A History Of Mining by Patricia Bone

A History of Mining
Patricia Bone

This book is dedicated to Eric Marshall, my Dad,
who would have encouraged and supported me.
Produced by Killamarsh Heritage Society
Book design and graphics by Nick Wallace
www.thedoorsteppa.com
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Acorn Press Ltd
www.acornpress.co.uk

CONTENTS
4 Introduction
CHAPTER ONE
THE HISTORY
OF MINING
5 The History of Coal
6 Pit Ponies
7 The Life and Times
of Jem The Pit Pony
9 Women and Children
Working in Mines
10 The Much Needed
Introduction of
Legislation
13 The Pit Brow Lasses
CHAPTER THREE
REMEMBERING
WESTTHORPE
COLLIERY
38 The History of
Westthorpe Colliery
- 1923 - 1984
39 The Managers at
Westthorpe Colliery
40 Westthorpe
Collieries Day of
Fame
41 The Record Breakers
42 The Pit Mascot
51 The West End Hotel
52 The Derbyshire
Miners Convalescent
Home
53 Holbrook and
Westthorpe St John
Ambulance Brigade
54 The Pit Explosion
57 A Love of Sports
58 The Miners Strike
1984-1985
59 My Memories of
being a Westthorpe
Colliery Miner
60 The Westthorpe
Colliery Memorial
15 Truck and the
Miners - The Truck
Act 1831
16 The many collieries
in Killamarsh
17 The Davy Lamp
17 A Miner’s Snap
18 The Underground
Front -
Remembering
The Bevin Boys
22 Nationalisation -
1947
CHAPTER TWO
WESTTHORPE
COLLIERY
IN PICTURES
24 A selection of
photographs of
Westthorpe colliery
over the years
42 The Pit Hooter
43 The Much Needed
Pit Head Baths
44 Westthorpe Colliery
Canteen
44 The Time and Wages
Ofice
45 The Telephone
Exchange
46 The History of the
Pit Check
48 Derbyshire Miners
Holiday Camps
51 The Miss Westthorpe
Competition
CHAPTER FOUR
THE COAL
AUTHORITY TODAY
61 The Coal Authority
CHAPTER FIVE
MINING POEMS
62 Heaven or Hell?
62 The Old Miner
63 Proud Sarah
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the following for
their help and support in writing this book
Killamarsh Parish Council, Lee Rowley MP, The Coal Authority, Nick Wallace,
Acorn Press Ltd and Killamarsh Heritage Society. Thank you Westthorpe
miners and their families for the information, their memories and photographs.
Also Kevin Bone and Margaret Marshall for their moral support.
And of course thank you to the many men and women who worked
at Westthorpe Colliery during its history.

Introduction
Killamarsh has a long and proud histor as a coal mining area, with coal being
mined since at least the 15 th centr with many small pits being opened over the centries.
Westthorpe Colliery opened in 1923 when the first sod was cut on the 17 th of
March.
During its lifetime the pit provided employment for many men and women and was
successful in attaining many targets in coal production.
Westthorpe Colliery played a huge part in the working and social lives of the people
of Killamarsh and the surrounding villages and resulted in a very close community.
Many ex-miners still live in Killamarsh and the surrounding villages although,
of course, many are no longer with us.
However, many of their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren still live in
the area and for them the memory of Westthorpe Colliery should be kept alive.
This is important to me as my Grandad, Dad, brothers, uncles and cousins all
worked at Westthorpe pit during its life.
So I decided to write this book to mark Westthorpe’s 100 year anniversary.
Although I am not an historian, in the first part of the book I have tried to cover what
miners had to endure in the past.
The second part of the book remembers Westthorpe Colliery and I hope will bring
back memories.
I know everyone loves to see old photographs so I have included a section with
photographs of Westthorpe which I feel don’t need an explanation for those who
remember the pit so well.
Everyone will have their own memories, reminiscences and recollections. And of
course everyone has anecdotes.
I have tried to make the book as accurate as possible but hope you will forgive any
inaccuracies – to quote – recollections may vary.
But most of all I hope you enjoy.
Patricia Bone
Killamarsh Heritage Society
2023
4 Introduction

The History of Coal Mining
in the United Kingdom
Coal, as we all know, is solid fel but millions of
years ago the world had no coal reseres.
So where did it come om?
345 to 280 million years ago, the world was mostly
covered with a luxuriant vegetation which grew in
swamps.
A large number of these plants were types of fern, and
some were as big as trees.
This vegetation died off and became submerged under
water. It gradually decomposed and as it decomposed,
the vegetable matter lost oxygen and hydrogen atoms, it
left a deposit which contained a high percentage of
carbon.
Peat was formed first, but over the years layers of sand
and mud settled, from the water, over some of the
peat. Pressure from the layers above, the movements of
the earth's crust, plus at times volcanic heat,
compressed and hardened the deposits.
Through this process coal was formed.
In some areas of Britain, evidence has been discovered
that indicates stone-age inhabitants collected and used
coal.
Flint axes have been found embedded in layers of coal
in excavations at Monmouthshire and Stanley in
Derbyshire. Excavations frequently turn up the remains
of coal fires, which the Romans used to fuel their
heating systems.
Up to the 18th century coal was only mined near the
surface beside outcrops, this type of mining was known
by the names, "bell pits" and "adit mines".
In the 13th century a charter dealing with and
recognising the importance of coal supplies was granted
to the freemen of Newcastle, allowing them to dig for
coals unhindered.
Another method of mining were drift mines which
were usually sunk into the hillside. The coal seam was
usually visible at the side of the hill (known as outcrop
coal). The coal was first removed from the side of the
hill, then the miners had to follow the seam further and
further underground, the coal was worked until the
working conditions became unsafe. The mine was then
abandoned.
By 1683, some of the bigger mines were using timber
to support the roof, this enabled coal to be mined
much further away from the mine entrance.
In 1832 deeper mines were using a technique which we
know as:-
(a) bord and pillar
(b) pillar and stall
(c) room and pillar
(d) stoop and room.
The name varied depending upon the part of the
country the mining took place, however the method
was basically the same.
Coal was extracted from an area underground, (the
'rooms', stalls etc.), pillars of coal were left in to support
the roof. When a boundary was reached they began
working their way backwards, removing the pillars on a
retreat basis.
Mining as we know it
had arrived.
The History of Mining - Chapter I 5

Pit Ponies
As mines became larger there was more undergound haulage; boys aged 10 to 14
were considered old enough to gide horses along the roadways.
The horse pulled tubs of coal to the base of a hoist;
where a 'gin', on the surface, completed the work of
raising the coal to the surface. A 'gin' usually consisted
of a horse going in a circle, and working a wheel that
winds up or lets down various loads into the pit.
They also transported wood and other supplies into
the mine to the working places. Mines were now using
a lot of wood to timber up the roadways.
The first known recorded use of ponies underground
in Great Britain was in the Durham coalfield in 1750.
At one time, around 70,000 of the miniature horses
worked underground, even living in stables in the pits
and seeing daylight only once a year.
A pit pony was a horse, pony or mule used
underground in mines from the mid-18th until the
mid-20th century. The term "pony" was broadly applied
to any equine working underground .
For protection they wore a skullcap and bridle made of
leather. A pony had to be three years old before it was
allowed down the pit. They learned to walk with their
heads down and could open air doors in the roadway,
and knew which door needed pulling and which doors
it could push.
In shaft mines, ponies were normally stabled
underground and fed on a diet with a high proportion
of chopped hay and maize and they came to the
surface only during the colliery’s annual holiday. In
slope and drift mines the stables were usually on the
surface near the mine entrance.
Typically, they would work an eight-hour shift each
day, during which they might haul 30 tons of coal in
tubs on the underground mine railway. In 1911, it
was estimated that the average working life of coal
mining mules was only 3½ years, whereas 20 year
working lives were common on the surface.
Prevention of Cruelty to Pit Ponies, Countess Maud
Fitzwilliam, awarded a young Elsecar Colliery mine
worker, John William Bell of Wentworth, the
Fitzwilliam Medal for Kindness for an act of bravery
that saved the life of his equine workmate. Bell’s story
of staying behind while his human workmates were
able to escape through a small opening, to ensure that
the pony would have a chance of rescue, became a
successful tool for the Countess in promoting pit pony
rights.
In 1911, Sir Harry Lauder became an outspoken
advocate, “pleading the cause of the poor pit ponies”
to Sir Winston Churchill, when introduced to him at
the House of Commons, reporting to the Tamworth
Herald that he “could talk for hours about my wee
four-footed friends of the mine. But I think I
convinced him the time has now arrived when
something should be done by the law of the land to
improve the lot and working conditions of the
patient, equine slaves who assist so materially in
carrying on the great mining industry of this
country.”
Pit ponies were used in mining to the late 20 th century.
In 1913, at the peak, there were 70,000 ponies
underground in Britain. In later years, mechanical
haulage was introduced on the main underground
roads replacing pony hauls, and ponies tended to be
confined to the shorter runs from coal face to main
road which were more difficult to mechanise. This
dropped to 21,000 after the nationalisation of the
mines in 1947.
In 1984 there were still 55 ponies in use with the
National Coal Board in Britain, chiefly at Ellington in
Northumberland. The last pony left Ellington in 1994.
The British Coal Mines Regulation Act 1887 presented
the first national legislation to protect
horses working underground. Due to pressure from
the National Equine Defense League (formerly the
Pit Ponies Protection Society) found in 1908 by animal
and human rights advocate Francis Albert
Cox – and the Scottish Society to Promote Kindness to
Pit Ponies, in 1911 a Royal Commission report
was published, detailing conditions, which resulted
in protective legislation.
In 1904, the president for the Association for the
6 The History of Mining - Chapter I

The Life and Times of
Jem The Pit Pony
At this time there was lile or no mechanisation in the mining indust as we
know it today. So small ponies were bred specially to work in the small roadways
in the early days of coal mining in the 20 th centr.
At this time there was little
or no mechanisation in
the mining industry as we
know it today.
So small ponies were bred
specially to work in the small
roadways in the early days of
coal mining in the
20 th century.
In those early days, conditions underground were very
poor with many hazards, due to small, poorly
supported roadways, water, dust and of course the very
dangerous gas methane, which caused many explosions
and consequently deaths.
There were many fatalities for both men and animals.
Safety at that time was not really a priority, the mine
owners being more interested in the amount of coal
brought to the surface and their profit.
Men worked in seams that were not very thick and
sometimes in very wet and hazardous conditions.
It was even worse for the ponies who sometimes
worked longer hours than the men and most never saw
the sunshine and the light of day except for two weeks’
when the mine ceased working for the annual two
weeks holiday. Many died underground and were
instantly replaced by others who were condemned to
the same fate. Pit ponies to the mine owners were a
very valuable asset, because obviously they didn’t need
payment. They were worked until they were exhausted
and when they were of no more use they would be
brought to the surface and shot and possibly sold for
dog meat.
The stables for the ponies were very close to the
bottom of the shaft and as you entered, it opened up
into a square room which worked as a reception area.
The harnesses were arranged on hooks fastened to the
wall.
Here the pony drivers first gathered to pick up their
allocated charge and to make the pony ready for his
work for the shift. Stored also in this room were sacks
of feed, oats and associated grain and also in a corner a
large container filled with water, sometimes clean and
sometimes not so clean. From this room, led off to a
corridor, which on either side were rows of stalls which
housed the ponies, each with his name above the
entrance.
Jem was a sturdy pony with strong muscular legs, a
brown chestnut coloured coat and mane with a white
blaze on his forehead. When I first entered his stall I
had to unhook his tether and then harness him ready
for work. He had headgear and blinkers to protect
him from low beams and the rest of his harness was
arranged around his body to which was then attached a
metal frame, called limmers which were used to attach
him to empty and full coal tubs.
Jem was very intelligent with an acute sense of hearing
and other senses to match. I sometimes used to try to
sneak into the stables by opening the door very slowly,
but you could never fool him because his senses were
so acute. They had to be because of the inherent
dangers within the mine. The joy at seeing me at the
start of the shift was unbelievable, he would whinny a
welcome and would not quieten down until he had
found by sniffing around my pockets for his morning
treat, his favourite being a juicy red apple. There was
always some treat for Jem, my large pockets usually
contained sweets, lumps of sugar, carrots and other
titbits as well.
Pit ponies at this time were used extensively for a
variety of difficult jobs but sometimes they were very
badly ill-treated. At times I would see him before we
commenced our shift covered in mud, all his legs and
the underside of his body, because he had been
working the previous night.
I would never leave him in such a state. I would fetch a
bucket of water and clean him of all the mud collected
on him during the shift and make sure he was
comfortable in his stall before I went home.
I have mentioned before about their super senses.
They could foresee danger long before human senses
recognised there was danger imminent.
The History of Mining - Chapter I 7

The Life and Times of
Jem The Pit Pony (CONT.)
There was always the incidents of roof collapse
because of poor wooden support systems, and a pony
pulling a set of full or empty tubs would suddenly stop
and not move any further if he sensed the roadway in
front was going to collapse. Sometimes they could be
ill-treated to make them move forward but they still
would not move.
Nothing would induce them when they sensed danger.
This sort of action has many times saved the lives of
both men and animals.
Such was the life, or should I say fate of Jem and all the
other pit pones who lived and worked underground
deep in the bowels of the earth.
When some of the lucky ones were brought to the
surface during the annual two weeks holiday and
turned out into a field with all its views of the
countryside and of course that lovely sweet green grass,
it must have been such a wonderful feeling.
Then, of course, after those wonderful two weeks they
would be taken back underground and would never
see the light of day again for another year.
It was during 1939/1940, that I started working
underground and these condition were as I have stated.
The lamps we carried were heavy and gave only poor
light. The ponies did not even have a light and had to
rely on the one that the pony driver carried.
In most circumstances they would actually lead the way
and once they had got used to a certain area they
would do it without an order.
If they were treated properly, they would show their
appreciation by the amount of work they achieved
during the shift.
They really were remarkable and sincere little animals.
Alf Mather, Mining Engineer (Retired)
8 The History of Mining - Chapter I

Women & Children Working in Mines
When we think back to the histor of mining, our minds oſten
conjure up images of hardworking men covered in coal, working
undergound. However, what we oſten don’t think about is the
women and children who also worked in mining –
and the roles they played.
As the population in Britain increased, the need for
fuel supplies also increased, wood became scarce as
great tracts of forest were felled for both fuel and
building materials.
In the early coal industry women and girls worked
underground alongside men and boys in small coal
pits. This was common practice in Lancashire,
Cumberland, Yorkshire, the East of Scotland and
South Wales.
From the 1600s in Lancashire it was common for
whole families to be employed in the pits. Colliers
relied on their wives, sons and daughters who were
employed as drawers. The daughters of colliers usually
married within the mining community. As the industry
grew the population expanded and more members of
extended mining families obtained work. Pit work in
South-West Lancashire resulted in the area around
Wigan having the highest rates of female employment
in the country in the 19 th century.
It is difficult for us to believe or understand, but
children of all ages were used in the coal mines, as
soon as a child was seen as old enough to help, the
child began work.
Children as young as five worked at jobs that were
dangerous and exhausting.
For a child going underground for the first time the
mine would be a very scary place, it was pitch black, a
candle or an oil lamp was all the illumination a child
would have, if the candle went out or the oil ran out
they could spend hours in complete darkness. During
that time they would hear all sorts of noises, strata
moving, pieces of roof or sides falling, and rats were
common in the mines, so they would hear them
scurrying around them. Children were on average five
times cheaper to employ than adults and were
expected to work the same hours which could mean a
14-hour day.
One of their first jobs would be as a trapper. A trapper
is stationed at traps (canvas flaps) or doors in various
parts of the pit, the trapper opened the trap so that
trams of coal could pass through, then they
immediately closed it again when the trams had passed
through the trap. Air ventilation was stringently
controlled and if the trap was not closed correctly, parts
of the mine would lack adequate ventilation and
dangerous gases would
build up.
Another job for children
was as a carter. They
used to drag carts loaded
with coal from the coal face to the
main road, a distance of sixty yards. The carts had no
wheels. Leather belts were placed on the child's
shoulders, the child had to drag the coal with ropes
over their shoulders.
Trappers kept the airflow going which stopped the
build-up of dangerous gases. Drawers dragged
truckloads of coal to the surface. Older children
operated the mine shaft pulleys.
The older children were employed as hurriers, pulling
and pushing tubs full of coal along roadways from the
coal face to the pit-bottom.
The younger children worked in pairs, one as a
hurrier, the other as a thruster, but the older children
worked alone.
Many women and children were employed below
ground. Mine owners employed women as they were
able pay them half a man’s wage. In 1841 2,350
women were employed in coal mines – in a variety of
roles. Although women are often thought to have only
worked at the surface of mines, women did in fact
often hold roles that required them to work
underground.
In 1842, the Mines and Collieries Act banned females
of any age from working underground and required
boys who worked underground to be no younger than
ten years old.
The Mines Act, as it was commonly known, was
passed in 1842, as a result of Lord Shaftesbury’s report
into the employment of women and young children in
coal mines. The law stopped all females and children
under 18 years of age from working underground. From
1843 the act was extended so that all women had to stop
working underground. For many mining families, the loss
of income from these working women was a disaster.
The History of Mining - Chapter I 9

