beginning of the coal industry. It is full of.."the miner didn't have enough timber in......" ....."the boy was riding illegally on the limbers"....."the miner failed to observe the mine-owner's rules".....! He didn't have enough timber in,cos he wouldn't have ENOUGH to put in,cos the greedy Coal-owners wouldn't invest in safety. It was still hanging on like that at Choppington,for a long time,they used to have a man underground,with a "girder-straightener",in which he would be pumping away on a hydraulic operated device handle,for hours to straighten one girder or steel plank which had been bent under roof pressure![rather than send new ones !] They re-used old pitprops over and over till they were rotten with being waterlogged constantly,and which caused roof falls on the coal faces,but nobody said owt aboot it....it was the way it worked! Eeh!,time ti wesh me dishes,then it's waaky-time for LBJ! Ta Ta for noo!

Hi Pauline! I didn't know Daniel Mclean,but wonder if an old real canny fella called Jackie Mclean,was any relation,he was a Deputy at Bedlington A pit,when I started there from Choppington pit in 1965,and he was an old-timer then,maybe in his 60's,which was old when I was only 21 yrs old![young now that I am in my 70's!] His Daughter,Nancy,was a lovely P.E. teacher [very young then],at Westridge School in 1956 when it opened as a brand new school. Might be of some help in some way!..[even by elimination!] Best of luck in your search!

Heh heh! Nice one ,Canny Lass!,and thanks for your kind comments!

Hi folks! Just ti let yi aal knaa a hevn't forgotten me promise a med above,aboot Baits and .......fleas....etc! Aam hevving a rough check just noo domestically....i.e.,me Wife's health etc,but wa gettin theor! Keep ahaud! P.S. .....mebbe it wud be a gud idea if a start a new topic on that subject,cos a dae gaan on a bit!

Hi Merc!Just walk up the bank from the bridge,heading towards the rail crossing.aboot three-quarters of the way up on ya left side,just walk over the wide green bit till you come to the edge where the field starts. Look among the large bushes at the rear,and you will find the remains of the old chapel wall....nowt exciting....not exactly a castle,but a few courses of old handmade bricks from [probably] Choppington brickworks,and with a little bit of history. I was chuffed ti see them cos I used ti play on that wall at age three years,in aboot 1947,and had to be lifted up by my older Sisters. in reality,the wall might have only been aboot three feet high for aal I knaa!! Alan Dickson lived in Storey's Buildings in the latter years [1970's I think],and he has already posted info about the street and shops etc somewhere else on the site,maybe if you go back a canny few pages you will find the info. Pilgrim,you may well be right about Embroidery,but the only sewing I ever knew among aal the marra's I had when I was underground,was stitching wa breeks wi thin detonator wire[capwire],whenever they got ripped,which was every other day! That,and also,stitching the "Airbags"....when the blast from the shots being fired tore them to ribbons....and they were our lifeline.....no airbags....no air!! Airbags were flexible ducting in lengths of about 25 yards,which we had to couple together as the roadways advanced inbye..,and were fed by Auxiliary fans which were stationed outbye in a fresh air stream. You can see our airbags on my Bates Pit Photographs on Flickr. Pilgrim,I can picture,and smell,the oilcloth tablecloths yet...red tartan,sometimes yellow,and sometimes wi fruit and vegetables aal owa them for a kitchen tyeble...heh heh!!

