And my Uncle Jim painted a lot of pictures of men in the mines...being born in Ashington (Northumberland, England), almost everything was connected with the pit.

And my Uncle Billy (Mother's youngest brother) was a Shot Driller. When they had to blast the coal face again, someone would drill some rough holes in the seam, then the shot driller would come along and drill a very accurate bore, ready for the dynamite (the "shot") to go in. One day, someone had already drilled and put the shot in when my Uncle Billy went to work on the same bore hole... I think he was about 36 years old.

This thread is bringing up things I'd long ago forgotten.

Pete