The Much Needed Introduction
of Legislation
Miners were fired by a sense of solidarit, but also by dangerous
working conditions, which resulted in high death and injur rates.
In parallel with factories, mills and workshops,
Victorian legislators responded to concern about
working conditions in coal mines, especially the
employment of women and children.
In the 1830s there was a movement towards social
reform, especially towards the employment of
children in the burgeoning industries in England. In
1833 Parliament introduced the Factory Act which
prevented the employment of children under nine
from working in textile mills. Following this was a
campaign to offer similar protection to children, and
women, employed below ground in mines.
It is believed that the general British public learned
for the first time that women and children worked in
the mines, following reports of an accident in a coal
mine in 1838 in Barnsley. After violent
thunderstorms, a stream overflowed into the mine’s
ventilation system and 26 children - 11 girls and 15
boys (some as young as 8 -years old) were
accidentally drowned.
The London papers reported this and there was a
public outcry. It came to the attention of Queen
Victoria who put pressure on the Prime Minister to
hold an inquiry into the working conditions of
women and children in mines and factories. Charles
Dickens also expressed his concern after visiting
mines for himself.
As a result, in 1840, Parliament established the Royal
Commission of Inquiry into Children’s Employment
in Mines. The Commission was headed by Anthony
Ashley Cooper, the 7 th Earl of Shaftesbury, with a
report compiled by Richard Henry Horne, a friend
of Charles Dickens and sometime contributor to
Dickens’ Daily News.
The result of a three-year investigation into working
conditions in mines and factories in England, Ireland,
Scotland and Wales, the Report of the Children’s
Employment Commission is one of the most
important documents in British industrial history.
Comprising thousands of pages of oral testimony
(sometimes from children as young as five), the
report’s findings shocked society and swiftly led to
legislation to secure minimum safety standards in
mines and factories, as well as general controls on the
employment of children.
The Commission report probably helped make a
decisive impact on Victorian Society.
Between 1838 and 1841, 28 children had died in the
Halifax, Huddersfield and Low Moor coal mines.
Women and children were regularly employed in
mines in the area.
As part of the Royal Commission of Inquiry, an
investigation was carried out by Sub-Commissioner
Samuel Scriven iin the Halifax, Huddersfield and
Bradford areas.
Mr Scriven used a different method to other
inspectors in different areas by interviewing the
children and miners. This enabled him to get a
much more detailed look into their lives. He was
helped in Halifax by local Surgeon James Holroyd
who knew the local mine and mill owners well.
Scriven interviewed the miners and children inside
the mines, wearing suitable clothing and talked to
them when they were on their limited rest breaks.
Sometimes he would crawl in tunnels just 20 inches
tall.
He was shocked by the adult miners’ appearance
when working naked and that they were ‘mashed up’
by the physical work by their 40s. The children
interviewed by Scriven in Halifax tended to be
muscular but stunted in growth, which Scriven
attributed to ‘severe labour exacted from them during
a period of infancy and adolescence’. Both girls and
boys did identical work, the girls often as ‘vulgar’ and
‘obscene in language’ as the boys.
Sub-Commissioner Scriven went into a shaft in
Staffordshire in 1841 expecting to find a place of
work. Instead, he descended into hell.
Quite apart from the children who laboured in
dangerous conditions, men and women worked sideby-side,
stripped to the waist and sweating furiously in
the heat. There was “something truly hideous and
Satanic about it,” Scriven said - not least because
some of the women, if they weren’t completely
naked, were wearing trousers.
10 The History of Mining - Chapter I

This, along with their bare breasts was an affront to
Victorian modesty. These young women would be
“unsuitable for marriage and unfit to be mothers.”
The Labour Tribune, which called itself the “Organ
of the Miner,” went further still saying: “A woman
accustomed to such work cannot be expected to
know much of household duties or how to make a
man’s home comfortable.”
Trousers were shocking. The Manchester Guardian
called them “the article of clothing which women
ought only to wear in a figure of speech”, the Daily
News claimed that the “habitual wearing of the
costume tends to destroy all sense of decency,” and
even the Miners’ Union said they were a “most
sickening sight.”
But women miners had few options when it came to
clothing: flimsier, cooler clothing, which revealed the
contours of their body, were seen as “an invitation to
promiscuity.”
Trousers and other practical garments were
“unwomanly” – and often led to wardrobe
malfunctions.
In his 1842 speech to Parliament, Lord Ashley
described how the work sometimes wore holes in the
crotch of these women and girls’ trousers:
underground work for women and girls, and for boys
under 10.
In 1842 a report by the Royal Commission
on the employment of women
and children in mines caused
widespread public dismay at
the depths of human degradation
that were revealed.
Owners showed a critical
lack of concern or responsibility for
the welfare of the workers.
Further legislation in 1850 addressed the frequency
of accidents in mines. The Coal Mines Inspection
Act introduced the appointment of Inspectors of
Coal Mines, setting out their powers and duties, and
placed them under the supervision of the Home
Office.
The Coal Mines Regulation Act of 1860 improved
safety rules and raised the age limit for boys from 10
to 12.
He said: “The chain passing high up between the legs
of two girls, had worn large holes in their trousers.
Any sight more disgustingly indecent or revolting can
scarcely be imagined than these girls at work. No
brothel can beat it”.
This shook the prudish Victorian society, and
resulted in women being banned from working
underground, not because of safety, but because ‘it
made girls unsuitable for marriage and unfit to be
mothers.’
Having women in the mines was financially
advantageous to both their bosses and their families.
One “underlocker” told the Commission that women
were paid roughly half of what men were, allowing
their employer, the Collier, to spend “one shilling to
one shilling and sixpence more at the alehouse”.
It was common for children aged eight to be
employed, but they were often younger. In mines in
the east of Scotland girls as well as boys were put to
work. In order to reinforce its message to MPs, the
Commissioners Report was graphically illustrated
with images of women and children at their work.
The Mines and Collieries Bill, which was supported
by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, was hastily passed by
Parliament in 1842. The Act prohibited all
The Result of the Inquiry
The outcome of the Inquiry was swift. As a result of
the report, politician and reformer Anthony Ashley
Cooper introduced the Mines and Collieries Act on
the 4 th of August 1842 to Parliament and from 1 st
March 1843 it became illegal for women, girls and
boys under 10 (later amended to 13) from working
underground in Britain.
There was no compensation for those made
unemployed which caused much hardship. This led
to the widespread use of horses and ponies in
mining, though child labour lingered on to varying
extents until finally eliminated by a variety of factors
including further laws, improved inspection regimes
and changing economics.
The History of Mining - Chapter I 11

The Much Needed Introduction
of Legislation (CONT.)
The Result of the Inquiry (CONT.)
The Royal Commission 1840 focused on children,
but it was women and girls who were most
immediately affected by the report, which led to the
exclusion of all women and girls from British mines.
The 1842 Mines and Collieries Act banned all
women and children under the age of 10 from
working underground. No-one under 15 years was to
work winding gear in mines. Families felt this sudden
loss of income acutely.
One female miner said afterwards, that though
working underground was not pleasant, it was
certainly better than starving.
The Government appointed a civil servant, Hugh
Tremenheere, to be the first Inspector of Mines. A
barrister with no experience of mining, he had 2,000
pits to oversee and no powers, but he secured
compliance with the Act in four years.
The prohibition of underground female labour
caused much suffering and hardship and was greatly
resented. The employment of women did not end
abruptly in 1842, with the connivance of some
employers, women dressed as men continued to
work underground for several years.
Penalties for employing women were small and
inspectors were few and some women were so
desperate for work they willingly worked illegally for
less pay.
Also children continued working underground at
some pits. At Coppull Colliery’s Burgh Pit, three
females died after an explosion in November 1846,
one was eleven years old.
The Mines Act may have stopped women from
working underground, but did not forbid girls and
women from working on the surface of the mine and
many women continued to work in the Pits.
However, not all women who had worked
underground gained employment as surface workers.
Lighter work on the surface had been reserved for
older men and men who had been injured below
ground and some colliery owners considered pits
unsuitable places for women.
Other colliery owners were happy to employ women
who had proved themselves reliable and strong
workers and were used to the language and habits of
the miners.
But by 1860 hostility to employing women became
more apparent. Many men working in cotton mills
were out of work because of the cotton famine
during the American Civil War and it was felt that
women should not be doing jobs that could be filled
by men.
Once again the women came into the public
consciousness, stimulated by reports of calls to ban
them.
In 1863 the National Miners’ Association resolved at
its conference to ask the Government to prevent
female employment in collieries.
The proposal came from a Barnsley delegate, an area
that was staunchly against employing women.
It read: “The practice of employing females on or
about the pit bank of mines and collieries is
degrading to the sex, leads to gross immorality and
stands like a foul blot on the civilisation and
humanity of the kingdom”.
Arthur Munby, a Cambridge academic with an
interest in women who worked in dirty and unusual
conditions, commissioned many photographs and
had visited the Wigan area many times over many
years, interviewing working-class women and
recording what they had to say about their jobs, pay
and living conditions.
Munby described the women as lacking formal
education, “rough and ready” in their ways and
speech but not coarse, uncouth or immoral.
By the 1880s, around 11,000 women had found work
above ground at the coalmines, sorting coal.
Conditions were cold and dirty, and so they wore a
striking ensemble, as described by one onlooker:
“She wears a pair of trousers which formerly were
scarcely hidden at all, but are now covered with a
skirt reaching just below the knees. Her head is
bandaged with a red handkerchief, which entirely
protects the hair from coal dust; across this is a piece
of cloth which comes under the chin, with the result
that only the face is exposed. A flannel jacket
completes the costume.”
The women famous for this outfit were known as the
Pit Brow Lasses.
12 The History of Mining - Chapter I

The Pit Brow Lasses
Fifty Shades of Black
Pit brow lasses (in some areas known as pit brow
women, pit head women) or tip girls were female
surface labourers. They worked at the coal screens on
the pit brow at the shaft top until the 1960s.Their job
was to pick stones and sort the coal after it was hauled
to the surface.
Most pit brow women were unmarried and came from
mining families. They often left pit work when they
married and had families. They started work at six in
the morning and worked either at screening tables or
pushing coal tubs. The shifts were not the same as the
men underground, as the coal was to be sorted when it
reached the surface.
A Pit Brow Wench for Me
“I am an Aspull collier, I like a bit of fun
To have a go at football or in the sports to run
So goodbye old companions, adieu to jollity
For I have found a sweetheart,
and she’s all the world to me
Could you but see my Nancy,
among the tubs of coal
In tucked up skirt and breeches,
she looks exceedingly droll
Her face besmear’d with coal dust,
as black as black can be
She is a pit brow lassie,
but she’s all the world to me”
They worked outdoors and developed a distinctive
mode of dress that was practical for the work involved
but appeared strange to Victorian sensibilities and
aroused considerable curiosity. They wore a distinctive
‘uniform’ of clogs, trousers covered with a skirt and
apron, old flannel jackets or shawls and headscarves to
protect their hair from coal dust. Their
unconventional, but practical dress drew them to the
attention of the public and card portraits and later
postcards of them in working clothes were produced
commercially and sold as novelties
But few other mines outside of Wigan had women
customarily wearing trousers and seemed proud to
have shaken of this moral affront. Scottish women
miners were said to “dress like ordinary females, they
do not dress like the Wigan ladies,” while
the inspector for South Wales described the local
women there as “respectably dressed.”
But the pit brow women didn’t seem to be especially
unhappy about their costume. They had other
considerations to worry about, like feeding their
families on half the wage that the men received.
Many married male miners and were part of a tightknit
local community, and even sparked the anonymous
poem, “A Pit Brow Wench for Me”. (See Poetry
section).
Many pit brow lasses were very much in favour of
being allowed to work in and around coal mines,
choosing to sort coal above the surface, as opposed to
working in mills or factories which were stuffy and
unsanitary, and workplace accidents were almost as
common.
These women shocked some parts of Victorian society,
and were seen by some as the prime example of
degraded womanhood. But even though many thought
of them as unladylike, they did what they
By Anon
could to assert their femininity in the pit among the
dirt and dust. A French visitor described their “taste
for feminine things and a love of ribbons, most of
them, in fact wore ties around their neck, whose folds
will soon become nothing more than little nests of coal
dust.”
There was a lot of camaraderie amongst the pit brow
lasses, it even being suggested that they enjoyed it.
Making the best of it was probably the best way to
describe it. The women still needed to prepare food
and carry out household chores. Dust and dirt were a
constant menace. Life was described as a ‘turn’ at
work then a ‘turn’ at home.
Women were viewed as unskilled and were required
to do additional jobs, such as cleaning the Manager’s
office and even his home. Pit women were not
encouraged to join in any of the men’s recreational
activities. When not at the Colliery they spent their
time with each other, with neighbours and close
relatives, often helping each other. This ‘bonding’
would explain why, when needed, they were so good at
organising and supporting the men during the troubled
times.
The Fight Continued
An even greater threat to women’s continuing
employment emerged with a clause prohibiting the
employment of women in the Mines Regulation Bill in
1886. The 1,400 women working on the pit brow in
the Wigan area received support from across the
country. A meeting of support for the pit brow
The History of Mining - Chapter I 13

The Pit Brow Lasses (CONT.)
women called by the Reverend
Fox at St Peter’s Church in
Bryn near Wigan was attended
by two hundred women and
letters of support from the
clergy, the nobility and others
were read. Lord Crawford of
Haig Hall wrote that he did
not consider the pit girls were
immoral and that their
clothing, “the inheritance of
their mothers and
grandmothers”, was only
objected to by “ignorant
prudes”, who, if left along
would probably put a “frill”
round the ankles of their
kitchen table.
A deputation of pit brow
women, taking with them their
pit clothes, and accompanied by Mrs Park, the Lady
Mayoress of Wigan, the Reverend Mitchell and Mrs
Burrows, wife of the part owner of Atherton Collieries,
went to London in May 1887 to lobby the Home
Secretary.
The parliamentary committee convened in 1866 to
consider the work of women in the pits, took evidence
from many sources, and found allegations of indecency
and immorality unfounded and the clause was
withdrawn.
While pit work remained open to women, hostility
remained, particularly from the Unions who did admit
women as members.
In 1911, women’s employment was again under threat.
Miners were asking for a minimum wage,
unemployment was high, women’s suffrage was on the
agenda and an amendment to the proposed Mines Act
threatened women with being excluded from work on
the pit brow. Meetings were organised in Wigan where
the Major, Sam Woods, and Stephen Walsh, the
Labour MP for Ince, addressed the crowds in support
of the women. Walsh asserted the women’s right to
work at the pit head and denied they were degraded by
the work, but would have preferred them have more
options for employment. The suffragette Annie
Kenney of the Women’s Socialist and Political Union
(WSPU) was sent to Wigan to help the pit
brow women organise their opposition to the proposed
legislation, and the organisation placed its campaigning
expertise at their disposal. The WSPU objected to
working-class women being denied the opportunity to
work, rejecting the idea that conditions at the pit brow
were any more harmful to women’s health than
working in their own homes, and that the work was not
physically beyond them.
On Thursday the 8 th of August, the Lady Mayoress,
Mrs Woods accompanied a delegation of forty-seven
pit brow women from the Wigan area to London. The
women created a stir as they headed towards the
House of Commons dressed in their working clothes
and clogs.
More support came from local doctors who testified
that the work was healthier than factory work. After
much debate the amendment barring women from
work at the pit head was withdrawn and women were
free to continue.
During the First World War, the number of women
working the pit brow increased to about 11,300
replacing men who went to fight. Women continued
to work on the pit brow and in 1953, despite increased
mechanisation, nearly 1,000 women worked for the
National Coal Board. The last pit brow woman in
Lancashire worked at Golborne Colliery until 1966,
and the last ever worked in Whitehaven until 1972.
Women Underground Again
Women were not allowed to work underground in mines until the Employment Act of 1989 replaced
sections of the Coal Mines Act 1842 and the Mines and Quarries Act of 1954 (which also prohibited this
type of work for women).
150 years after their ban, women were once again allowed to work underground.
14 The History of Mining - Chapter I