When I was very young,my Mutha used ti mek clippie mats,and send some doon ti London,courtesy of her Sister,me Aunt Nancy,who was married to a reasonably well-off fella,and who paid the postage to send the mat,then she sold them for a small fortune,and sent me Mother the takings. They were very well received down there! Cany Lass,I think a lot of families were the same as yours,mine was,and a lot of my friends also,same regime regarding who did what during the clipping making process! Bedies,oilcloth was oilcloth......not Lino,which posh folk had when it's full name was Linoleum! Oilcloth was what pit folks referred to as "Tarry-toot",cos it was made from tar residues and burned like hell!! You could rip it into small bits to hoy onti ya bornfire on guy faaks's neet,ti mek the fire bleeze up quicker! When Lino became affordable for poorer off Wives like my Mother,they found it great to fit cos yi cud cut reet inti corners,withoot risking it tearing like oilcloth did. Mind,if ye had any damp in ya floor,it stunk whenever it had ti be lifted!! John,as kids living in Storey's Buildings on the willow bridge bank,we used ti climb the wall and play aroond the chapel,aroond 1947-ish. Part of that wall,which was at the back of thi chapel,can still be seen ,so far doon thi bank,surrounded by trees noo.

Just remembered,in 1991,I worked at an engineering company in Blyth,wat used ti be Swinney's,and one of the lads' Wife worked at the old glove factory up Barrington Road,[ "Fuggles Brewery" in later years],only now,in 1991,they were making Jeans,for Geordie Jeans company. When any denim was left in appreciable amounts,they used ti run up a few pairs of jeans under the same pattern,only unbranded,and sell them for a fiver a pair!!! We thought they were cheap!,twenty-five years later,Asda are selling branded jeans for six quid a pair!!....noo that's cheap!

Maggie,there was a Geordie Jeans shop in the Keel Row at Blyth for a canny few years,my Son in London used ti come up and buy aboot ten pairs ti tek doon wi him.Saved him a fortune compared wi London prices of Levi's etc! One day me Wife and me were taakin' ti an aad friend reet ootside thi shop doorway,next ti Willie Armstrong's Statue,when a kid,[a big kid!] ran oot thi shop,chased by the shop-owner, a woman who was a bit of a rough diamond!! She was fuming,and when a asked what was up,she said the kid had tried ti steal a pair of jeans. She explained how the kids worked as a gang......[nae cameras or mobile phones in them days...! One kid would saunter inti thi shop,choose a pair of jeans,rip thi security tags off ,then put the jeans under the pile,mebbe four pairs doon. He's marra wud run in,snatch the fourth doon pair,and fly oot thi shop,nae alarm bells ringin'!! Trouble is,thieves alwis get greedy,so they were caught at thi finish,and the wifie,in her paddy,shouted out to us..."thas no f...........er steals from my f.............g shop...!! Me and me Wife were tekkin aback wi her choice of vocabulary,it wasn't common ti hear pit lingo come oot of a woman in them days!!

T'otha day I bumped into two strangers,both women,ootside Dennis Todds music shop.Got on cracking wi thim,as yi dae like,one turned oot ti be somebody a knew when a was a kid. She had a shop opposite the Dun Coo pub,in 1955-6 ish,mebbe a bit sooner or later,meks nae odds!!....point is,me Mutha wud send me aroond for a loaf o' bread on Sunday mornin',and tell me ti hide it up me jumper.....it was against thi law,and Jimmy Mann thi polis used ti be on thi beat! Later in thi afternoon a wud gaan owa ti thi black Bull for a bottle o' Mackie's Stoot,for me Faatha.....a didn't need ti hide that,it was legal,and aa was aboot 11 or 12 years aad!! We laughed aboot it when we got on aboot the aad days,but it meks ye think hoo much of wa laws are an ass!

Brian,Matty Hall used ti sing on Parents open days at the Whitley,and I distinctinctly remember him singing one song called "Tommy Lad.....Tommy Lad"...etc,in a deep baritone voice. He was also a champion boxer in his army days,so they reckoned. He was also a "Stinger".......with thi 4 foot lang blackboard ruler! Arris hayley was a real canny youngin',he used ti come ti school wearing Swiss [?] leather traditional short pants,looked heavy and bulky,and seemed as if they would be really uncomfortable!....can you mind them Brian? One day he came over ti thi park,[beside the Whitley],flashing a gun,not a toy gun!!...I think it was a small derringer type,maybe a .38 cal....he was thi envy of aal thi kids!! Come ti think on't,where was Arris from,or,should I say his Parents....Arris isn't a typical British name is it?.....!!!! So,Brian,did your Bill gaan ti thi Whitley as weel?,cos tha's summick puzzlin' me.....

