Glo - National Museum Wales

Gŵr a
gwraig
y Betws
Fe’m ganwyd ym mis Gorffennaf 1929 a
dechreuais weithio’n bedair ar ddeg oed. Roedd
fy ewythr yn gweithio yn swyddfeydd y lofa, a
cheisiodd gael swydd i mi yn y lamprwm, ond mae’n
debyg fy mod yn rhy ifanc i ysgwyddo’r fath
gyfrifoldeb, felly gwas colier yng Nglofa Saron fues i.
Roedden ni’n cloddio’r ffas ar y system dalcen, a
byddwn i’n llenwi pump neu chwe dram y dydd ar
gyfer y glöwr. Byddwn i’n defnyddio rhaw pan oedd
y dram yn ddigon agos at y ffas lo, ond bocs cwrlo
oedd hi fel arall. Er mai crwtyn bach oeddwn i, roedd
hi’n anodd llusgo bocs cwrlo llawn glo gan mai dim
ond dwy droedfedd chwe modfedd o uchder oedd y
wythïen.
Fe wnes i hyn tan oeddwn i’n ddigon da i fod yn
löwr am ychydig flynyddoedd, cyn symud i Lofa
Rhydaman ac yna i’r ffas lo yng Nglofa’r Betws tan i
mi gael emffysema yn 55 oed. Bues i’n gweithio ar
wyneb y pwll am ychydig cyn cael gwaith yn y
lamprwm. Roeddwn i’n mwynhau bod yn ddyn
lampau gan fod y gwaith yn fwy amrywiol nag ar y
ffas lo. Ond ar ôl streic 1984-85, doedd hi ddim yn
swydd mor bleserus gan fod y rheolwr yn amau ein
bod ni’n ochri gyda’r dynion, a’r dynion yn eich
ystyried yn un o’r rheolwyr. Dyn lampau cynorthwyol
oeddwn i, a byddwn i’n llenwi lampau cap trydan â
dŵr distyll (roedd tua 250 o lampau cap yn cael eu
defnyddio ym mhob si), glanhau’r lampau
diogelwch â fflam, pwyso a gwirio’r offer achub
personol (offer yr oedd pob glöwr yn ei gario ar ei felt
er mwyn iddo anadlu pan fo prinder ocsigen neu
nwyon gwenwynig o’i gwmpas), a glanhau’r
lamprwm. Roedden ni hefyd yn carco a gofalu am bâr
o ganeris a oedd yn cael eu cadw yn y lamprwm, ac a
fyddai’n cael eu defnyddio gan y Frigâd Achub
Glofeydd er mwyn profi am nwyon wedi ffrwydrad
danddaear.
Felly, fe ges i’r union swydd yr oeddwn ei heisiau’n
14 oed, ond roedd rhaid i mi ddisgwyl tan i mi fod
yn 56 oed i’w chael hi! Roedd Eirlys fy ngwraig yn
gweithio yn ffreutur y Betws, tua 60 llath o’r
lamprwm, a chan ein bod ni’n gweithio siiau,
roedden ni’n gweld ein gilydd yn amlach yn y ffreutur
na gartre!
George Batsford
Husband
and wife
at Betws
Iwas born in July 1929 and started work when I
was 14 years old. I had an uncle working in the
colliery offices and he tried to get me a job in the
lamp room, however I was considered too young to
have that sort of responsibility so I had to go
underground at Saron Colliery to work as a collier’s
boy instead. We worked the face on the stall system
and I used to fill five or six drams a day for the collier.
When the dram was close to the coal face I used to fill
it with a shovel, otherwise I used the curling box.
Although I was quite small I used to find dragging the
curling box full of coal hard work as the seam was
about two feet six inches in height.
I did this until I become good enough to work as
a collier for a few years until I transferred to
Ammanford Colliery and later Betws Colliery where
I worked on the coal face until I contracted
emphysema at the age of fiy five. I did a brief spell
as a surface worker before I got a job in the lamp
room. I enjoyed my work as a lamp man as it offered
more variety than working on the coal face. However,
aer the 1984˗85 strike, being a lamp man wasn’t such
a happy job as the manager thought we were on the
men’s side and the men regarded you as being
management. I was the assistant lamp man, I used to
top up the electric cap lamps with distilled water
(there were about 250 cap lamps in use for each shi),
clean the flame safety lamps, weigh and check the self
rescuers (a piece of equipment that every mine worker
carried on his belt to enable him to breathe when the
surrounding atmosphere lacks oxygen or is
contaminated with toxic gases), and clean the lamp
room. We also looked aer a pair of canaries which
were kept in the lamp room which would be used to
test for gas by the Mines Rescue Brigade if an
explosion occurred underground.
So I got the job that I wanted when I was fourteen
but had to wait until I was fiy six to get it! My wife
Eirlys was working in Betws canteen which was about
sixty yards away from the lamp room, because we
were both working shis we met more oen in the
canteen than we did at home!