Truck and The Miners -
The Truck Act 1831
Truck was the practice of paying employees in goods
rather than money, or compelling them to spend their
wages at a store the employer either owned or was
interested in financially and many miners were paid in
this way. Although payment in kind continued well
into the twentieth century, by the 1890s workers had
become more concerned about other practices that
prevented them from receiving the full value of their
wages. These included employers taking heavy
deductions from wages for disciplinary fines, for
damaged work, for the rental of tools and materials,
and for providing heat, light or standing room in the
workplace.
During the nineteenth century laws were passed to
regulate these methods of cheating workers out of the
full value of their earnings. The 1831 Truck Act made
it illegal to pay certain artificers in anything but the
current coin of the realm. The Act allowed workers in
specifically listed trades to bring an action before two
magistrates, who could award the worker the full
monetary value of any wages paid in truck, and fine
the offending employer. The 1887 Truck
Amendment Act expanded these protections to nearly
all manual workers, including those in Ireland, and
entrusted their enforcement to the inspectors of mines
and factories.
The 1896 Truck Act was promoted by a Conservative
government as offering protections to workers against
arbitrary fines and deductions from wages, but
sceptical trade-union leaders believed its primary
purpose was to give employers a clear statutory right to
take deductions. Section one of that Act applied to
manual workers and shop assistants and enacted that
disciplinary fines were only legal if they were
authorised in a signed contract or a posted notice.
The document had to list the specific acts or omissions
for which a person could be fined, and the amounts
that would be taken for each offence. Fines were only
allowed for acts or omissions that harmed the business
and had to be ‘fair and reasonable’. The remainder of
the Act applied only to manual workers. It regulated
deductions for damaged or spoiled work, stipulating
that they also had to be part of a contract or posted
notice, could not exceed the estimated loss to the
employer, and had to be ‘fair and reasonable having
regard to all circumstances of the case’. It also
required deductions for materials and services
provided by the employer to be part of a contract,
and could not exceed the true cost, and had to be fair
and reasonable.
One objective of the 1831 Truck Act was to stop
employers paying workers with cheques redeemable at
distant banks or their own company stores located
near the workplace. This was a barely disguised form
of payment in kind (which the 1831 Act sought to
outlaw), since the only place it was practicable for the
employee to use the cheque was the company store.
To prevent this, the Act allowed an employer to pay
wages by cheque with the employee’s consent if it was
drawn on a real bank ‘duly licensed to issue bank
notes’ and located within fifteen miles of the place of
payment.
Cheques were ‘an instrument of torture’ for those who
had no bank accounts, and often lived great distances
from banks. If the cheque was delayed, the man’s wife
could not shop unless she secured credit from the local
shopkeeper. If the cheque arrived on Saturday
morning, the husband would still be at work, and the
wife could not cash it without his endorsement. She
would have to travel to his work site or wait until his
shift ended: ‘the cheque system makes the harassed
housewife’s task of balancing her slender budget an
impossible one’. This was especially so during
wartime, with shortages of goods, when those with
ready cash had first access to them.
The inconvenient location of banks meant having
cheques cashed by a publican, which wives wanted to
avoid because of money lost on drink. Another option
was a local shopkeeper, who would expect patronage
for this service, and the shopkeeper would ‘know his
earnings’.
For most of the twentieth century, the majority of
manual workers in England and Wales received their
wages in cash – notes and coins – every week. As late
as 1979, 77% of all manual workers still received cash
wages weekly. In 1969, even 52% of non-manual
workers still received cash wages; of manual workers
only 5% were paid by cheque and 6% by bank transfer.
Manual workers, individually and through their unions,
repeatedly expressed a desire to be paid their wages in
cash weekly.
Over the years, the 1831 Truck Act has had a huge
impact on and has heavily influenced workers’ rights.
From the mid-1950s until the early 1960s, there was an
ongoing tussle between British employers and the
Trades Union Congress (TUC) over whether to repeal
the 1831-96 Truck Acts which established the right of
manual workers to be paid in cash (‘coin of the
The History of Mining - Chapter I 15

Truck and The Miners (CONT.)
realm’) and regulated employers’ ability to fine them
or take deductions from their wages. Many
employers advocated repeal, insisting that Truck
legislation was not suited to the modern economy,
interfered with freedom to contract and impeded
more efficient forms of paying wages. Organised
labour, through the TUC, argued that these laws
protected workers from arbitrary deductions and
prevented employers from imposing unpopular
methods of paying wages (such as by cheque or bank
transfer).
Conclusion: from union voice
to union exclusion
The 1960 Payment of Wages Act operated for a
quarter of a century. The passage of this law illuminates
how organised labour gave working men and women
some voice in their workplaces and government.
Employers wanting new methods of paying wages
would have to win workers’ consent, and sometimes
this required concessions and incentives.
By contrast, the 1986 Wages Act – which repealed
all truck legislation and the 1960 Payment of Wages
Act – was passed over the strenuous objections of
organised labour and those bodies that provided legal
advice to the poor.’ It made it much easier for
employers to impose, as conditions of employment,
methods of paying wages and the terms for deductions
from wages (which no longer had to be ‘fair and
reasonable’).
The 1986 Act was part of an onslaught to make it
easier for employers to resist union demands and
recast the employment relationship as more individual
and less collective. In 1960 a Conservative government
had considered it necessary to consult and consider
(and, in this case, be persuaded by) the views of
workers, as represented by trade unions. By the 1980s
it was explicit government policy to reduce the political
power of trade unions and greatly limit their influence
in the formation of public policy.
Many UK workers now accept cashless pay as a fact of
life. Although some struggle with access to banking
services (as banks and cash machines are shut down or
charge fees), many find cashless pay convenient. In
1960, manual workers had many reasons to object to
cashless pay or any dilution of the Truck Acts.
Because of the trade-union organisation, and
recognition by the Government of its legitimacy,
workers then had a voice in possible changes to how
they were paid. For example, before imposing
cashless pay, employers, the state and banks would
have to address concerns about the accessibility of
banking.
During the debates over the 1960 Payment of Wages
Act, workers (through the TUC) were able to
determine some of the rules under which they worked
and lived.
That was much less the case in 1986, and even less so
today.
The many collieries in Killamarsh
Coal has been mined in Killamarsh since the 15 th
century.
Killamarsh has a long history as a mining village and
there were many small mines in the 1800s.
The first major mining operation opened at Norwood
resulting in the population of Killamarsh almost
doubling between 1861 and 1871.
Westthorpe and High Moor pits followed and were the
last two remaining, but are now gone, casualties of the
early 1980s pit closure programme.
Here are some of the smaller mines with names you
may recognise.
Comberwood Colliery Soft coal belonging to ESC
Pole Esq was worked by Jonathan Batty and Co. From
1853 to 1861.
Messrs Webster took over the lease from March 1861
to February 1865. Two shafts were sunk in 1852 and
later a pumping pit added.
The Many Pits
in Killamarsh
California • Water Wheel • Norwood
Killamarsh Meadows • Netherthorpe
Nether Moor • Sheepcote Hill • Old Delph
Upperthorpe • Westthorpe • Ashley
Dale • Webster’s • Killamarsh (Turner Ward)
‘Perseverance Colliery’
Mallender’s • Tuke’s
Norburn’s Engine
Hall’s Upperthorpe
Westthorpe • Newland
Bagley • High Moor
16 The History of Mining - Chapter I

The Davy Lamp
Safet has always been an issue for mining om its early days to more recent
mining accidents and catastophes.
The humble miner’s safety lamp is, arguably, one of
the most important inventions of the 1800s. The
industrial revolution saw coal overtake wood as the
most important fuel source for new industries and
cities, with an ever increasing demand driving
production and placing pressure on safe and efficient
extraction. A lamp that could light the way, without
causing a disastrous explosion was as essential a piece
of miner’s equipment as a pick-axe.
As the industrial revolution began to gather pace in the
early 1800s, the demand for coal to fuel steam
powered machines, trains and ships grew at a rapid
rate. Coal mines opened across Britain particularly in
Central and Northern England, South Wales and
Scotland.
Mining was
exhausting, dirty
and dangerous
work. One of the
biggest hazards was
‘firedamp’ – the
name given to the
explosive gases that
lay in between the
layers of coal. In
the early 1800s,
miners used candles
to light their way.
Unsurprisingly, explosions
were all too common, as
the gases were released
and ignited by the naked flames. Something needed to
be done.
One of the biggest advances to mining safety was the
invention in 1815 of the safety lamp by Sir Humphry
Davy, which became known as the ‘Davy lamp’.
The lamp helped to prevent explosions caused by the
presence of methane in the pits. Methane was also
known as ‘firedamp’ and ‘minedamp’. The holes in
the screen around the flame did not allow the fire to
ignite the methane around the lamp. The flames of
the lamp helped to notify miners of the invisible
presence of flammable gases by burning brighter and
with a blue tinge when flammable gases were present.
Regulations were put in place that required all miners
to use the new safety lamps. If they did not, and risked
the safety of everyone in the colliery, they could be
fined or imprisoned. Also, a miner could be
disciplined for failing to operate his lamp safely.
The safety lamp continued to evolve until the electric
cap lamp began to take over in the 1900s.
A Miner’s Snap
When going on their shiſt Weshore miners would take their snap tin with them.
Snap is a word that originally came from mining,
and is a Yorkshire dialect word meaning food, and
a snap tin is a metal container made the same
shape as a slice of bread. It is thought that the
sound of the tin snapping open and shut led to the
food itself being referred to as snap.
The snap tin was used by a miner to carry his
lunch to keep him going during a long shift and
usually contained bread and jam or bread and
dripping. Other types of food were either too
expensive or went off quickly in the hot conditions
underground. Coal dust made the
miners fingers dirty so dirty bread crusts were
usually discarded.
The History of Mining - Chapter I 17

The Underground Front -
Remembering The Bevin Boys
The stor of the Bevin Boys has been largely untold; the many men who spent their
war on the so-called ‘undergound ont’ went unrecogised for almost half a centr.
The story of the Bevin Boys has been largely untold;
the many men who spent their war on the so-called
‘underground front’ went unrecognised for almost half
a century.
At the start of World War II, the UK was highly
dependent on coal, not only to power ships and trains,
but as the main source of energy for electricity
generation. Although output from mines had increased
as the world economy recovered from the Great
Depression, it was in decline again by the time war
broke out in September 1939.
At the beginning of the war, despite mining being a
reserved occupation which exempted those working in
it from military service, this only applied to men aged
30 and over. Many men took advantage of this and
went on to work in other reserved occupations that had
better pay and working conditions, such as munitions
factories.
The Government, underestimating the value of strong
younger coal miners conscripted them into the armed
forces. By mid-1943 the coal mines had lost 36,000
workers and they were generally not replaced because
other likely young men were also being conscripted to
the armed forces or transferred to higher paid war
industries.
Attempts were made to bring them back to mining,
offering a better minimum wage. However, this only
brought back around 500 men, which was not enough
to solve the problem.
Industrial relations were also poor. In the first half of
1942, there were several local strikes over wages across
the county, which also reduced output. In response,
the Government increased the minimum weekly pay to
83 shillings for those over the age of 21 working
underground and established a new Ministry of Fuel,
Light and Power, under the leadership of Gwilym
Lloyd George, to oversee the reorganisation of coal
production for the war effort. In late summer, a bonus
scheme was proposed to reward workers in mines that
exceeded their output targets. These measures
resulted in an increase in production in the second half
of 1942, although volumes were still short of the
tonnage required.
Absenteeism with miners taking time off work as a
result of sickness for example, also rose through the
war from 9.65% in December 1941 to 10.79% and
14.40% in the Decembers of 1942 and 1943
respectively.
By October 1943, Britain was becoming desperate for
a continued supply of coal, both for the industrial war
effort and for keeping homes warm throughout the
winter.
Appeal for volunteers
On 23 June 1941, Ernest Bevin made a broadcast
appeal to former miners, asking them to volunteer to
return to the pits, with an aim of increasing numbers of
mineworkers by 50,000. He also issued a ‘standstill’
order, to prevent more miners being called up to serve
in the armed forces.
On 12 th November 1943, Bevin made a radio
broadcast aimed at sixth-form boys, to encourage
them to work in the mines when they registered for
National Service. He promised the students that, like
those serving in the armed forces, they would be
eligible for the Government’s further education
scheme.
“We need 720,000 men continuously
employed in this industry. This is
where you boys come in. Each one of
you, I am sure, is full of enthusiasm
to win this war. You are looking
forward to the day when you can
play your part with your friends and
brothers who are in the Navy, the
Army, the Air Force …
But believe me, our fighting men will
not be able to achieve their purpose
unless we get an adequate supply
of coal ….
So when you go to register and the
question is put to you “Will you go
into the mines?” let your answer be,
“Yes, I will go anywhere
to help win this war”.
Ernest Bevin 12 November 1943
18 The History of Mining - Chapter I

Conscription
In 1943, four years into World War II the British
government faced a terrible predicament – it was
estimated that there were only three weeks of vital coal
supply left.
With an urgent need for more coal to fuel the war
effort, and unable to attract enough workers to meet this
demand, a large workforce of men was conscripted to
work in the coal mines. Young British men were
conscripted to work in coal mines between
December 1943 and March 1948 to increase the rate
of coal production, which had declined through the
early years of World War II. The programme was
named after Ernest Bevin, the Labour
Party politician who was Minister of Labour and
National Service in the wartime coalition government.
They became known as the Bevin Boys.
On 12 October 1943 Gwilym Lloyd George, Minister
of Fuel and Power, announced in the House of
Commons that some conscripts would be directed to
the mines.
On 2 December 1943 Ernest Bevin explained the
scheme in more detail in Parliament, announcing his
intention to draft 30,000 men aged 18 to 25 by 30
April 1944.
The selection of conscripts
In 1943, Ernest Bevin, drew up plans to create a
conscription scheme to send young men, between the
ages of 18 and 25, down the mines. The men who
were chosen had their National Service number drawn
out of a hat and if it matched the last four digits of their
number, they were sent to work in the mines rather
than serve in the armed forces. To make the process
random, from 14 December 1943 every month for 20
months, one of Bevin’s secretaries drew numbers from
his distinctive Homburg hat. If the number drawn
matched the last digit of a man’s National Service
number, he was directed to work in the mines. This
was with the exception of any selected for highly skilled
war work such as flying planes and in submarines, and
men found physically unfit for mining.
When boys were nearly 18 years old they received an
official notification instructing them to report to a
training centre in five days’ time. They were not
allowed to say ‘No’. The arrival of the envelope
explaining that their ‘number had come up’ changed
the expectations and lives of many young men who
were preparing to join the Services.
This meant that many of the men chosen were not
from areas that had coal mines or probably even knew
what one was. Chosen by lot as ten per cent of all male
conscripts, plus some volunteering as an alternative to
military conscription, nearly 48,000 Bevin Boys
performed vital and dangerous civil
conscription service in coal mines.
Conscripted miners came from many different trades
and professions, from desk work to heavy manual
labour, and included some who might otherwise have
become commissioned officers.
It wasn’t a popular choice for conscripts as 1 in 4 of
those called up appealed the decision and some of
those who still refused were sent to prison for their
protest. Those who were sent to prison didn’t win as
they were still sent to the mines after the end of their
prison sentence. Even though there was defiance
against it, there were also many who chose to work in
the mines on their call up forms.
An appeals process was set up, to allow conscripts the
opportunity to challenge the decision to send them to
the pits, although decisions were rarely overturned. By
31st May 1944, 285 conscripts had refused to serve as
miners, of whom 135 had been prosecuted and 32 had
been given a prison sentence.
However, this caused a lot of upset, as many young
men wanted to join the fighting forces and felt that as
miners they would not be valued.
Training
Whatever way men were called up, they would have
had to pass a medical examination before they could
go on to do their training.
Around 2,300 of them were sent to the Derbyshire and
Nottinghamshire coalfields. Two such training centres
were at Ollerton Colliery in Nottinghamshire and
Creswell Colliery in Derbyshire.
Bevin Boys with no previous experience of mining
were given six weeks' training (four in a classroom-type
setting and two at their assigned colliery). For their
first four weeks of underground work, they were
supervised by an experienced miner. With the
exception of those working in the South Wales
coalfields, the conscripts could not work at the coalface
until they had accrued four months' experience
underground. When compared with the seasoned
miners already working in the mines, many of whom
had been there since they were young teenagers
themselves, the Bevin Boys were viewed with suspicion
for their lack of experience.
For the most part, the Bevin Boys were not directly
involved in cutting coal from the mine face, but acted
The History of Mining - Chapter I 19

Remembering The Bevin Boys (CONT.)
instead as colliers’ assistants, responsible for filling tubs
or wagons and hauling them back to the shaft for
transport to the surface. Conscripts were supplied with
helmets and steel-capped safety boots. After training
was over, they were sent to a colliery in the same
district as their training had taken place. This would
have been anywhere that they were needed. For many
it meant their first experience of the real working
conditions miners dealt with. It was a harsh life, and
many didn’t attend their shifts regularly. It would also
have been hard as they didn’t have their own
accommodation. They were either housed in miners’
hostels or were billeted with local families. Whichever
they used, 25 shillings were deducted out of their wages
to pay towards their upkeep.
The first Bevin Boys began work, having completed
their training, on 14 February 1944.
Pay and Working Conditions
Almost as soon as the first Bevin Boys had reported
for training, there were complaints that their
remuneration (44 shillings per week for an 18-year-old)
was barely sufficient to cover living costs. Some 140
went on strike in Doncaster for two days before their
training had finished. There were also complaints
from experienced miners, who resented the fact that a
21-year-old recruit received the same minimum wage
as they did.
The Attitude to Bevin Boys
Bevin boys suffered from resentment from local
mining families who had seen their own children
drafted into the armed services only to be replaced by
“outsiders”.
As they did not wear uniforms or badges, but the oldest
clothes they could find, being of military age and
without uniform caused many to be stopped by police
and questioned about avoiding call-up. Also there
were accusations by some people that they were
deliberately avoiding military service. Since a number
of conscientious objectors were sent to work down the
mines as an alternative to military service (under a
system wholly separate from the Bevin Boy
programme), there was sometimes an assumption that
Bevin Boys were "Conchies". The right to
conscientiously object to military service for
philosophical or religious reasons was recognised in
conscription legislation, as it had been in the First
World War. However, old attitudes still prevailed
amongst some members of the general public, with
resentment by association towards Bevin Boys.
20 The History of Mining - Chapter I