I'm referring to class middle remove 1958,Ray Barret was also in my Whitley class,he started Choppington High Pit,after me. His Dad was Ventilation Officer at the pit,Uncle Joe was an Overman,Uncle Danny was a Deputy..all at High Pit,and Ray went on to the Surveyor's team.

If no 5 is Jackie Hindmarsh,and it looks like him,then his twin brother was called Tommy,from Millfield,but the number nine doesn't resemble my memory of Tom. They were both in my class at the Whitley,and I grew up,played down the woods etc,and eventually,Jackie delivered all the building materials for the National Coal Board,to all the Colliery hooses in the Bedlington/Ashington area,for donkeys years!....including to my first hoose at West Terrace,Stakeford. Reet canny lads,both of them!

Doesn't seem any other reason to mine these tunnels in what would have been torturous conditions,with very poor ventilation,and I am very experienced on that issue,thinking about what it was like in some of the pits I worked in.These miners would most likely have been the Monks,who were among the first to mine coal for the fires of their monasteries...they didn't know when they were tired!! They would natch away all day with a crude pick,straight off the solid,no explosives...for a pail or two of coal!! But remember,these tunnels are not in coal seams,they are what is correctly termed as "Cross-measure Drifts",meaning they are driven at an angle,either incline or anti-cline,through differing types of strata,so they would originally encounter pretty soft clay,then progressively hard sandstone,shale,maybe thin coal seams,more sandstone,more shale,["Blue" to us miners],and so on. Roof water would also have been a problem in places,especially as they got down to the river level,you just need to walk down there and see all the springs oozing out of the exposed strata on the riverbank sides. We had it rough in the pits,but I wouldn't have liked to have been on those tunneling projects! There were about 40 bell-pits mined by the Monks of old,at Nedderton Village,on both sides of the mound after you pass through the main village street,where the "new" estates were built upon. There were a lot of old workings in the seams,very shallow,about 20 feet down,where Bower Grange is built,where primitive picks and shovels and other bits of gear were found,left abandoned by the Monks of old,so that's how I base my assumptions as to who might have dug these tunnels out. There's no doubt in my mind that secrecy was a prime factor! Also,nothing comes free,so where did the funding for these long term projects come from?,somebody had to pay for materials,ventilation was most likely to have been provided like old-fashioned coal-mining,that is.....erecting a centre hanging "Brattice cloth",all the way,with a fire at the entrance,drawing air out of one section,which in turn,pulled fresh air [ excruciatingly poor!!!],down the other side of the brattice......can you picture it?[this is how we had to clear any quantities of Methane or Blackdamp,even in relatively modern times,until an auxiliary fan could be brought in.] Aye,methinks the only people with real money were the religious fraternity,Bishop of Durham owned Northumberland,did he not?,please correct me if I am wrong on any points here!!!! Er!!,upon proof-reading,it looks like I am saying we used the fire system in more modern times!!!,definitely not!,it was the brattice cloth we used to use,and when it was wet,you couldn't lift the sod![and it stunk wi mould!]

Hi Pauline,hope you keep your quest going,and find some more interesting info on the tunnels,aam fascinated also,but owa bliddy stiff and owld noo ti be scratching aroond like a used ti,when a was doon thi pits!

Naa Eggy,thanks for the suggestion,but aam a one-finger typer,and a proof-read everything a write,naa,tha's definitely a glitch either wi thi site,or wi my laptop,but if Canny Lass has had similar problems,it rules oot my lappie..methinks! Nae big deal,it's worse when ye tek an 'oor ti write a story,and loss it cos it'll not save and post it!!

Theor it gaans again.....font-change withoot my permission!!.......technology!!!!!.....and a was just praising it afore!!.......aa divvent knaa....!