George Batsford
Merched ffreutur y
Betws a ddaeth yn ail
yng nghystadleuaeth
Diogelwch Ffreutur yr
NCB, 1982.
Chwith i’r dde:
Mair Lewis,
Eirlys Batsford,
Brenda O’Conor,
Eirlys Mathias,
Veronica Davies,
Eluned Davies.
Betws canteen staff who
came second in the 1982
NCB Canteen Safety
competition.
L – R: Mair Lewis,
Eirlys Batsford,
Brenda O’Conor,
Eirlys Mathias,
Veronica Davies,
Eluned Davies.
Bues i’n gweithio yn ffreutur y Betws am ryw
10-11 mlynedd. Byddwn i’n cyrraedd y gwaith
tua hanner awr wedi pump y bore a gorffen
am un ar ddeg, yna’n dod yn ôl am ddau tan hanner
awr wedi tri, ac yna o naw yr hwyr tan hanner awr
wedi un ar ddeg. Weithiau, roeddwn i awydd dweud
wrth y dynion a oedd yn aros yn y ffreutur ar
ddiwedd eu si, ‘Stopwch lapan ac ewch adre’ er
mwyn dyn, wy moyn mynd i ’ngwely!’
Roedd Mrs Evans y bos yn rheolwr da iawn, a’r
dynion i gyd yn ei pharchu. Doedden nhw byth yn
rhegi o’n blaenau ni, heblaw am un adeg pan oedd
bachgen ifanc eisiau potel o bop – ond roedd e’n rhegi
fel cath, a minnau’n gwrthod rhoi diod iddo. Dyma’i
ffrind yn ei gymryd i’r naill ochr, a dweud wrtho am
ymddiheuro. A dyna a wnaeth, a dweud nad oedd yn
sylweddoli ei fod yn rhegi. Dywedais wrtho ’mod i
bron iawn â hwpo’r botel o bop wysg ei hochr i’w geg!
Arferai’r Bwrdd Glo Cenedlaethol gynnal
cystadlaethau ar gyfer staff y ffreutur, ac ym 1982,
aethon ni i’r rownd derfynol yn Blackpool. Roedden
nhw wedi ail-greu cegin ffreutur yn dangos
camgymeriadau bwriadol fel gadael blodfresych mewn
sinc llawn dŵr brwnt, dalennau cardbord ar y llawr,
bocs cymorth cyntaf anodd ei gyrraedd ar ben y
rhewgell a pheryglon eraill. Roedden nhw hefyd wedi
gosod bwrdd yn cynnwys pob math o fwydydd
gwahanol, ac roeddech chi’n gorfod gwahaniaethu
rhwng siwgr a halen, blawd a phowdwr llaeth heb eu
cyffwrdd na’u blasu – gawson ni hwyl dda ar y prawf
hwnnw. Ond wnaethon ni ddim ennill, gan mai
enillwyr y llynedd oedd yn fuddugol eto. Roedden ni’n
tampan, ac yn credu taw twyll oedd y cyfan. Roedd
rhaid i ni rannu ystafell wely yn Blackpool, tair merch
mewn un ystafell, ond roedd yn brofiad da. Mwynheais
fy amser yn gweithio yn y ffreutur, ond roedd rhaid i
mi roi’r gorau iddi ar ôl cwympo ac anafu fy nghefn.
Iworked in Betws canteen for about ten or eleven
years all together. I used to come to work at half
past five in the morning, finish at about eleven,
then come back at two, finish at half past three, then
come back again from nine to half past eleven. On
times I used to feel like telling the men who hung
around the canteen aer their shis “Why don’t you go
home and stop wittering, I’ve got a bed to go home to!”
My boss Mrs. Evans was a really good manager and
all the men respected her, in fact the men never used
to swear in front of us except on one occasion when a
young boy wanted a bottle of pop and wouldn’t stop
swearing so I wouldn’t serve him. His friend took him
to one side and told him to apologise which he did and
said that he didn’t realise he was swearing. I told him
that he was only a couple of seconds from having the
bottle of pop put sideways into his mouth!
e National Coal Board used to hold
competitions for canteen staff and, in 1982, we went
up to Blackpool for the finals. ey had built a mock
up of a canteen kitchen with deliberate mistakes such
as having a cauliflower in a sink full of dirty water,
cardboard sheets on the floor, a first aid box out of
reach on top of the fridge freezer and other hazards.
ere was also a table set up with various food stuffs
and you had to differentiate between sugar and salt
and flour and dried milk without touching or tasting
them – we did very well in that test. But we didn’t win
as the team that had won the year before won again,
we felt it was a fix – we were tamping! We had to share
a bedroom in Blackpool, there were three girls in one
room but it was a really good experience. I enjoyed
working in the canteen but had to finish aer a fall
which knocked my back out of place.
Eirlys Batsford
Eirlys Batsford
34 35