In 1943 Ernest Bevin
said in Parliament:
There are thousands of cases
in which conscientious objectors,
although they have refused to
take up arms, have shown as
much courage as anyone else
in Civil Defence and in other
walks of life.
Recognition of their contribution
to the war effort
Within a few months of the first Bevin Boys starting
work, there were calls for a badge to be awarded in
recognition of the importance of their national service.
After the war, Bevin Boys received neither medals nor
the right to return to the jobs they had previously held.
Like Forces veterans, they were entitled to participate
in the Government’s Further Education and Training
Scheme, which paid university fees and an annual
means-tested grant to cover living expenses whilst
studying.
The end of the programme
Although the last ballot and intake took place in May
1945 (shortly before VE Day), the final conscripts
were not released from service until March 1948. A
small number stayed in mining after the war, but most
couldn’t wait to leave. Most left for further education
or for employment in other sectors.
They received no service medal, “demob” suit or even
a letter of thanks. Because the official records were
destroyed in the 1950s, former ballotees cannot even
prove their service unless they have kept their personal
documents.
They continue to hold meetings and reunions as well
as attending commemoration services.
And finally - recognition
The role played by the Bevin Boys in Britain’s war
effort was not fully recognised until 1995, 50 years after
VE Day, when Queen Elizabeth II mentioned them in
a speech.
On the 20 th of June, 2007, Tony Blair informed the
House of Commons that thousands of conscripts who
worked in mines during the Second World War would
be awarded a Veterans Badge similar to the HM
Armed Forces Badge awarded by the Ministry of
Defence. The first badges were awarded on 25 th of
March 2008 by the then Prime Minister, Gordon
Brown, at a reception in 10 Downing Street, marking
the 60 th anniversary of the discharge of the last Bevin
Boys.
Former Bevin Boys are now officially allowed to take
part in the Remembrance Day Service on Whitehall.
A Memorial
On the 7 th of May 2013, a memorial to the Bevin Boys,
based on the Bevin Boys Badge, was unveiled by the
Countess of Wessex at the National Memorial
Arboretum at Alrewas, Staffordshire.
The inscription reads "The Bevin Boys were National
Service conscripts, directed to work underground in
British coal mines, providing unskilled labour to
safeguard vital coal production to power the British war
effort and produce coal for the nation."
The memorial was designed by former Bevin Boy
Harry Parkes. It is made of four stone plinths carved
from grey Kilkenny stone. The stone should turn
black over time to resemble the coal that the miners
extracted.
Despite the important contribution of 48,000 Bevin
Boys, they weren’t officially classed as servicemen like
their counterparts in the armed services. Many viewed
them as ‘draft dodgers’ who had worked in mines to
escape army duty, despite that not being the case.
The Bevin Boys Association
It wasn’t until 1989 when the Bevin Boys Association
was created that their effort to keep Britain going
during World War Two began to be recognised. The
Bevin Boys Association was formed with a small
membership of 32 in the Midlands area. By 2009 the
membership had grown to over 1,800 from all over the
United Kingdom and overseas.
Ann Oscroft and Margaret Slack
at the Bevin Boys'
Memorial at the
National Memorial Arboretum
The History of Mining - Chapter I 21

Nationalisation - 1947
The first statte to give the state some element of contol over coal mining was the
Coal Mines Inspection Act of 1850 which set up an inspectorate of coal mines. From then
on, a succession of different goverment deparents were involved in the coal indust.
After the outbreak of the Second World War, there
were severe difficulties in meeting the demand for
energy supplies, and steps were taken to concentrate
responsibility for sources of fuel and power into a
single department. The coal mining industry was
controlled by the Mines Department, under the Board
of Trade, until its abolition in 1942 when all functions
relating to the fuel and power industries were
transferred to a new Ministry of Fuel and Power.
In 1945, as the war came to an end, the government
announced its intention to nationalise coal mining, and
the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 provided
for the nationalisation of the entire industry.
The National Coal Board (NCB) was created to run
the nationalised coal mining industry in the UK. The
NCB was one of a number of public corporations
created by Clement Attlee’s post war Labour
Government to manage nationalised industries. The
Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 received royal
assent on the 12 th of July 1946 and the NCB was
formally constituted on the 15 th of July with Lord
Hyndley as its Chairman.
New Year’s Day 1947, a Wednesday, was “Vesting
Day” – when, for the first time in the coal industry’s
more than 400-year-long history, the vast majority of
the nation’s mines were brought into public ownership.
To mark the occasion, the freshly elected Labour
government under Clement Atlee affixed signs to the
gates of each mine, which read: “This colliery is now
managed by the National Coal Board on behalf of the
people”.
Opencast operations were taken over on the 1 st of
April 1952.
The NCB acquired 958 collieries, the property of
about 800 companies. Compensation of £164,660,000
was paid to the owners for the collieries and
£78,457,000 to former owners and for other assets
such as 55 coke ovens, 85 brickworks and 20
smokeless fuel plants. The collieries it had acquired
varied considerably in size and output. Coal was
mined from seams that varied from 20 to 200 inches
thick and the average pit produced 245,000 tons
annually. More than a third of collieries produced less
than 100,000 tons and 50 collieries produced more
than 700,000 tons.
The Coal Board divided the country into divisions,
corresponding to the major coalfields, and each
division was divided into areas with an output of
approximately 4 million tons. It also took over power
stations at some collieries and railway sidings. It
managed an estate of more than 140,000 houses and
more than 200,000 acres of farmland. At its inception
the NCB employed nearly 800,000 workers which was
four per cent of Britain’s total workforce. Its national
headquarters were in Hobart House in London.
In 1947, about half the collieries were in need of
immediate attention and a development programme
was begun. Between 1947 and 1956, the NCB spent
more than £550 million on major improvements and
new sinkings, much of it to mechanise the process of
underground and by 1957 Britain’s collieries were
producing cheaper coal than anywhere in Europe.
The Plan for Coal produced in 1950 aimed at
increasing output from 184 million to 250 million tons
by 1970.
22 The History of Mining - Chapter I

Competition from cheap oil imports arrived at the end
of the 1950s, and in 1957 the coal industry began to
contract. Between 1958 and 1959, 85 collieries closed.
In 1960, Alf Robens became the Chairman of the
NCB, and he introduced a policy of concentrating on
the most productive pits. During his ten year tenure,
productivity increased by 70%, but with far fewer pits
and a much reduced workforce.
In 1967, the NCB reorganised its structure into 17 new
areas each employing about 20,000 men. In 1956,
700,000 men produced 207 million tons of coal; by
1971, fewer than 290 workers were producing 133
million tons at 292 collieries.
head baths, which had been the exception, became the
norm. Investment in modern machinery led to greatly
increased productivity. Miners became among the
highest paid of workers. However they still had no
power in an industry run by the National Coal Board
(NCB) and local managers. The primary objective of
the NCB was to make profits, not to meet social need.
That nationalisation did not fulfil all the workers’
hopes of public ownership was demonstrated by the
major strikes of 1972, 1974 and 1984.
The 1974 Plan of Coal produced in the aftermath of
the 1972 miners’ strike envisaged that the coal industry
would replace 40 million tons of obsolete capacity and
ageing pits while maintaining its output. By 1983, the
NCB would invest £3,000 million on developing new
collieries.
In 1984, it was alleged that the NCB had a list of
collieries earmarked for closure and its Chairman, Ian
MacGregor, indicated that the board was looking to
reduce output by 4 million tons, a contributory factor
in the 1984-1985 miners’ strike. The strike was one of
the longest and most bitter in history and caused great
suffering for the striking miners. During the strike, the
NCB lost markets and 23 collieries had closed before
the end of 1985.
On the 5 th of March 1987, the Coal Industry Act 1987
received royal assent, signalling the end of the NCB
and the formation of its successor, the British Coal
Corporation.
For the miners, this was the culmination of many years
of struggle for public ownership of their industry.
Nationalisation did improve wages and conditions. Pit
A message A from the Prime Minister Minister
Today, January 1 st 1947, will be remembered as one of the great days in the industrial history of our country.
The Today, coal mines January now belong 1 st 1947, to the will nation. be This remembered act offers great as possibilities one of of the social great advance days for in the the workers,
and indeed the whole nation.
industrial history of our country. The coal mines now belong to the nation.
If This all alike-workers, act offers National great Coal possibilities Board and Government of social shoulder advance their for duties the resolutely workers, and use and their indeed rights
wisely, the whole these great nation. advances will be assured.
I send my wishes to all engaged in this vital work
If all alike-workers, National Coal Board and Government shoulder their duties
C.R. resolutely Attlee and use their rights wisely, these great advances will be assured.
I send my wishes to all engaged in this vital work
C.R. Attlee
The History of Mining - Chapter I 23

Westthorpe Colliery in Pictures
A selection of photogaphs of Weshore Collier over the years - enjoy!!
24 Westthorpe Colliery In Pictures - Chapter II

Westthorpe Colliery In Pictures - Chapter II 25

26 Westthorpe Colliery In Pictures - Chapter II

Westthorpe Colliery In Pictures - Chapter II 27

28 Westthorpe Colliery In Pictures - Chapter II

Westthorpe Colliery In Pictures - Chapter II 29

30 Westthorpe Colliery In Pictures - Chapter II

Westthorpe Colliery In Pictures - Chapter II 31

32 Westthorpe Colliery In Pictures - Chapter II

Westthorpe Colliery In Pictures - Chapter II 33

34 Westthorpe Colliery In Pictures - Chapter II

Westthorpe Colliery In Pictures - Chapter II 35

36 Westthorpe Colliery In Pictures - Chapter II

Westthorpe Colliery In Pictures - Chapter II 37

The History of Westthorpe Colliery -
1923 to 1984
Weshore Collier came into existence in 1923 when a
single shaſt was sunk to the Deep Soſt seam by a local
mining company, J. and G. Wells Ltd.
The company already owned two other mines in the
area, Holbrook and Norwood Collieries, and it was to
Holbrook that the Westthorpe shaft was linked, acting
as an intake airway for a section of the Holbrook
workings.
In later years these roles were reversed when, after
Holbrook Colliery had ceased production in 1944, its
shaft continued in use to provide ventilation to the
Westthorpe workings.
The first sod was cut on the Westthorpe site on St.
Patrick’s Day, 17 th March 1923. Prior to this there had
been three Holbrook shafts sunk in the early 1890s,
and two for the Norwood Colliery in 1866, all to access
coal in the Eckington area.
Between the sinking date and the time of
nationalisation in 1947 the Westthorpe shaft had three
different owners. In 1941 it was taken over from the
Wells Company by the Tinsley Park Colliery
Company who retained it for only three years before
ownership passed to United Steel Companies Ltd. At
about this time the Wells Company itself became part
of the Rother Vale Collieries Group and remained so
until nationalisation.
The depth of the Deep Soft seam to which the
Westthorpe shaft was sunk was 137 metres.
Production started in the seam in 1928 and for the next
23 years the pit won its entire output from that seam
only. From the outset extraction was by the longwall
method of mining.
In 1949 work started on the drivage of two drifts at
gradients of 1 in 4.5 from the Deep Soft pit bottom
into the Thorncliffe seam. As they progressed the
drifts passed through a section of the Parkgate seam
and a decision was taken that this intermediate leaf of
coal should also be worked.
Production from the Parkgate started in 1951.
However, the seam’s potential was limited by faulting
and washouts and it was replaced by the Thorncliffe
seam two years later. From this time output from the
Thorncliffe and the Deep Soft seams continued for
almost 20 years –until 1971 in the Deep Soft and 1972
in the Thorncliffe.
When the reserves in these two teams neared
exhaustion, drifts into the Chavery seam were started in
1968. This
seam was
developed in
1970 and its first
face brought into
service in March
1971. During
the following 12
months the
Thorncliffe and
Deep Soft
seams were
phased out leaving the Chavery as Westthorpe’s only
production seam for the remainder of its life.
Regrettably the quality of the Chavery was never the
same as that of the earlier seams and this was a factor
which weighed heavily when the eventual closure
decision was taken.
In the same year that the cross-measure drifts were
started (1949), the pithead baths, sufficient to
accommodate 1,252 men, and a medical centre were
also constructed. This was a period in which the
comforts of the employees were being improved quite
considerably. For example, in the previous year the
pit’s first manriding system was installed in the Deep
Soft seam. In 1950 a Meco-Moore cutter loader was
introduced to a Deep Soft face and while this might not
be regarded as a ‘comfort’ it certainly made the lot of
the Westthorpe miner a lot easier.
For 11 years after coal production had ceased at the
Holbrook mine, a Holbrook shaft was used to extract
air from the Westthorpe workings. In 1953, however,
work started on the construction of a 1 in 3 drift from
Westthorpe pit bottom to the surface. The drift was
completed in February 1955 and equipped with an
electric ventilating fan which did away with the need for
the Holbrook shaft as a return airway. Nevertheless the
shaft was still retained in use, submersible pumps
installed at the bottom helping to keep the
Westthorpe workings clear of water. It continued to
provide a pumping service for the still active mines to
the east.
At the time of the surface drift construction new
headgear was also elected. The years 1957 to 1959
were important ones in the development of the
underground mechanisation at Westthorpe.
38 Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III

1957 saw the introduction of the pit’s first armoured
face conveyor, followed shortly afterwards by a Shearer
power loader installation on a Thorncliffe seam.
These two items were to become vital pieces of
equipment in British coal mining generally. So were
the trepanner coal cutting machine and the
hydraulically powered coalface roof supports which
were introduced to Westthorpe in 1959.
constructed in the pit bottom while new conveyors
were installed in the main roadways. Afterwards
additional bunkerage was provided in the pit.
Westthorpe’s ground-mounted steam winding engine
was manufactured and installed in 1924 by Lincoln
company, Robey and Co. Ltd. The cost of the
installation was £3,300 plus an extra £70 “for the
services of a skilled man to supervise the erection”.
This rapid updating of coal mining methods required
improvements to the colliery’s system of moving coal
underground and these were brought about in 1965. A
300 tonnes bunker and a new loading point were
1923 to 1927 Henry Burgin
(during sinking)
1927 to 1943 H Kendall
1943 to 1946 E Thompson
Throughout its life the engine was used to wind two
single deck cages through the shaft.
The Managers at Westthorpe Colliery
Nottinghamshire Area 1986,
Deputy Chairman of British
Coal)
1968 to 1970 Joe A Rodgers (transferred from
Alfreton).
1947 to 1960 George Walker
1960 to 1962 Philip Julian Griffiths (transferred
from High Moor, transferred to
Williamthorpe, later Director
South Nottinghamshire, died in
service)
1963 to 1966 Harold Glasby (joined Mavor
and Coulson Ltd)
1966 to 1967 Albert Wheeler (transferred
from High Moor, transferred to
Williamthorpe, later Production
Manager 1969-1973, CME
Deputy Director North
Derbyshire 1973, Director
Scotland August 1980, Director
1970 to 1972 C Arnold Heeley (promoted
from Deputy Manager,
Markham)
1972 to 1975 John H White (transferred from
Glapwell, transferred to Warsop,
later Chief Mining Engineer)
1975 to 1983 Konrad P Hess (transferred
from Ireland)
1983 to 1984 Arnold Vardy (promoted from
Deputy Manager Warsop,
transferred to Whitwell)
1984 Len Edwards (transferred from
Bolsover and was Manager for
Whitwell, also at closure)
H. Kendall
George Walker
Bert Wheeler
Arnold Vardy
1927 - 1943
1947 - 1960
1966 - 1967
1983 - Closure
Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III 39