Hi Brian,and welcome to the forum,which,if you browse aroond a bit,ye'll find sum interresant bits o' history,especially if ye happen ti cotton onti the Bower family topic,seeing as ,....your Brother Billy....[? hope aam reet heor!],used ti knock aroond wi young Jimmy Bower,and me being Jimmy's marra,also used ti hang aroond wi thi two of them.!! Noo isn't it queer hoo time gaans by,and ye wud nivvor hev dreamt that sum day ye wud hook up wi folks from thi past through technology!! Billy Turnbull was a reet canny lad,and a can picture his face as a 14 year aad yungun' even noo. A hope welshconnect comes on and finds this topic....that's Jim!! Can ye remember the tunnel at thi side o' the keep,Brian?

Just aboot ti switch off,and noticed the bold text....not my daeing....!! ..wat's gaaning on?!

Hi folks,aav just seen family back off ti London,weshed me dishes and had LBJ oot for waakies,so aam buggaad,a need summick ti eat,and pile sum zzzzzzzzz's up n thi bed-shed,so aal hae ti pick anutha neet ti update/educate you's on thi finer points of [A]Baits. and S...-fleas! Believe me,I have had plenty experiences on both counts,and not only fleas,but other intriguing insects as weel,not normally found in coal-mines!! Another night beckons!

A forgot,when a was a kid,living in Hollymount Square,in the 1950's,a used ti play in Hollymount Hall,after it was vacated. For a lang time,the aad-fashioned wood shutters used ti bang open and shut wi thi wind,and on nights in the winter,when the moon was full,and lighting my bedroom up,my older Brother used ti scare thi hell oot o' me by taaking aboot Ghouls,and Vampires,and aal sorts of ghostly stuff! But in daylight it was a fascinating playgrund,wi loads of rooms,passages,and cellars below grund,where the aader lads sed that the owners would keep people doon there chained up and starved like skeletons!!.....they were in fact,the obligatory rich mans wine cellars! Noo we nivvor saw any tunnels in there,but they cud hev been bricked up by sum soor-fyessed bugga who didn't waant kids..."getting hurt".....![it was the favourite sentence used by aad-timers if they saw ye climbing a tree owa thi park or shinnin up a lamp-post!!...yi knaa....laddie's stuff!]

Hi Pauline! Tunnels are very intriguing! one of the old Hall tunnel entrances was at the side,was very low,about 3ft high,if I remember correctly,and typical scrolled cathedral arched lintels..nicely carved out of sandstone,and weathered to hell,which, seeing as it was a few hundred years old,you would expect it to be. If you walk down Bedlington bank,go into the picnic field [Attlee Park],then walk left and under the river bridge,going downstream,about 70 yards along,on the bank sides,you will see the entrances to tunnels on each side of the river,with nice stone arches. Now a lot of years ago,flat-bottomed barges used to travel up the river carrying all-sorts of goods,cos the river was a lot deeper than it is now. There was a set of differences between us lot as to the origin of the tunnels,and King John's stay overnight at the old hall. It makes no difference ,cos none of us were there,and we only go off what we have been learn't by other people in life! You wouldn't be the canny young lass who met my Wife and me down the Furnace Bank,one day,and who expressed an intense interest in tunnels........would you? We met at a later date,same place,and this nice lass and her partner/Husband/Friend?....had been exploring the tunnel entrance......not you?...!!!! Gud luk wi ya search Pauline,hope ye find things oot,and let us aal knaa!![aa like ti think smugglers used the tunnels ti get the bootleg whisky and tabs up ti thi Vicarage for the monks!!] Vic,that's the best pun aav cum across for yonks!! Gie the Boss me luv and hope ya aal keeping weel!

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!