Westthorpe Collieries Day of Fame
The following is an aricle which appeared in COAL: The Magazine of the Mining
Indust in Volume Nine – Number One – May 1955. Price 4d.
PORTRAIT OF WESTTHORPE COLLIERY Story by Leonard Halls
“One of the most northerly of East
Midland pits, Westthorpe Colliery is
keeping over 1,250 miners busier than
they have been since the pit’s
extraction method was changed in
1951.
During that year Westthorpe ceased
stint-working in favour of continuous
(or ‘composite’) mining, in which
coal is extracted by both the morning
and the afternoon shifts, who also do
ripping, cutting and packing. Rapid
extraction means rapid advance and
development, and a saving, too, in
back-repair work.
“By this system”, says manager
George Walker (in charge eight years
now and formerly under-manager for 12
years), “one of our faces in the Four
Feet seam is being extended by 16
yards a week and by 750 yards a
year. The coal is water-infused
during getting. Roof support
includes the use of 5,000 Dowty
props. Output is about 11,000 tons a
week, OMS 33 cwts. The eventual
increase hoped for is 15,000 tons
weekly.” (The pit’s present record
stands at 12,197 tons in a week of
October, 1952). “Recent additional
men-and-materials haulage
improvements – with other reorganisation
– should raise OMS to 35
cwts. None of our men would go back
to stint working now – we’ve put an
end to that monotony.”
Continuous mining is also of
advantage to the older men in the 46
man face teams. If the more
strenuous jobs become a little too
much for them, they can still play a
useful, if less strenuous, part in
the team. This is especially
valuable in a colliery like
Westthorpe, where more than 100 men
are between 60 and 70.
Among the development is a new
loading point installed May 1954,
dealing with 300 tons an hour on
one-ton tubs (instead of 13 cwt
tubs). When present man-riding by
10 eight-seater Metro-Vick cars drawn
by endless rope was extended (by
early March, it was hoped), the men
would be riding nearer their working
units.
A 530-yard ventilation drift from the
Flockton seam has just been
completed, after 13 months work.
Rising 1-in-3, the drift is supported
by 14 ft. by 12 ft arches set at
every yard. (The arches were lifted
from the supply point and
transported to pithead by the
‘Matbro’ mechanical lifter, which
was also used to convey the new
one-ton tubs across the colliery yard
to the shaft).
At the top of the drift a new fan –
made by James Howden Ltd., of
Scotland, to a Dutch design believed
to be the only one of its type in the
coalfields – is of 425 h.p., with a
capacity of 250,000 cu.ft.
On the surface, new headgear
erection completed during the August
holidays was not allowed to impede
production; the new headgear was
built around the old (smaller) one
which it replaced.
Westthorpe has an extensive plan for
the better disposal of its
pit-dirt. Instead of adding to the
colliery tip, the debris will be used
to fill a shallow valley near the
colliery. The dirt will be carried
along an extension of the screen
conveyor to a 400-ton capacity bunker
recently built by Simon-Carves Ltd.
From the bunker the dirt will be
taken as required in ten-ton dumper
trucks which will deposit it in the
valley and level and pack. Sinking
of foundations for the steel pylons,
on which the screen conveyor will be
extended to the bunker, was completed
by April. Whilst this work was being
done, the good top-soil of the valley
was being lifted and set aside in
preparation for the dumping of the
40 Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III

debris. When all levelling has been
completed, the top-soil will be
replaced.
Colliery development at Westthorpe,
excluding the valley dumping scheme,
is expected to cost £250,000.
The pit’s St John’s Ambulance
Division, 80 strong, is the largest
in an area well-known for its active
ambulance work. The colliery manager
is superintendent of the men’s
section; superintendent of the 50
cadets is Renishaw time office member,
Superintendent J. Walpole.
Instructor (for 30 years) is
Westthorpe safety officer George
Parkin.
The colliery sports club has soccer,
cricket, angling, golfing, bowls and
pigeon sections.
Each Westthorpe man makes a voluntary
payment of 6d. When need arises to
enable a single payment of £4 to be
made to each sick or injured miner
away from work for ten weeks. Since
1947, when this scheme started,
£1,356 has been paid out.
By voluntary levy Westthorpe men
also send some 300 old miners and
their wives to Rhyl miners’ holiday
camp, and some 600 to the similar
camp at Skegness, at reduced
prices.
For their paraplegics, Westthorpe men
make a weekly stoppage from pay of
1d. to provide a fortnight’s holiday
for each patient. Last year also
each paraplegic’s wife was given a
washing-machine.
Westthorpe miners are keen, too, on
their band: the Killamarsh Welfare
Prize Band, of 22 miner-players,
including a 10-man dance orchestra.
With its vigour in development, its
strong interest in welfare and
sport, this pit is a well-balanced
unit.
It is not surprising that since 1943
there has been no stoppages through
disputes – which have always been
settled at pit level by discussion
between management and men.”
The Record Breakers
Production Records
The highest tonnage ever mined in
one year at Westthorpe Colliery
was 613,519 tonnes in the financial
year 1970/71.
But even in that year the colliery was
unable to lift its best weekly tonnage
record that had been established four
years earlier.
In the week before Christmas of 1966
the Westthorpe miners brought to the
surface 16,509 tonnes – no mean
achievement by any standards.
In more recent times the pit’s coalface
output records were established. During
a week in November 1981 V53s face
produced 10,695 tonnes, an all-time best for a Westthorpe face. Then less than 12 months later, the same
coalface broke its own record by producing 11,405 tonnes during a week in September 1982. This record held
top place in the coal industry’s national production league for no less than 12 successive months.
Westthorpe’s best annual overall productivity rate was achieved in 1975/76 with 3.95 tonnes per manshift.
However, the pit’s weekly overall output per manshift record was achieved in March 1979 at 5.12 tonnes.
Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III 41

The Pit Mascot
Charley the Swan settled on the Westthorpe Colliery
reservoir in 1952 with an injured wing and was adopted
as the pet of the pit and the Pit Manager was
particularly fond of Charley.
He had the freedom of the pit but accepted special
attention only from surface electrician Mr L. Palmer.
Charley the Swan is
pictured in May 1955
with Linton Palmer,
Westthorpe Surface
Electrician.
Jane Hayes remembers Charley
“My father Vic Green worked at Westthorpe and
remembered Charley well. The swan was very tame
and would come when his name was called.
Poor Charley met his end in the yard; I believe he got
run over.”
Graham Dobson
“I remember Charley well. I think the gentleman was
the man in charge of the Electricians on the pit top.
The pit Manager was Mr Walker and the first question
he asked when he into the pit yard was “How is
Charley?”
Alas, Charley was run over by a lorry driver who was
instantly sacked by the Manager. This is very true.”
Malc Henery
“I remember getting out on twilight early in the
morning and fishing in the pond.”
Tom Simpson
“My wife Marj’s Dad was always talking about Charley
the Swan.”
Dave Brookfield
“I remember going to see Charley with my Uncle Billy
who worked in the Lamp Cabin.”
Philip Nutall
“Linton Palmer was Surface Electrician at Westthorpe.
He was my friend Mick Palmer’s Dad. They lived at
Low Common (near Barber’s row).
He had a bike with no chain that he rode to work every
day. It had no chain as he said the hills were too steep
to ride up, but it was very fast downhill!
He was very proud to have served in the Long Range
Desert Group during the war (later part of the SAS).”
The Pit Hooter
The Westthorpe Colliery hooter (or hummer as many
knew it) is fondly remembered and played an
important part in the life of the pit and the village.
The hooter was made by Crosby-Steam in the USA
(www.crosby-steam.com) who also made whistles for
steam ships and liners. Various versions were also
used on American steam locomotives. Steam was
supplied by the Lancashire boilers at 140 psi. It was
cylindrical, was made of gunmetal and was 20” in
height and 6” in diameter.
Margaret Marshall
Henrietta
Nettleship
“I used to open
the landing
window on New
Year’s Eve and
hold the phone
so that Ian, my
son in the USA,
could hear the
hummer blow.”
It was operated by steel wire rope from inside the
winding engine house and it was blown at the beginning
of each shift on every working day.
There are many fond memories of hearing the hooter.
David Dennis
“The pit hummer was as much a part of New Year’s
Eve as the fireworks in London. I remember our Dad
waiting outside with his piece of coal for the hummer
to sound. Dad then knocked on the door reciting “Old
year out, New Year in, Open the door and let me in.
After putting the coal on the fire and a tot of whiskey
the New Year had arrived.”
“I remember the Westthorpe hooter. You could set
your clock by it. Martin Burr always let the New Year
in with it.”
42 Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III

The Much Needed Pit Head Baths
Before pithead baths became widely available, most coal miners, already exhausted om
a day's work had lile choice but to tavel home om work still filthy with coal dust.
Their clothing was oſten soaking with sweat and water and they were at risk om
contacting pneumonia, bronchitis or rheumatism.
Once home they had the task of removing as much of
the dirt as possible in a tin bath in front of the fire.
The women of the house were usually responsible for
the heating of water for the miner's bath and the
cleaning and drying of his clothes. In addition it was a
constant battle to clean the house from the allprevailing
coal dust. This was never ending and back
breaking work and exhaustion and physical strain often
led to serious health problems.
social wellbeing, recreation and working conditions.
This fund gained its income through a levy of a penny
on every ton of coal mined. The fund was used for
various purposes including the provision of playing
fields, swimming pools, libraries, and institutes. From
1926, an additional levy was raised specifically to fund
a baths building programme.
During the period the Miners' Welfare Fund was in
existence, from 1921 to 1952, over 400 pithead baths
were built in Britain. The Miners' Welfare
Committee's own architects' department established the
most cost-effective way of constructing, equipping and
operating baths buildings and by the 1930s a ‘house
style’ had developed.
The limited resources available to the Miner’s Welfare
Committee meant that some collieries were not
provided with baths until the 1950s. After the
nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947 the
provision of pithead baths became the responsibility of
the National Coal Board.
Westthorpe Colliery saw the arrival of their Pit Head
baths in 1949.
The baths stood out amongst other colliery buildings,
with their flat roofs, clean lines and the plentiful use of
glass to give a natural light and airy feel and they were
fitted out with lockers and showers.
PHB soap was used in the Pit Head Baths which was
made from animal fat. Miners could buy PHB soap
and a towel from the attendant.
It took considerable lobbying by social reformers,
working under the banner of the 'Pithead Baths
Movement', to convince the Government, mine owners
and even some of the miners and their wives, that
pithead baths were needed. From the initial campaigns
of the 1890s it was a long, hard struggle to the
establishment in 1926 of a special fund for the building
of baths under the auspices of the Miners' Welfare
Committee.
In 1919 the British Government established a Royal
Commission, (the Sankey Commission), to investigate
social and living conditions in the coalfields. As a
result a 'Miners' Welfare Fund' was set up to improve
Many men initially refused to shower at
work, feeling it was inappropriate to bath
outside the home in front of others, but the
benefits of pithead baths for miners’ wives
were immense.
No longer would they have to battle against
the constant influx of coal dust being
brought into the home by dirty miners,
which attracted cockroaches.
The baths also saved women from boiling and
carrying gallons of water at the end of each
shift, and cut down the number of children
in the home from falling into scalding water.
Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III 43

Westthorpe Colliery Canteen
The hear of Weshore Collier was the Canteen where the miners were fed and watered.
Of course the men brought their snap with them, but they could get a meal or snack om
the Canteen, especially if they were doing over-time.
One of the most requested items was one Park Drive
and two matches to smoke before starting their shift, as
they weren’t allowed to take them down the pit.
There was a great community spirit amongst the
miners and canteen staff with lots of banter and fun.
Brenda Wooding, Canteen Lady at
Westthorpe gives us her memories
“I enjoyed working in the Canteen at Westhorpe
Colliery. It was an early start in the morning but I got
used to it. The men were jovial and they sort of
looked after us. I worked with Kath Wood who was
Manageress, together with Joyce Deakin, Margaret
Royston, Martine Jean and Gladys Hill.
We started work at 4.45 am and opened at 5.00 am
until 2.00 pm and then the next shift came on at 2.00
pm until 10.30 pm.
The Time and Wages Office
We cooked breakfasts and beans on toast and there
were pasties, pastries and sandwiches and if anyone was
working overtime we did a pack-up. But the main
thing which was asked for was one Park Drive and two
matches and ½ oz Twist.
I was the last canteen lady at Westthorpe. They were
good days and it was a close community. It was sad
when it closed and it’s sad that we will never see those
days again.”
The Time and Wages Office featred in the working lives of all the men at Weshore Collier
From checking in and checking out for their shifts, to
collecting their wages at the end of the week, to
dealing with their queries about holiday pay, sick pay
and entitlements.
This meant that everyone knew those who worked in
the Time and Wages Office who they came across on
a daily basis.
David Clayton, who started work in The
Time Office in 1964 gives us his memories
“When I started work in the Time Office in 1964 my
work colleagues were Eric Marshall, Albert Mantle,
Bernard Watson, George Cartwright, John Mills,
David Shimwell and Mick Smith. In the Wages
Department were Vic Brown, Fred Wood, and Pat
Plumber.
We would work a three shift rota, two on day shift,
one on afternoon shift and one on nights. We would
book everyone in on whatever their job description
was. Faceworkers, men working ‘elsewhere
underground and surface workers who would get paid
accordingly.
Men working down the mine had their own two checks
– a square one going down the mine, a round one on
returning to the surface. At the end of shift the surface
workers would have a clocking in and out card.
As time went on the Wages Department and Time
Office combined into the Time and Wages Office
which was responsible for booking the employees
starting and finishing times and, as employees did
different types of work they would be paid
accordingly, from working on the coal face to working
at the pit bottom, and also surface workers as well as
issuing checks for underground workers and clocking
in and out cards for surface workers.”
A memory from Terry Mead about his
pit check
“I worked at Westthorpe pit and remember going for
my checks.
Eric would say five to three Terry, because my check
number was 255. This has brought back some happy
memories for me. Good old days.”
44 Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III

The Telephone Exchange
The success of a coal mine relied on increasing production,
reducing operational costs and also improving safet.
This meant it was important to have effective two-way
communications.
While safety improved over the years, mining accidents
were still relatively frequent.
Accidents could happen in terms of the failure in
construction as well as exposure to harmful gases,
oxygen starvation, heat and dust.
The telephone exchange at Westthorpe Colliery
played a very important part in the communication in
the working life of the pit and the men who worked
there.
It was a vital tool in people being able to communicate
with each other during the working day, be it either
between departments and staff, but importantly
between the surface and underground.
The men working in the telephone exchange did a vital
job and would come under pressure if there was an
accident or incident
which happened quite
often.
had a pencil pushed behind his right ear, which was
used for many tasks, it was a finger to dial numbers, it
was obviously used for writing with and on numerous
occasions was used to stir Dad’s welcome mug of tea
after a particularly hectic shift.
On my many visits to the Colliery when Dad had sent a
message home for our Joan, that’s me, to bring him
some more ‘snap’ – packed lunch as it’s called now, we
knew it spelt heartache for some people and a longer
than average shift for Dad.
Sad times for a number of people, but for me happy
memories as I can still see in my mind’s eye my Dad
standing at the Telephone Exchange door waving me
off and then watch him turn around and go back to his
important and worthwhile job.”
Ken Mantle at the door to
the telephone exchange at
Westthorpe Colliery where
he worked.
Joan Talbot remembers
her father working in the
Telephone Exchange at
Westthorpe Colliery.
“My late father was Ken
Mantle who, along with
his colleagues, worked in
what I believe to be the
nerve centre of
Westthorpe Colliery
and that was the
Telephone Exchange.
It seemed to me in my
younger days that Dad
would be at the forefront
when there was any
coalface accidents,
co-ordinating telephone
calls in and out of
the Colliery.
I can hear him even now
in his best telephone
manner saying “Good
Morning, Westthorpe.”
I remember he always
Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III 45

Check it out!
The History of the Pit Check
All ex miners remember their pit checks and their check number. Many still have their
checks as a keepsake of their time as a miner, and they are one of the most popular
mining objects collected by both museums and the general public.
The use of pit checks is believed to have commenced
in Britain circa 1860 and became mandatory in 1913
after an amendment to the 1911 Coal Miners Act.
It was noticed that after mining disasters had occurred
that it was impossible to know exactly how many men
remained underground in a stricken mine. Men were
deployed underground and miners were sent home if
they were not required. It was normal to go around to
the houses of miners and ask who had not returned
from work. A system of brass checks were devised to
allow the miners to be traced.
Pit checks informed Colliery management of who was
in work but they were vital when rescue services
needed to know how many men were actually
underground during an incident such as a fire or
explosion.
Early check systems usually employed a single check
for each underground worker, which was usually taken
home at the end of the shift. At the start of the shift
the check was handed to the lamp man and exchanged
for a safety lamp stamped with the same number as on
the check. At the end of the shift the miner handed his
lamp in and retrieved his check either from the lamp
man or from a ‘tally board’.
A tally was kept by giving each miner two pit checks.
These were metal tags, often made of brass and
stamped with an identification number. From 1947
onwards the checks were also stamped "NCB" and this
can be a useful clue when trying to date them.
When the miner went down the mine, he left one
check with the banksman, and took the other check
with him. At the end of his shift, the miner would
return the check he had taken, which would then be
matched up against the one the banksman had kept. In
this manner the banksman would know when all of the
miners were back safely on the surface.
The three check or tally system
Check systems varied between coal fields and altered
over time and by the 1970s a three check system (safety
check system) became common. In this system each
underground worker was issued with three checks,
often of different shapes and sizes.
Three checks or tallies were made for each miner and
the checks were marked with the miner’s individual
number. The square check was given to the banksman
before entering the mine. He then sent them over to
the Time Office on the trunk bundle system (like the
Co-op used to send the money upstairs in their stores)
and placed on a board that indicated that were in the
mine.
The round check was given to the banksmen on
leaving the mine. This was also sent to the Time
Office to say that you were out of the mine.
The triangular check could be shown to the wages
clerk to get your pay packet and as a way of indicating
you were employed by the Coal Board whilst on Coal
Board transport.
After nationalisation, checks were stamped ‘National
Coal Board; and often the individual division as well.
They were usually made of brass. They came in a
variety of shapes including square, round, oval,
hexagonal and octagonal.
A similar system was used by Mines Rescue during
incidents. This was similar to the three check system,
but predated it. In this system a red plastic disc was
handed into the lamp room, a yellow plastic disc to the
banksman and a copper disc was worn around the
neck during the time the rescue man was
underground.
Other types of checks were also issued in the mining
industry such as those used for shot firing, canteens,
pithead baths and bus and train passes. The mining
trade unions also issued checks in various forms to
show a member had paid his contributions. Mining
institutes and public houses in mining areas also issued
beer checks on various occasions.
The use of pit checks continued into the 1980s/1990s
when they were eventually replaced by the introduction
of electronic swipe cards.
Stuart Marshall, Electrician at
Westthorpe Colliery in the 70s and 80s
remembers the Pit Checks
I remember three different checks were used. They
were square, round and triangular. They were all
stamped with the check number for the miner as well
as being embossed with the name of the Colliery.
46 Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III

The square and round checks were used every time the
miner went underground and were collected from the
Time Office. They served a dual purpose -
timekeeping and safety. The miner then went onto the
pit bank to go underground.
As he got onto the chair to go down the shaft, the
square check was handed to the Banksman. The
Banksman would then send the square checks over to
the Time Office in a container to show that the miner’s
shift had started and that he was now underground.
The Time Office Clerk would put the square checks
onto a board which showed all the miners
underground at any one time. This board of checks
would then be used in case of any emergency to see
who was still underground.
The triangular check was used as identification by the
miner to collect his wage packet from the Wages
Office.
Terry Mead was a miner at
Westthorpe Colliery and remembers
collecting his Pit Checks from the
Time Office
“I was a Miner at Westthorpe Pit and remember going
into the Time Office for my checks.
Eric Marshall would.say ‘Five-to-three Terry’ - because
my check number was 255. Happy days.”
The miner would keep the round check on
his person, usually on a clip on his belt.
The round check served two purposes.
a) In an emergency the round check could
be used to identify the miner by the number
on the check.
b) When the miner came out of the mine,
usually at the end of the shift, he would
hand over the round check to the Banksman.
As with the square check at the start of the
shift, the Banksman sent the checks over to
the Time Office.
The Time Office Clerk would match the check
number with the one on the board.
Both checks were then put onto a board
containing all the checks for miners not
underground, ready for use on the miner’s
next shift. This then showed that the miner
was no longer underground.
Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III 47

Derbyshire Miners Holiday Camps -
A good time was had by all!
To many of you, past holidays would have been to the
Derbyshire Miners’ Holiday Camps in Skegess and Rhyl.
The Derbyshire Miners' Holiday Camp at Skegness
on the east coast of England, was opened in May 1939,
to provide an annual holiday for Derbyshire coal
miners and their families. It was seen as a pioneering
venture and was part of a broad range of welfare
benefits provided by a national Miners' Welfare
Scheme established in the 1920s. The camp enabled
miners and their families to have a week's holiday by
the sea. For many of the miners and their families, a
week at the camp at Skegness was their first holiday
away from home and, for some, the first time they had
seen the sea.
The Miners' Welfare Fund was a national fund and
had its origins in the Mining Industry Act, 1920, which
imposed on mine-owners a welfare levy on coal
production, initially of a penny a ton. The fund was
administered by the Miners' Welfare Committee
consisting of representatives of mine-owners, mineworkers
and some independent members. Pit-head
baths, miners' institutes, canteens, recreation grounds,
health services and educational activities were all
supported by the fund. In the 1920s the miners
campaigned for an annual holiday with pay and, in the
1930s, a Holiday Savings Scheme started which
enabled Derbyshire pits to close for a week in the
summer with a guaranteed payment to each miner.
Most of the holiday money was contributed by the men
as savings from their pay, with the colliery owners
providing a smaller contribution.
Its creation owed much to the campaigning work of the
trade unions, Derbyshire Miners’ Association and, in
particular, to the inspiration of Henry Hicken, one of
the Derbyshire Miners' leaders.
Derbyshire miner, Henry Hicken, was instrumental in
campaigning for miners' welfare benefits, including the
holiday camp and the annual holiday scheme, and he
was appointed to the Welfare Committee in 1938.
Born at North Wingfield, Derbyshire, in 1882, Henry
Hicken left school at the age of twelve to work
underground at Pilsley colliery as a pony lad earning
10d a shift, in pre-decimalisation money, or 4 pence in
post-decimalisation money. In 1912 he was elected
checkweighman at Williamthorpe Colliery and became
Secretary of the Williamthorpe branch of the
Derbyshire Miners' Association. Later, Henry was
elected to the National Executive of the Miners'
Federation of Great Britain, the forerunner of the
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). In 1942 he
joined the Ministry of Fuel and Power and when the
Industry was nationalised in 1947 he became Labour
Director of the East Midlands Division of the National
Coal Board (NCB). During his early years as a miner
and miners' leader, Henry Hicken also ran an average
of six study groups a week as well as being an
outstanding Methodist lay preacher.
The camp was built on part of the nine acres of land at
Winthorpe in Skegness bought in 1925 by the
Derbyshire Miners' Association initially for the purpose
of building a miners' convalescence home overlooking
the sea and with direct access to the beach. The
convalescence home, or "Con Home" as it was called
by the miners, was opened in 1928 accommodating
120 men and 30 women. Prior to that convalescence
for Derbyshire miners was provided in rented
accommodation in Skegness. The funds for the
purchase of the site were raised by the local union
branch committees from galas and dances. Some ten
years later, a grant of £40,000 from the Miner's
Welfare Fund and various contributions from the coalowners,
enabled the holiday camp to be built next to
the convalescence home.
In 1939 a convalescent home and adjoining holiday
camp was opened by the Derbyshire Miners
Association to provide cheap holidays to its 40,000
members and their families from the Derbyshire
coalfields, and was non-profit making.
Developing the Camp
In the winter and spring of 1939 men from Vic Hallam
Ltd built the camp with the aid of wooden panels prefabricated
at the company's site in Heanor, Derbyshire.
Initially the camp consisted of some 73 large wooden
chalets each divided into four separate rooms
providing basic sleeping accommodation for four
married couples. Flanking the married couples' chalets
were rows of 115 so-called "cubicles" for teenagers and
single adults. Along the sea front were a series of large
communal wooden buildings housing a children's
theatre, lounge and billiards room. Young children
were accommodated in a communal dormitory,
originally a wooden building overlooking the sea front,
and then later replaced by a brick block. Just behind
the main entrance to the camp was the largest wooden
building of all, which housed the main reception area,
dining hall and concert hall. Joseph Lynch, the then
secretary to the Derbyshire Miners' Association, gave
48 Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III

this description of one of the original chalets: "There is
provided a double bed which during the daytime may
be folded back to the wall and obscured by a curtain,
leaving a spacious sitting-room with two chairs and a
table. A built-in wardrobe is provided and a wash bowl
with water laid on. The floor is covered by a central
carpet. The window and bed curtains and bedspread
are being merged in a general colour scheme for each
chalet expressive of the holiday spirit.”
Initially the Camp consisted of 73 large wooden
chalets each divided into four separate rooms
providing basic sleeping accommodation for four
married couples. Flanking these chalets were rows of
115 so-called cubicles for teenagers and young
children were accommodated in a communal
dormitory.
The Derbyshire Miner's Welfare Holiday Centre at
Skegness was officially opened on 20 May 1939, by
Sir Frederick Sykes, the Chairman of the Miners'
Central Welfare Committee. At the opening
ceremony he said: "I do not think there is any other
non-profit making camp of the kind in the country.
It is a pioneer venture which is being watched with
close interest. When we remember that there are some
3,000,000 people in the mining community who are
affected by the holidays with pay scheme this year, we
can appreciate the importance of the lead which is
being given here today."
The 1953 Floods
In the early spring of 1953, raging seas brought
widespread flooding and devastation to many parts
of the Lincolnshire coast, including Skegness. There
was little damage to the camp buildings thanks
mainly to the sandbag walls hastily constructed by the
miners bussed in overnight from Derbyshire.
Warnings were given on Friday evening and by
Saturday the North Derbyshire NUM Treasurer,
Herbert Dilks, had organised busloads of more than
100 men from the three Markham Collieries to help
save the camp.
The 1956 Hungarian Uprising
The camp provided temporary accommodation for
refugees following the Hungarian uprising in 1956. By
Christmas of that year the camp housed around 900
male refugees, many of them recruited in Vienna by
the National Coal Board (NCB) for the sum of £8 and
6d per week. A member of staff, Jean Ellis, described
Christmas Day lunch at the camp in 1956 as being a
very moving occasion as the refugees rose to their feet,
en-masse, to sing the Hungarian National Anthem.
New Facilities
In 1949 fire destroyed the dining hall, kitchens and
concert hall, though most of the other buildings
survived, including the chalets. By this time Henry
Hicken's influence had now been overshadowed by
that of Derbyshire union leader, Bert Wynn, who
persuaded the trustees, despite objections from
Hicken, to seek an alcohol sales licence for the camp.
The new facilities to replace those destroyed by the
fire, were built of steel and brick, and included several
bars serving alcohol. The new facilities were opened in
July 1951 by Viscount Lord Hyndley at an official
opening ceremony followed by a grand reception in the
new theatre.
Also in the early 1950s, a purpose-built block was
constructed in brick next to the old "Con Home" to
provide facilities for the many paraplegic miners who
had been injured underground. This Paraplegic Block,
or "Para Block" as it was called by the miners
themselves, was replaced by improved facilities for
paraplegic miners in the 1970s. In the late 1950s and
early 1960s, all the original wooden structures
throughout the whole camp were gradually replaced by
brick buildings as new facilities and features were
added. In 1960 an open-air heated swimming pool was
built and later an indoor heated swimming pool, sauna
and health facilities were added. Eventually, additional
land was purchased for providing more car parking and
sports facilities.
In 1975 a new building complex consisting of the
Drifters Club, supermarket, amusement arcade, disco
and snack bar was opened by Lawrence Daley,
General Secretary of the National Union of
Mineworkers (NUM). The following year saw the
addition of a complex of self-catering flats, opened by
Joe Gormley, President of the NUM.
Entertainment
In the 1940s, and early 1950s, much of the
entertainment was organised by the miners
themselves and involved simple activities and
competitions such as "Ideal Holiday Girl", talent
shows, treasure hunts, donkey races, tug a war,
knobbly knees, darts, and football. The more
unusual activities included competitions to establish
who could sit on stage the longest without laughing,
and who could sew the quickest and neatest patch
on someone's backside. Towards the end of each
season, for competitions such as the Ideal Holiday
Girl and the Adult Talent Contest, the winners of
each particular week throughout the season
competed in the Grand Finals Weekend.
After the early 1950s, entertainment at the camp
became less participative and increasingly involved
professional stage acts and eventually included
high-profile performers such as Mike and Bernie
Winters, Rosemary Squires, Tony Melody,
Cy Grant, Lance Percival, Donald Peers,
Kenny Ball and Tommy Cooper.
Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III 49

Derbyshire Miners Holiday Camps
The Camp Closes
The Derbyshire Miners’ Camp in Skegness finally
closed in the late 1990s, following the demise of the
coal mining industry and the continued growth in the
availability of affordable holidays in Spain and
elsewhere. The land is now mostly occupied by
touring and static caravans and known as Skegness
Sands. The convalescent home still exists as a hotel
and is now owned by the Coal Industry Social Welfare
Organisation (a registered charity), and many miners’
families still enjoy holidays at the site today.
The Derbyshire Miners’
Holiday Camp in Rhyl
Of course, there was also a Derbyshire Miners’
Holiday Camp in the seaside resort of Rhyl. This
similar, but smaller, camp for Derbyshire miners and
their families was opened after World War 2, in Rhyl
on the north coast of Wales. The Camp was situated
on Marsh Road in Rhyl.
In 1949 the site was taken over by the Coal Industry
Social Welfare Organistion (CISWO), and it was
developed using the holiday centre in Skegness as a
model.
Of course, many people have fondly remember their
holidays at the Derbyshire Miners’ Holiday Camps in
Skegness and Rhyl.
Lancaster Wood).
We were so naughty xx
It was great, get rid of the kids, go to the pub or a show,
then to the nightclub. All the while your kids were
tucked up in bed, looked after by friendly staff and
playing with their school friends.
Paul Whitham
Yes, I remember. Good times.
(CONT.)
Sarah Whitham
Carol Lancaster Wood
Sheila Taylor
Dad told me the deep end (of the pool) didn’t have a
bottom. Scared me enough to stay in the shallow end.
Jon Lawson
We went to both Skeggy and Rhyl camps. Super
holidays and yes, the dormitories!! Don’t remember
the swimming pool though. Maybe not there in the
early fifties. Also went to the St John’s Ambulance
Brigade in the Spring and Autumn.
Anne Powell
Yes, it was a great time. Been many times even
sleeping in the dormitory they were the best times ever.
Happy days. All the miners paid weekly out of their
wages. Waiting for the buses – when we saw the
windmill we knew we were nearly there, everybody was
happy.
June Matthews
Had some brilliant holidays at Skegness and Rhyl
holiday camps. Me and my Dad going down to Linga
Longa for his morning paper and a cup of tea. The
entertainment for everyone both day and night was
special and as kids we thoroughly took it all in. Happy
family memories.
Allan Dopson
I can remember the slide and the changing rooms and
the colour. Loved it.
Kelvin Collins
Here are just a few of
their memories ……………..
I remember going to both of the Camps with the St
John’s Ambulance Brigade to close them down at the
end of the season.
Peter David Tongue
Yes, I remember going here as a child when our
parents dropped us off every night to sleep in a dorm
while parents went out partying and picked us up in the
morning (with Paul Whitham and Carol
A memory I have is, I was in the paddling pool and I
got a piece of glass in my foot. A very kind man picked
me up onto his shoulders and carried me to the first
aid room. On the way we had to go through an
archway where they had built some new double deck
chalets. I think he had forgotten me on his shoulders
and ended up cracking my forehead on the top of the
arch and I ended up with a cut head as well as a
bandaged foot. Safe to say I didn’t go paddling
anymore and when we went back the following year the
paddling pool had been filled in, and I haven’t been
back since.
Tom Simpson
50 Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III

The Miss Westthorpe Competition
Like all other Collieries in Derbyshire, ever year Weshore would choose their Miss Weshore.
Like all other Collieries in Derbyshire, every year
Westthorpe would choose their Miss Westthorpe.
Each year Miss Westthorpe would go on to
compete in the Ideal Holiday Girl finals at the
Derbyshire Miners’ Holiday Centre in Skegness
at the Finals Weekend where the winners of the
weekly competitions met to compete for the various
awards.
In 1962 there were 16 competitiors for the title and
Miss Westthorpe that year was Jean Hallowes (now
Brookes). Although Jean wasn’t successful in winning
the competition she did Westthorpe Colliery proud.
Miss Bolsover, Hazel Hoskin, aged 16, was the winner
and she won the Waleswood Trophy, the Derbyshire
Times silver compact, £25 to spend on clothes and a
week’s free holiday at the Centre.
The West End Hotel
The West End Hotel on Weshore Road was the
local for the Miners om Weshore Collier and
still continues to be popular and successfl today.
Ian Gallagher – the Landlord at the pub gives us his
memories of when the miners were among his
customers.
Jean Hallowes (now Brookes) - pictured left on the
second row at the Ideal Holiday Girl competition final
at the Derbyshire Miners Holiday Centre in Skegness
in 1962.
“Westthorpe Colliery provided jobs for people living
in Killamarsh and nearby.
My Mother and Father took over the running of the
West End pub 50 years ago, and I took over from
them 31 years ago. The West End was always the local
pub for the miners at Westthorpe pit.
My memories are of the miners coming in to the pub
at the end of the shifts.
In the afternoon they would come in at 2 o’clock after
they finished the morning shift and they came in at 10
o’clock at night often saying could you pull so many
pints for the miners who were coming in after their
showers before closing time at 10.30 pm.
The 10.30 closing time for pubs was kept to in those
days.
The pub was always busy with miners coming in to play
darts, dominoes and cards.
They worked hard and enjoyed their time off.”
Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III 51

The Derbyshire Miners
Convalescent Home
A convalescent home was established in Skegness in
the late nineteenth century by the Derbyshire
businessman Edward Terah Hooley for miners in
Ilkeston. It was later taken over by the Derbyshire
Miners' Association who secured support for the home
from colliery owners and miners throughout
Derbyshire.
In 1925 the Derbyshire Miners’ Association bought
nine acres of land at Winthorpe in Skegness for the
purpose of building a miners’ convalescent home
overlooking the sea and with direct access to the beach,
and eventually a new convalescent home was built in
1928, providing accommodation for 120 men and 30
women.
Protestors made a last-ditch attempt to save the iconic
building - which had been a holiday retreat in
Winthorpe used by Derbyshire miners recovering
from illness for 90 years – but found they were locked
out with security manning the gates when they arrived.
Information listed by the Charity Commission, up to
December 31, 2017, stated that CISWO’s income was
£3.7m and expenditure was £4.6m.
Prior to that convalescence for Derbyshire miners was
provided in rented accommodation in Skegness.
The Con Home, so named by the miners, not only
provided convalescence for working miners but also
for retired miners and the relatives of mining families.
Its creation owed much to the campaigning work of the
trades union, the Derbyshire Miners’ Association and,
in particular, to the inspiration of Harry Hicken,
Derbyshire miner and union man.
In the early 1950s a purpose-built block was
constructed in brick next to the old Convalescent
Home to provide facilities for the many paraplegic
miners who had been injured underground. The
Paraplegic Block, or Para Block as it was called, was
itself replaced and improved for the paraplegic miners
in the 1970s. The Convalescent Home continued to be
run by the Coal Industries Social Welfare
Organisation (CISWO) to provide a restful break for
people from mining families, including from our local
collieries and many will have enjoyed the services they
provided.
Chris Kitchen, of the National Union of Mineworkers,
said that while the retreat was still well used CISWO
should be looking to keep it open.
A statement by CEO of CISWO, Nicola Didlock, said:
“The decision to close the miners’ retreat has not been
made lightly or without extensive consideration by the
charity’s board of trustees. The home has enjoyed a
seafront location in Skegness since 1928 and the home
became as much a part of the everyday life of the
average Derbyshire miner as any other aspect of the
industry.
“However, with reducing numbers of holidaymakers
each year, and the increasing costs of retaining the
building to meet the needs of the client group, it is felt
that closure is sadly necessary.
“We are assessing the needs of former miners who
have accessed the retreat who may have issues such as
ill health or a disability and will be offering them
support through CISWO’s personal welfare service.”
It was revealed that the building had been put up for
sale and the iconic building was bought by the Smith
family, who own other businesses in Winthorpe.
The former Derbyshire Miners’ Convalescent Home
had been used as a holiday retreat by Derbyshire
miners recovering from illness for 90 years.
On the 3 rd of October 2018 local newspapers reported
that the doors of the Convalescent Home would close
for the last time. According to the charity The Coal
Industry Social Welfare Organisation (CISWO) which
had run the facility, the building was ‘no longer fit for
purpose.’
An official statement at the time of the sale read: “The
Derbyshire Miners Convalescent Home in Winthorpe
has been sold to new owners, the Smith family.
The building, which has enjoyed a seafront location
since 1928 and retains all of its original features, is
soon to be re-opened whilst undergoing an extensive
refurbishment programme.”
Sadly, in 2023 the building remains closed.
52 Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III