Great pics Webbtrekker!....they were taken of me when aa was ownly 35 yeors aad!!....wi thi original six-pack! Thanks folks for your kind comments. My posts,as you all know,are straight from my brain to my screen,with no thinking about it,I type as I think,from experience,training,and memory. All the above info,was ingrained to me as a young Deputy in 1971-1978,and of course gleaned over a number of years following on. I never refer to any books,it's all up here[points ti me heed!],and yet a canna remember what a did yistidi! A spent nearly an hour typing in a post following the last one,late last night,and it wouldn't save,and I lost the whole lot! Nearly gave up ,but had second thoughts!!

Heh heh! Great memories abound!...when I got married my Selmer Thunderbird,and Watkins Dominator MK1 [blue/creamy beige..triangular shaped] stood in our bedroom unused for a while,as I had no guitar,[except my trusty old plywood Rossetti Lucky Seven..!!],so L]like an idiot we all were,I sold the Thunderbird to a friend of a friend who used it for his electric piano/organ..in the band he was playing in.The amp was absoloutly immaculate! Like a bigger idiot than the rest of you put together!,I swapped my Watkins Dominator,[also gorgeous and as new],for a BSA Airsporter air rifle,at the "Trade-in Store" [which was around from Ken's Autoparts,near the Plessey Road queer junction.] The guy in the store aalwis came oot wi thi same aad crack......"Whey,tha's nae demand for them,it'll probably hang up there for a lang time and aal get nowt for it...." Mind,that was in aroond 1967/8 ish,and aav still got the air rifle,which are pretty rare noo!!....but a wish a had me Dommie,and me Thunderbird back!! It tuk a lot of years saving up inti aad -age retirement,but a finally got me Burns Black Bison 1964 re-issue,Burns Marvin 40th Anniversary limited edition,and Burns Apache,limited edition..[i.e.First limited edition of all the following.......limited editions....!!] They all say Chinese crap,about guitars, but aal tell ye wat,from day one,me Fender Strat 1978/9 Antigua -burst Special edition,[Los Angeles produced] never sounded right,producing unpleasant overtones on the bottom strings,the paintwork bubbled up in places,slight,but visible,and the black dye from the Fender strap migrated into the area of the bottom button,staining the grey paint into a purple -ish shade. Other than these niggles,the guitar is in great condition,never having been gigged,as all my axes are for home use only. Me Burns Apache is the most beautiful looking,sounding,playing .....guitar that I have ever seen or played over the last 50 years....and it was made in China,or should I say the components were,then they were assembled in the U.K. It's down to taste,but if you haven't seen or played one,then you don't know what you are missing!![of course you wouldn't want one if you are a finger-picker...... but Knofler, or Ry Cooder ...or the likes of them,might!! The quality of the finish,and attention to detail is absoloutely stunning. My Vox AC 30 1980-ish is still as it was when it left the showroom,a museum piece,if only the output would remain stable! Common fault with them,it was the period when Rose-Morris took over the Vox company and started sending out completely un-tested amps,due to an unexpected surge in demand following the re-union "Shadows 20 Golden Greats" tour. It took five amps over a period of four years,for the new Vox company to supply me one that worked.....but not for long!!....that one started developing faults also. It's o.k for a while,then just hums and dies!!....could be five minutes...or five hours....but it'll die!![switch off....then on....o.k again till the next time!!! Rubbish capacitors and no E.Q across all four EL84's,causes saturation and cuts out the output from that stage. But aav lived with it for forty-odd years!! Aav got the Selmer and Bell Music catalogues from 1961-3 and 1970-ish respectively,in mint condition,and they are interesting to browse through! Fender Strat [red or sunburst....only two choices!]...128 guineas!!...a fortune to us young lads who were paid nowt in them days! Ye can waak inti a guitar shop noo,and get a Strat for 300-odd quid!....mine was 336 quid at Jeavons in thi toon,in 1978-ish! Selmer Thunderbird 30-watts Reverb.....127 guineas![another fortune!] Futurama 3 [3-pickups],52 guineas.....it was always guineas....to click a shullin on ivry pund!![med things luk cheaper!] Eh....a cud write a book aboot them days!![aal thi youngins wanted ti play....but the majority of the ones aa knew broke off after finding oot it tuk a lot of time and dedication ti practise...and aa had nae lessons....self-taught.]