Many will have fond memories of the Holbrook and
Westthorpe St John Ambulance Brigade and attending
classes in the long gone Ambulance Hall in Holbrook.
We learned first aid, and worked for various
certificates, and of course we went to the special
weekend at the Miners’ Camp at the end of the
season. On the Sunday of the weekend we were
required to wear our uniform on parade and be
inspected. And, of course, everyone will remember
Resusci Anne. She was a mannequin made of soft
plastic and had a collapsible chest so that students
could practice and open her lips so that they could
perform mouth to mouth resuscitation. She became
known as the most kissed girl in the world. The St
John Ambulance Brigade men’s team were very
successful and won many awards in competitions.
Today, everyone will have at some point been to an
event at which St John Ambulance Brigade were in
attendance. Their volunteers have been a familiar
sight at all sorts of different functions and activities
since 1919; always present, but unobtrusive until
someone is taken ill or there is an accident.
Nationally St John Ambulance is a modern charity but
its vital work is underpinned by a long and diverse
heritage which goes all the way back to 11th century
Jerusalem. It was there that the first Knights of
St John set up a hospital to care for sick pilgrims.
The eight-pointed cross on the uniforms of today’s
volunteers is the symbol worn by those knights who
provided free medical care in that first hospital in
Jerusalem. The St John Ambulance
Association (SJAA) was founded in 1877 as a
voluntary organisation to provide free training in first
aid in the workplace, so that workers could treat
casualties on the spot. This initiative was in response
to the alarming increase in injuries to those working
in industry, particularly the factories, railways and coal
mines.
For example in 1885 the number of accidents reported
were over 8,500. At least a thousand people were killed
in railway accidents and the number injured would
have exceeded that figure. The SJAA was so successful
that by 1887 over 1,000 people had been trained,
especially in areas of greatest need, such as the
industrial north. Encouraged by this the St John
Ambulance Brigade was formed in 1887, also as a
voluntary organisation. Their mission was to provide
fully trained and uniformed men and women at public
events. Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in 1887 saw the
Brigade in action in public for the first time. In the late
1890s over 2000 St John Ambulance volunteers
Holbrook and Westthorpe
St John Ambulance Brigade
offered medical assistance to wounded soldiers during
the Boer Wars.
In 1908 St John Ambulance volunteers performed
their first duty for a major sporting event at the 1908
London Olympics,
marking the beginning
of a long-standing
relationship between
the charity and the
sporting world. The
outbreak of the First
World War in 1914
saw St John Ambulance join forces with the Red Cross
to form the Joint War Committee, providing medical
care for war casualties in hospitals in England and
overseas. The St John Ambulance Cadets were formed
in the 1920’s for girls and boys aged 11 to 18, offering
first aid training to those who were too young to join an
adult division.
During the Second World War, the Joint War
Committee once again came together, to provide
voluntary first aid to the injured. In 1948, the
formation of the NHS altered the role of St John
Ambulance who then began to support local
ambulance trusts in times of need. St John Ambulance,
the British Red Cross Society and St. Andrew’s
Ambulance Association (the Scottish equivalent)
together published a First Aid Manual in 1958. Now in
its tenth edition, the guide gives step by step
instructions on how to treat over one hundred medical
conditions and injuries.
Beatlemania created a new type of casualty for St John
Ambulance, as volunteers treated their first cases of
hysteria in young women across the country. They have
attended major pop events and festivals ever since. In
1974, the Brigade and the Association
were merged to form the
present St John
Foundation. In the 1980s
the government
introduced new first aid
regulations for the
workplace and St John
Ambulance has offered
first aid at work training
since then.
The assistance provided by Brigade volunteers has
continued to grow in recent decades, in response to
demonstrations and acts of terrorism. For example
2005 saw St John Ambulance support the London
Ambulance Service during the 7/7 bombings on
London’s transport system, providing emergency
transport and first aid where it was most needed.
Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III 53

The Pit Explosion -
The man who wanted to be a ‘big noise’
On a bleak wint March night in 1964, there was an unusually dramatic incident at
Weshore Collier – an occurence which resulted in the death of one of
London Underorld’s top geligite exers.
Norman Ellis wanted to make his way in the world.
“I’ll be a big noise one day,” he told a friend.
He was only 19 and serving in the Army as a corporal
when, in 1950, he was jailed for 12 years for two cases
of armed robbery and one of attempted armed
robbery. His home was then in Beighton and he
asked for eight other offences to be taken into
consideration.
With others, he was convicted of robbing the
Managers of the Rotherham and Cricklewood
branches of the Co-operative Society of a total of £429
and when arrested in a Sheffield hotel bedroom, Ellis
had a dagger and loaded revolver in his possession.
At his trial, Mr Justice Croom-Johnson described him
as a ring leader of the party and told him “You have
obviously made up your mind to be a gangster.” He
served 11½ years of the sentence in Dartmoor and
made his home in London after his release.
Finally he was discharged, but his 12 years’ detention
did nothing to cure him of his criminal ways. It taught
him though that ‘armed robbery is for suckers’.
He decided that the big money was in safes and the
men who opened them. So he studied to be what is
known in the trade as a Peterman. He read textbooks
on high explosives – all borrowed from his local
library. And Norman Ellis set up shop.
Somewhere along the line he acquired half a dozen
sticks of gelignite. This was insufficient capital for a
successful Peterman but he knew where to increase this
six into a sackful.
The London based criminal, whose colleagues in
crime had nicknamed him “The Tiger”, had local
connections and was trying to blast his way into the
Westthorpe Colliery explosives store, his attempts
being covered by a driving blizzard.
Westthorpe Colliery where the pit’s shot firing
explosive were stored.
A distant clock chimed 1.00 am. He weaved from
shadow to shadow. He had only 30 minutes to live.
Finally he reached his goal – a brick built building on
the shoulder of a Killamarsh hill. It was now 1.15 am.
He had only 15 minutes to live …. a criminal career
which began 15 years earlier was about to come to a
violent end. By the time he had completed his
preparations for the break-in it was 1.29 am. Now he
only had one minute to live.
A high-ranking C.I.D. officer said: “To blow open a
padlock requires only a small amount of jelly, only a
tenth of a stick. A detonator is attached and contact is
made to two flashlight batteries which are standard
equipment for all Petermen.”
But it is thought that Ellis fed a full stick into the door.
He attached the detonator. He added his two flashlight
batteries to the circuit. Then he completed the
contact.
Unfortunately for him his plan went wrong and all the
explosives in the store, about 1,000 kilos, were blown
up. The brick and concrete store was totally
demolished and the would-be thief killed by the blast.
Ellis parked his Jaguar car in Queen Street, Eckington
and is believed to have walked over the golf course to
the N.C.B. powder magazine off Boiley Lane. Police
had thought that there was possibly another person
involved waiting in the getaway car, but after a
thorough examination of the car this was discounted.
While the countryside slept, he crept, evading the
security patrols, to the brick built magazine at
54 Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III

At 1.30 am people living in five terraced houses less
than 100 yards away from the store were awakened by
an explosion. As they went to their windows to
investigate, another louder and stronger blast rocked
their homes. People were tossed from their beds. The
explosion could be heard 5 miles away.
Fragments of flying brick and masonry hurtled into the
night sky. Windows were shattered, doors flew off
their hinges, ceilings bulged and crashed in and
electricity power lines were ripped out.
Fortunately, no-one else was injured although debris
was flung more than 450 metres away, crashing through
roofs and windows of nearby houses. In some cases
the damage was so severe that the occupants had to be
temporarily evacuated.
Some women and children were taken to the nearby
West End Hotel where they spent the night. Firemen
turned out and blocked up windows and doors. Then
early next morning they assisted with salvage
operations.
The blast from the explosions rocked the houses in
Boiley Lane and was reported in several national
newspapers. In one of the houses lived Mr Benny
Gregg, a 33 year old labourer told the Derbyshire
Times at the time: “A small bang woke me up and
then there was a second. I have never heard anything
like it in my life. I’ve heard a land mine or two in my
time but they were nothing compared to this”. He
added: “The bedroom door flew off, windows
shattered, pieces of glass embedded themselves in our
wardroble. A brick went straight through our
sideboard downstairs, the front door was blown out
and the pantry and bedroom ceilings came in.”
With his next door neighbour Mr Whitfield, Mr
Gregg went out to investigate. Rainbow coloured
flames were then coming from the electricity cable
running between the houses and the Colliery.
“There was not one piece of the powder store left”
said Mr Gregg.
At the other end of the block lived Mr Leslie Stevens –
a school teacher and his family. They were asleep in
bed when the blast lifted the roof off their home. “I
thought that there had been an earthquake or that a
bomb had dropped” he said.
Police raced to the scene and discovered that the brick
and powder store had completely disappeared. Ellis’
shattered body was found about 20 feet away and was
completely unrecognisable and he had nothing in his
possession to identify him. Fingerprint experts were
called in and by cross matching the dead man’s prints
with others at the Criminal Records Office they
secured a positive identification.
Police discovered pieces of detonator wire on his body
and concluded that he was trying to reach the 1,550
lbs. of explosives, mainly sticks of gelignite inside the
store when he was killed. In the underworld there is
always a ready market for ‘gelly’ among safe blowers
and many are prepared to pay large sums for it.
Though patrolled regularly during the night by police
and N.C.B. employees, the explosives store had been
broken into on a number of occasions. The last
break-in was in March 1963 when thieves placed a
charge against the air vent and blew a hole big enough
for a man to crawl through. Over 30 lbs of gelignite
were then stolen.
Norman ‘Tiger’ Ellis may not have been any great
shakes as a Peterman. But at the age of 33 he finally
became a ‘big noise’.
Sisters Jackie Watkinson and Lesley Sherwood who
were children and lived on Boiley Lane at the time
give their memories of the Powder Magazine
Explosion
“My memories of the explosion are similar to my
sister Lesley, obviously. However, I don't remember
going to stay with my grandma!! Maybe I went on that
school trip, can’t remember that either. I went on
several school trips.
It was very, very dark. It was very, very cold and
snowing. I was upset because I was due to go on a
school trip.
I seem to recall being told that if the force of the
explosion had gone the other way then the damage to
our 5 houses would have been worse. The person
trying to get in to the powder magazine had set his
charge in the wrong position and hence he blew
himself up. The roof of the houses were lifted off and
then settled back again. All the windows were blown
out. I remember we only had a coal fire for fuel and
my parents cooking on it, we would have used a small
oil lamp for light.
I remember news reporters coming from London
and sinking into an easy chair exhausted from the
journey. I seem to remember my mother's photo
being on the front page of, what I think, was The
News of the World. She was walking down the lane
which looked snowy and muddy and bleak. I believe
the sound of the explosion was heard in Eckington.
There may have been some damage to windows there
as well.
I believe the NCB paid for all the repairs and
redecoration.”
Jackie Watkinson
“We lived in No 5 Boiley Lane, my parents and my
brother and sister and myself, I would have been 15
years old at the time. I can remember waking up to a
very loud bang and my father appeared almost
Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III 55

The Pit Explosion (CONT.)
immediately shouting to my sister and me who shared
a bedroom not to switch the lights on and to stay in
bed. I could feel broken glass around my head and
later my mother appeared with a torch - there was glass
all around us - we got dressed as I recall and we all
went to stay with my Grandma in Killamarsh not too
far away until the house was habitable once more. I
remember vividly a picture of my mother appearing in
a newspaper standing outside the back door shaking a
door mat and I think from memory there was a lot of
snow about - but I could be wrong. I understand the
explosion happened because someone or people were
trying to break into the powder magazine to steal the
explosives and obviously it went very wrong.
BOOM!!!”
Lesley Sherwood
A Memory by a young lad from a Derbyshire mining
village who had his ‘15 minutes of fame’ thrust upon
him in 1964.
By Timothy Stevens, former resident of the Boiley
Lane cottages
“My family arrived in Killamarsh, the birthplace of
our father, via a series of events -leaving a brand new
house in Australia, a brand new house with the latest
‘mod cons’ in Staveley, my father suffering a heart
attack at an early age resulted in a move to Boiley
Lane, an old house with gas lighting, tin bath and
outside toilet!
After a couple of years electricity had been installed,
other renovations brought the house up to modern
standards and finally I could have a bath at home
rather than visiting my Aunts, although I missed being
spoiled with a special tea after my bath, often with
tinned peaches which were regarded as a luxury.
To set the scene the row on Boiley Lane consisting of
five houses was situated such that to the rear,
approximately 150 yards away and viewed from a
slightly elevated position sat Westthorpe Colliery,
immediately in front a couple of tracks of open rail
carriage sidings, then the main body of the pit
complete with winding gear etc. To the side was the
field where huge heaps of coal were stored that mainly
grew in size in the summer and diminished in the
winter. To the other side towards Eckington village
was the slag heap that smouldered and my memory of
walking over it being tinged with trepidation as I had
been told one could fall into a chasm caused by the
burning inside. To the front and slightly to the right
approximately 100 yards away sat the gelignite store
with a field between it and the row of houses!
So to my ‘15 minutes of fame’ …
On the 15 th of March 1964 at 1.30 am the family home
along with the neighbouring houses were shattered, the
whole of the row of houses had their roof lifted and
resettled, windows and doors were shattered, and our
recently purchased latest fashion glass fibre bath
embedded with glass.
I was fast asleep one minute and at the bottom of the
bed the next, surrounded by debris with my parents
shouting out to find out if I was OK along with my two
sisters. After initial recovery we were then ushered up
to the West End Hotel 200 yards away for further
chance of recovery. I remember that when daylight
came it started to snow, the first of that winter I seem to
recall. Eventually, I went to my Grandmas to stay for a
few days.
The fame? ….
The blast became hot news locally and in the national
papers so on returning to school I was surrounded by
curious classmates, plus the jokes asking what I was
doing at the bottom of the bed etc!!
I still have numerus clippings of the story from the
local and national newspapers from which one can
glean that a certain Norman Ellis, labelled by the press
as a career criminal, who chanced his arm as a
Peterman (a safe cracker using explosives) decided to
break into the Pit gelignite store and as it turned out
ended up using a little too much explosive in his bid to
get more.
In the days following the explosion and after reading
the press reports one was a little fearful of coming
across a body part whilst walking down Bailey Lane to
my house.
I mentioned above the rail carriages at the pit and
worry if this is a false memory as I do not think I ever
saw a locomotive and indeed how the carriages were
taken away, the nearest line was towards Eckington.
Was there a spur line? I do however believe I heard
debris falling into these carriages on the night of the
blast.
As one knows, Killamarsh is now almost in South
Yorkshire and more of a suburb of Sheffield than a
village and Westthorpe Pit has gone! Like the way of
other former pit villages.
Lastly, as I described my house’s position, next to a
colliery, slag heap, coal store field etc, a young reader
of today may view it as being in a deprived
environment, but to me living in Boiley Lane were
among the best years of my life!”
56 Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III

A Love of Sports
Weshore Collier has always had many goups and associations which
the miners could take par in. They were paricularly fond of spor and
had active football, cricket, clay pigeon shooting and fishing teams.
This, of course, contributed and added to the social life
of the miners and their families and to the comradeship
that everyone enjoyed.
Eric Morris, who was an underground Electrician at
Westthorpe, remembers being part of the Westthorpe
Colliery Football Team in 1972.
“These are my memories of being part of the team and
events – but your memories may be clearer than mine.
I’m not sure whose idea it was to start a football team at
the pit at the time, and I am unsure as to whether there
had been any teams before or since. I remember George
Burdett who worked on the pit top was the selfappointed
manager – and later assisted by Ashley Peck
who worked in the offices. George was assisted by
another pit top worker whose name escapes me. George
was a bit of a taskmaster who demanded commitment
from those who chose to take part.
We were a motley crew of various talents – Jim
Batterham [Electrician] – sometime Goalie – but usually
on the Left Wing; Philip Clarke [Electrician] - stalwart
Centre Back alongside Bernard Smith [Beltman]; David
Clayton [Surveyor] - Midfield; Bernard Siddaway
[Electrician] cultured Midfielder – I rated him – a fine
footballer. Then we had Alan Dopson - decent Left Back
- from High Moor Colliery; Kip Cartlidge – very good
Goalie – from Renishaw Park Colliery; Kenny Hancock -
Midfielder – from High Moor Colliery; – Kenny Hames
- Midfielder – from Westthorpe. We also had some
‘ringers’ who didn’t work at any colliery - Ray Peat – fine
Centre Forward; Tony Hagin - no nonsense Midfielder
cum Striker; – Steve Smith - Midfielder - who lived on
the White City. Later we had more ‘ringers’ – but the
key addition who improved the team after a disastrous
start was Lennie Cochran who was an Electrician with a
dodgy knee – playing Centre Half. I am sure that he
only played one game but he gave us self-belief, so we
went on and won many more games. The other who
attempted to inspire us was Mr Bright – an
Undermanager at Westthorpe – I still remember his calls
from the touchline for us to ‘get some blood on our
boots’!!
Bizarrely, initially we trained on the pit top getting out of
the pit early to have the dubious honour of running over
the slagheaps in overalls and steel-toecap boots. I think
George must have done National Service. We also
trained and played at Mosborough Welfare ground with
its sloping pitch – and changed upstairs in the Vine
round the corner. I know the football field has now gone
and the Vine is an Indian restaurant. Incidentally, as kids
we played football on Walker’s field – now housing, we
played on the ‘rec’ at Norwood – now housing, we
played on Roper’s field – now housing, and
we played at the
Nag’s Head – you guessed it – housing.
I think that Killamarsh’s population growth as a
commuter town for Sheffield in the 1960-70s was at the
expense of us kids who loved football. We seemed to
have paid the highest price for Sheffield’s land grab. We
had a shocking start to the season and were bottom or
thereabouts of our division, but after Christmas we
started to win more than we lost. I think it was because
we had Bernard Smith and Philip Clarke – not the
tallest pairing, but they were stalwart Defenders. Also we
had Kip Cartlidge in goal – he made a huge difference.
At the end of the season we were entered for the
‘Bottom Eight Cup’. The division was split into three –
top eight, middle eight and bottom eight; we were then
entered in to our respective Cup competitions. We got
through to the final. I can’t remember who the
opposition was, but we played at the Unstone Ground
(does it still exist?), which was flat, so compared with
some of the pitches we had played on, including our
own, this was a luxury – a real pleasure. We won! So
even though it was only the ‘Bottom Eight Cup’ we were
overjoyed because we had made real progress over the
season.
This proved to be the highlight of my career with
Westthorpe Colliery football team because early in the
following season we were playing from left-to-right. Alan
Dopson hit a long hopeful pass from his left-back
position at the top of the sloping field, over to the rightwing.
I, as right-back, felt obliged to chase it. I caught it
just inside the touch line but to stop it I trod on the ball
and I heard a loud crack and knew I had done
something serious! I crumpled up and said ‘put the sub
on’ (Jim Batterham) but I remember Ashley Peck saying
the crack might have been my shin pad, so see how it
goes – but I wasn’t wearing shin pads. It transpired that I
had broken my tibia and fibula as they enter the ankle.
That was me done – I was off work for nine weeks – and
never really played again for the next five years.
The ankle was only part of the reason they got a new
right-back in who was much better than me – so although
disappointed, I still supported the team. The team got
better but that camaraderie at the outset had gone
because there were many more ‘ringers’ in – it was only
Westthorpe Colliery by name.”
Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III 57

The Miner’s Strike 1984-1985
The miners’ stike of 1984 to 1985 was a major industial action with the British
Coal Indust in an aempt to prevent collier closures.
It was led by Arthur Scargill of the National Union of
Mineworkers (NUM) against the National Coal Board
(NCB), a government agency. Opposition to the strike
was led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s
government.
The NUM was divided over the action, which began in
Yorkshire, and many mineworkers, especially in the
Midlands, worked through the dispute. Few major
trade unions supported the NUM, primarily because of
the absence of a vote at national level.
The NCB had been encouraged to gear itself towards
reduced subsidies in the early 1980s. After a strike was
narrowly averted in February 1981, pit closures and
pay restraint led to unofficial strikes. The main strike
started on the 6 th of March 1984 with a walkout at
Cortonwood Colliery, which led to the NUM
Yorkshire Area sanctioning a strike on the grounds of a
ballot result from 1981 in the Yorkshire Area. This was
later challenged in court. The NUM President Arthur
Scargill made the strike official across Britain on 12
March 1984, but the lack of a national ballot
beforehand caused controversy.
In line with a decision taken jointly in November 1983
by the National Coal Board and representatives of all
the mining unions, Westthorpe Colliery officially
closed on 31 st March 1984. The decision had been
taken in order to protect as fully as possible all coal
industry employees within the northern sector of the
National Coal Board’s North Derbyshire Area. Apart
from those men who elected to take early retirement or
voluntary redundancy, all the Westthorpe men were
guaranteed jobs at other local pits.
In support of the striking miners, the Killamarsh
Women’s Action group undertook a thirty-seven mile
trek around seven North Derbyshire pits. The
following was published in the Derbyshire Times.
“Derbyshire women were among the first to organise
support of the striking miners. A group set up by
Chesterfield Labour Party to support Tony Benn’s
election decided to stick together and back the strike,
and within days of the strike starting they had
organised a soup run to miners on the picket lines.
And, under the banner ‘They shall not starve’ they
organised canteens and collection points for food and
fuel.
Tom Vallins of Chesterfield Labour Party said the
work done by the women was one of the most
memorable aspects of the strike. “The women were
marvellous,” he said. “They were organising the food
collections and speaking in support of the strike. It was
amazing how they did it.”
Those who did not know the mining communities
were astonished by the women’s valour but the women
were the first to admit that they often surprised
themselves. Toni Bennett from Chesterfield Women’s
Action Group said: “It made women far more aware of
their own capabilities.”
Gordon Butler, secretary of Derbyshire NUM,
described the sense of family tradition in the villages
which the women were determinted to preserve.
“Women had always stood strong in the mining
communities. You saw this in the pit disasters when
they supported the widows and comforted the men,”
he said. “There had always been an inherent family
atmosphere and when the women saw the threat of the
break-up of their families they reacted instinctively.”
Margaret Marshall recalls the day her Dad’s
retirement day during the strike
“I have, like many, memories of the 1980s strike.
Some sad, some which make me smile. One of
mine is our Dad, Eric Marshall, and his retirement
from the Time Office at Westthorpe Pit after
40 years. It was his last day and he set off as
usual walking across the fields carrying his carrier
bag with his sandwiches and a bottle of whiskey
to have a celebratory drink with his colleagues. He
didn’t want any fuss but we persuaded him he had to
mark the day with something. When he arrived at
the pit he was greeted by Yorkshire pickets. He
was not allowed to cross the picket line. On hand
was Joss Pearson who told the pickets “You have
to let him pass, he’s a gud un”. And he also had
one of the keys to the safe! They allowed him in
but to Mum’s surprise he was soon back home still
with his pack up and whiskey. That was the end of
his 40 years at Westthorpe, which he thoroughly
enjoyed, and the start of his retirement.
He said he didn’t want any fuss, but he got more
than expected.”
58 Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III

My Memories of being a
Westthorpe Colliery Miner
On leaving school aged 15 I began
working for the National Coal Board
I attended the Treeton Training Centre for 4
months’ preliminary training from 30 th December
1957 to 18 April 1958. Part of the time was spent
in classrooms at Treeton Training Centre and
Dinnington College. The remaining third of the
time was spent at Orgreave Colliery where we
were taken to a closed off area underground for
training. At Treeton and Dinnington Collieries
we were taught about first aid, mining theory and
mine gases.
The aim of the first aid/safety training was how to
prevent accidents and how to cope in the event of
an emergency.
At Orgreave Colliery I and the group of trainees
would get off the cage. We were taken to a
specific area which was designated for
underground training. It was not far from the
chair. I had to walk approximately 30 yards from
the pit bottom. The area underground was
supported by 12 ft arches. The ground was even
as the National Coal Board did not want anyone to
fall. If any of the trainees had accidents the
supervisors would have been in trouble. The road
area was whitewashed. It was as close to
perfection as it could have been. The roadway
was approximately 10 ft wide and fairly well
maintained. There was a track in the roadway that
was laid on sleepers and there was lighting
throughout the roadway.
There were approximately 16 boys with 4
supervisors in the session and we were taught how
to test for gas, how to clip tubs, how to couple and
uncouple tubs and how to handwash.
We were also taken to the surface working of
Orgreave Colliery where the systems on the
surface were explained to us.
When I was 16 I was legally old enough to begin
working underground. My underground CPS
training was for 36 days between 15 December
1958 to 21 January 1959. An experienced miner
was responsible for providing me with my training
so I could work underground. He was primarily
responsible for making sure that I did not injure
myself whilst I was learning my trade. My training
involved being shown how to do simple jobs such
as putting tubs on the drop chair and uncoupling
tubs.
My first underground job following the
underground training was from January to
November 1959 as a ‘drop chair worker’ at
Brookhouse Colliery. I went down the
Thorncliffe seam to the Deputy’s room.
This was a 50 yard walk along the pit bottom.
At the Deputy’s room I gave them my name
and number and walked back along the pit
bottom. I would get on the drop chair and sit
on a seat. It was my job to operate the chair, using
a handle, to drop 2 tubs at a time onto the bottom
deck. When I lowered the chair with a handle to
tubs would automatically be released and run off.
Claws held the tubs on the bottom deck in place.
The 2 filled tube of coal would be released and
run off. I would then to back up and the process
would be repeated. It was an extremely cold
environment to work in and I left when the
Deputy told me there was no chance of
progression.
After 6 months, I returned to Brookhouse
Colliery as a pipe fitters labourer. My job was to
assist the pipe fitter piping the loader gates to
supply the gates with water.
I moved to Westthorpe Colliery when I got
married; I wanted more money so I applied for
and got a job as a pipe fitter. It helped that my
father and uncles worked there which I think
helped me get the job.
After I completed my basic training I went to
Brookhouse Colliery to work on the surface until I
was legally old enough to begin working
underground. During that period April to
December 1958, I did whatever odd jobs were
required of me on the surface such as working the
stockyard loading trams.
I was very happy working at Westthorpe pit – the
fun, the friendship and the comradeship were
fantastic and if you had a problem or needed help
there was always someone on hand.
I wouldn’t hesitate on doing it all over again.
Vic Smith - Pipe Fitter
Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III 59

The Westthorpe Colliery Memorial
30 years since the pit closed
Weshore Collier opened in 1923 when the first sod was cut
on the 17 th of March that year.
During its lifetime the Pit provided employment for
many men and women and was successful in attaining
many targets in coal production.
Westthorpe Colliery played a huge part in the working
and social lives of the people of Killamarsh and the
surrounding villages and resulted in a very close
community.
In line with a decision taken jointly in November 1983
by the National Coal Board and representatives of all
the mining unions, Westthorpe Colliery officially
closed on 31 st March 1984.
It was with this in mind that Killamarsh Heritage
Society decided to erect a memorial to ensure that
our mining history isn’t forgotten. As 2014 marked 30
years since the closure of the Pit, we felt this was an
appropriate time to erect a memorial. This took place
on Monday the 22 nd of September 2014. Many exminers
came along to see the memorial unveiled by
Mr A. Vardy, the last Manager and Mr Joss Pearson,
the Miners’ Union Secretary for many years.
Children from Killamarsh Infant School, Killamarsh
Junior School and St Giles Junior and Infant School
came along to see the memorial unveiled. All the
children had been chosen to attend as they had
members of the family who had worked at the Pit.
The memorial was made of Bretton Moor
Derbyshire Stone and was made by Gary Daynes of
Daynes Monumentals in Killamarsh who supported
our project and donated his time to making the
memorial happen. Since the original memorial was
installed on the 22 nd of September, 2014 to mark the
30 th anniversary of Westthorpe Colliery closing, a
bench has been added to the site by Mrs Williams in
memory of her late husband George who worked at
the Pit.
The 100 years anniversary
Thank you to Mike
Jackson for designing
the statue, Robin Penny
of Penny Hydraulics for
making him and
Killamarsh Parish
Council for contributing
to the project.
Thank you to Innes
England for allowing
us to develop the
memorial on their site.
Thanks also to Gary Daynes of Freeman Daynes who
made the original stone memorial for us in 2014, who
cleans it for us and keeps it looking its best.
Also thank you to the many people who came along to
the unveiling of the statue. We were delighted with the
turn out. Everyone had a wonderful afternoon
meeting up with old friends and there was lots of
reminiscing.
Remembering
Many ex-miners still live in Killamarsh and the
surrounding villages although, of course, many are no
longer with us. However, many of their children,
grandchildren and great grandchildren still live in the
area and for them the history and the memory of
Westthorpe Colliery should be kept alive.
We do hope you like the latest addition of the miner to
the Westthorpe Colliery Memorial site, so make sure
to visit and remember the men and women who
worked at Westthorpe Colliery during its life. You will
find it at the bottom of Green Lane next to where the
road led into the Pit Yard.
Say hello to ‘Charlie’ the miner – he will be pleased to
see you.
Westthorpe Colliery opened on the 17th of March
1923 so the 17th of March 2023 was the 100 years
anniversary.
To commemorate this date, Killamarsh Heritage
Society thought it important to mark this anniversary,
so on Friday afternoon the 17 th of March a statue of a
Miner was unveiled on the site of the existing
memorial.
60 Remembering Westthorpe Colliery - Chapter III

The Coal Authority
Since 1994 the Coal Authorit has been working to make
a beer ftre for people and the environment in mining areas.
or recycling the vast majority of the ochre
this creates.
This experience is also shared with other
partners and government organisations,
to support metal mine water treatment
projects in England and Wales.
This work is also helping to develop a new
sustainable source of renewable energy for
the UK. By harnessing the energy from
mine water heat, we hope to play a key role
towards helping the UK to meet net-zero
emissions by 2050.
As a non-departmental public body and partner
organisation of the Department for Energy Security
and Net Zero, we:
keep people safe and provide
peace of mind
protect and enhance
the environment
use our information and expertise to help
people make informed decisions
create value and minimise cost
to the taxpayer
Established under the Coal Industry Act 1994, we
manage Britain’s coal mining legacy and, as a 24/7
emergency response organisation, respond to
public safety and subsidence incidents caused by
historical coal mining.
Although we have more than 300 members
of staff based across the 3 nations we serve,
our headquarters are in Mansfield,
Nottinghamshire. This is also home to our
Mining Heritage Centre, an archive that houses a large
quantity of data, including historical information,
relating to coal mining in Britain.
This includes a unique collection of around 120,000
coal abandonment plans, covering both opencast and
deep mining operations, dating as far back as the 17th
century and showing areas of extraction as well as
points of entry.
We also have a large collection of more than 47,000
British Coal photographs, which feature a wide range
of collieries and cover every aspect of coal mining.
More information on the Coal Authority and our work
can be found at: www.gov.uk/coalauthority
Every year we carry out thousands of mine entry
inspections, investigate hundreds of mining
hazard claims and inspect hundreds of coal spoil heaps
owned by us and our partners.
We also issue thousands of mining reports,
permits and planning consultation reports.
As part of our work to enhance the environment,
we have the capacity to treat billions of litres of
mine water – helping to protect hundreds of kilometres
of rivers and vital drinking water
supplies – and prevent thousands of tonnes of
iron solids from entering water courses, reusing
The Coal Authority Today - Chapter IV 61

Mining Poems
HEAVEN OR HELL?
A Miner stood at the Golden Gate, his head bowed low.
He meekly asked the man of fate the way that he should go.
“What have you done” St Peter said “to gain admission here?”
“I merely mined for coal” he said “for many a year.
St Peter opened wide the gate and softly tolled the bell.
“Come and choose your harp” he said, “you’ve had your share of hell”.
Anon
THE OLD MINER
He sits outside in the garden
The sun warm upon his face
But deep in his mind he remembers
Another time, another place
He remembers the descent to the pit bottom
The clang as they closed the cage gates
Of crawling along on hands and knees
And drinking a bottle of cold tea with his mates
The work is hard, the hours long
No Pit baths for us he does say
Just a wash in the tin bath that hangs in the yard
That’s what we had at the end of the day
His wife at home with the children
Manages the best that she can
She prays that deep down in the bowels of the earth
That God will keep safe her man
Blue mottled skin and a hacking cough
Is the miner’s legacy
From countless years working underground
Hewing coal for you and me
Ann Ward
Ex Westthorpe Colliery Miners’ Daughter
62 Mining Poems - Chapter V

PROUD SARAH
Sarah was resting, her housework nearly done.
She couldn’t stop thinking of Alfred and her son.
But her thoughts were all cloudy, their picture unclear,
“Something is wrong” she uttered, her voice full of fear.
She hurried to the pithead with the gathering crowd,
Some crying, some silent, others praying out loud.
Through the drifting smoke it was a harrowing sight,
As they waited for news of their loved ones plight.
When the smoke finally cleared, and the search had begun,
They found their two bodies, Alfred cradling his son.
For he was her favourite, her bundle of joy,
With tear filled eyes, she waved them goodbye,
“Goodbye my two loves”, she said with a sign.
They lived in “Abersychan” a small valley town,
“Llanerch” was the coalmine her men had gone down.
The year was eighteen ninety, February sixth the date,
A day to remember for sadness, tragedy and ill fate.
For later that morning came a low rumbling sound,
From a massive explosion far deep underground.
The face of the blast caused the whole ground to shake,
No mercy for those, who were left in its wake.
One hundred and seventy six men and boys were all lost,
The price paid for coal was a terrible cost.
Sarah prayed at the graveside, and to Alfred she vowed,
I’ll raise our eight children, of them all you’ll be proud.
Although the Colliery’s blast had forced them apart,
The memory of her “two loves” she kept safe in her heart.
J.H. Smith
(Great Grandson of Sarah and Albert)
Mining Poems - Chapter V 63