Hi folks! A bit late in catching up! Vic,spot on marra! A datal hand was a "shift worker",who was paid "shift-wark",which meant he was the lowest paid man in the pit. Sometimes shift workers worked a lot harder than some coal-face workers,especially in the modern mechanised faces,where some face-workers pulled levers to operate hydraulic rams to advance face supports etc.[usually pits with excellent dry conditions,mind!] The Three-Quarter seam at Bates pit was opposite to that statement,cos every body had it rough,it was so wet![timber-lads,beltmen,rolleywaymen,everything they touched was water-logged and very heavy] Not meaning to nit-pick,but only for correctness,the Mining terms link,needs one or two corrections. "Afterdamp" is not Carbon Dioxide,[CO2] it should read "Carbon Monoxide" [CO],which is the by-product of incomplete combustion.[referred to as "White-damp" by some miners].It is deadly poisonous,and the Haemoglobin of the blood has an affinity for CO which is 300 times greater than that of Oxygen. This is present after an explosion,hence the term"After...".. "Blackdamp" is the term used for Carbon Dioxide,which is caused by Oxygen depletion,especially in old workings where the wood timbers turn "Dazed",[still standing and apparently doing thier job by supporting the roof.....till you poke your finger into a pit prop and it goes straight in like it is soft as butter] Oxygen combines with every surface,and so gradually depletion takes place,not confined to old workings,can occur in newer but poorly ventilated places underground. It is not poisonous,but rather it is asphyxiating in the abscence of Oxygen. Of course Nitrogen is always present in the atmosphere,but plays no part in our respiratory system. "Damp" is a slang word for the German "Dampf".......meaning Gas. Fore-overman....is ,[in our part of the country],the man in charge of the first,or "fore",shift of a new day,usually the Midnight shift,but at Bedlington A pit,that shift started at 1-35 am.....![not 1-45,or 1-30,it had to be 1-35am prompt!] No doubt other districts had thier own terminology. Canch.....we spelt it as Caunch,but pronounced .."Canch..!! Back-caunch men usually did re-modelling of roadways that were suffering extreme pressure from either roof and sides,or floor heave..,or where roof falls had occured,but not necessarily enlarging a roadway....just restoring it to what it was....same size girders...etc. Deputy....the ONLY person in any mine in the UK,[Coal,Ironstone,Shale,or Fireclay],who is DIRECTLY responsible to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Mines and Quarries,under the Mines and Quarries Act of 1954. No person can go underground,unless accompanied by a Deputy,or a Deputy is already underground,and has completed his Pre-shift Examination of the district within two hours of the visit. Not the Overman,nor the Manager,not even the Chairman of the Coal Board,would be allowed underground,unless a Deputy was present. The Deputy was the person where the buck stopped,in the event of a serious occurence,such as a fatal or serious accident. He was the person who would be prosecuted before anyone else,in such circumstances. In an accident,the first words asked by the Manager,on the surface,would be....."Where was the Deputy...?" The Deputy was the only person in a mine who had,upon completion of his statutory examinations of his district,to write out official reports of his duties carried out,which were kept at the mine for 6 months,then sent to H.M.Inspectorate . The Deputy was also the only person,anywhere in the country,in any industry,who was authorised by H.M.Inspectorate,to administer the drug "Morphia" where requested by an injured person.[note....requested!...you cannot administer any drug without the person's consent] This rule was passed because pits were so difficult to travel in,and so far underground,that a Doctor could not usually reach the scene of an accident within 2 hours of the accident happening. He had to show to an examining Doctor,how he could perform CPR,as well as adminster the drug. We weren't all dumb pitmen you know!!!