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who comes from coal miners?
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Subject: who comes from coal miners? From: GUEST Date: 29 May 02 - 03:04 AM |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Bert Date: 29 May 02 - 03:27 AM Er! Coal minors maybe! |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Nigel Parsons Date: 29 May 02 - 03:55 AM Numerous male voice choirs, who use the title "Orpheus" to denote their origins underground. e.g."The Morriston Orpheus Choir" |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: paddymac Date: 29 May 02 - 04:31 AM maybe the guest will return, identify him/herself, and clarify their question. |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: GUEST,JBGoode Date: 29 May 02 - 06:34 AM You know, like my grandparents were miners, etc. Mine were, in Pittston, PA. Just a weird late night question i suppose... |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Dave the Gnome Date: 29 May 02 - 07:28 AM My great grandad on my Mothers side lost his arm in a mining accident. In keeping with musical threads I can mention that he, apparantly, sang 'Lily of Laguna' while having it cut off! By one of those weird coincidences he went on to become a boxing instructor (yes - with one arm!) at a local boys club. Many years later after the club had been closed for a while my grandad, on my Dads side, took over the running of the building and converted the top floor into a Russian orthodox church. Cheers
Dave the Gnome |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: GUEST,Davetnova Date: 29 May 02 - 07:48 AM My Dad wa a miner in South Wales and by coincidence a boxer (Welsh champion at his weight). He claimed to be the only Welshman with absolutely no singing voice whatsoever, a talent he passed on to me. |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: GUEST,sophocleese Date: 29 May 02 - 07:55 AM Both great grand-fathers on my father's side were miners in Somerset. One of them was beaten up so badly during a strike that he never went down the mines again. |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: GUEST,greg stephens cookie unset I have tried hone Date: 29 May 02 - 08:53 AM Dave the Gnome I think we need to know where your great grandfather stood on the vexed question of offensive lyrics. For example, whilesinging Lily of Laguna while having his armcut off, did he sing the verse, and if so what did about the lines "It's the same old taleof a palpatating n****r every time, every time time, It's the same old trouble 0f a c**n that wants to be married very soon". Now, given the distressing circumstances he could be forgiven if he did sing this. I just wondered if family history sheds any light on this. It would be nice he stuck to the non-offending chorus, but I think we would all be quite forgiving if he forgot himself, the circumstances being rather stressful. By the way, I come from a long line of tin and iron miners, none of whom would have seen down a coalmine dead or alive, armless or whole. |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: BanjoRay Date: 29 May 02 - 09:53 AM My father and both grandfathers were miners in South Wales. My dad started as a collier's boy, having failed to get into grammar school. When the war started he was of course in a reserved occupation and not susceptible to be called up, but he joined the Royal Air Force anyway. He served as a bomb-aimer/navigator in many missions over Germany, and after the war he went to college and gained mining qualifications. He ended his career as a colliery manager. I'm very proud of my dad, even though he was the other Welsh miner who couldn't sing. Cheers |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: GUEST Date: 29 May 02 - 10:21 AM My grandfather was one in Kentucky. |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Mad4Mud Date: 29 May 02 - 10:25 AM One of my g-g-g-grandfathers was the colliery agent at Cornsay Colliery, Durham County, England around 1870 or so. |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Pete Jennings Date: 29 May 02 - 01:12 PM My Dad was a mining engineer all his working life, first in the NE (of England), then in the Midlands. He specialised in ventilation - designing and looking after the airflow systems down the mines. One of his duties was to contain the fires that started every now and again. A coal-seam fire is normally largely unseen - no flames or anything like that - and is usually detected by slight temerature rises or unexpected condensation. Only real cure is to seal off the relevant tunnels and starve it out. I heard a lot of tales about him from former colleagues - he used to supervise the re-opening of sealed tunnels and one time he walked into a still-glowing tunnel, had a look around and came back out, boots smouldering, saying, "Mmmm, better seal this one up again lads" (!). They loved him. When I worked at the National Coal Board I was always known as Bob Jennings' son. During a fire, we might not see him for days and nights on end, so when we were kids we used to forge his signature on the child allowance vouchers - it didn't fool the post-mistress at all, but she still gave us the money! He got off lightly from his time down the mines - busted his nose one time, and later lost half a finger when he got a bit close when inspecting a coal face and it came down on him... I've got one of his Davey Lamps, which he used at a mine called West Cannock No.5, right in front of me on my desk. He's eighty-six now, deaf as a post, but still going strong. Pete
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: 53 Date: 29 May 02 - 01:35 PM What about the coal miners daughter? |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: weepiper Date: 29 May 02 - 01:48 PM My great grandfather was a colliery manager in Shrewsbury. That's about as close as I get |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Dharmabum Date: 29 May 02 - 01:53 PM My Grandfather on my Dads side of the family worked the coal mines of West Virginia & Kentucky. He died of black lung disease before he reached 50. I remember my dad telling the stories about growing up in the 30's in the coal mining regions. I remember him telling me how my Grandmother wouldn't hang out the wash on days that the wind was blowing up from the direction of the mines because it would get covered with coal dust. DB. |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Catherine Jayne Date: 29 May 02 - 01:54 PM Hello. My Dad was a miner in a Selby mine for 30 years. He was made redundant only 2 weeks ago when the employees were told the pit would only be open for another 2 years max. My earliest memory is of the miners strike and the hardship of the families. Many of my friends are from mining families. It is a job that I wouldn't want to do and in a way I am glad my Dad is not doing it anymore although it will be hard for him losing his job in his 50's but I am sure he is happy. No more shift work. I can remember having to be very quiet when I came home from school when he was on night shifts because he was in bed! When I left school and got a part time job he would be going out to work when I was coming home! catsPHiddle x |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Bearheart Date: 29 May 02 - 01:55 PM My mother's grandparents all came here from Hungary at the turn of the century. Her maternal grandparents settled in Portage Pa in the mining fields. My great grandfather and most of my great uncles on that side all worked in the mines, though the uncles all eventually moved on to other things. My great grandfather worked the mines till he couldn't any more. Don't know if he could sing, but he played about every instrument he could lay hands on. (Never heard if he played Hungarian music or old-time mountain music.)My great grandma was apparently the best moonshiner around those parts as well as a phenomenal herb healer. |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Dave the Gnome Date: 29 May 02 - 01:58 PM I hate to admit it, Greg, but I know neither the offensive version or otherwise apart from the snippets my Mum used to sing - She's my lady love, she is my own, my lady love... She is my Lily of Laguna, she is my Lily and my Rose... But I am intrigued now - give us the full offensive and I'll make sure I sing it at every opportunity:-) My guess is that he would not have known the offensive one. After all he was just a minor... Cheers DtG |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Bardford Date: 29 May 02 - 03:07 PM My Great Grandfather mined coal in South Wales (Pontycymmer) at the turn of the last century before coming to Canada in 1903 to work the mine at Fernie, B.C. In Wales, he was a check weighman, which is apparantly the man appointed by fellow miners to ensure a fair tally of the coal. That's how I understand it. Maybe someone with greater knowledge could clarify. I'm not sure if he was a singer, but he was no stranger to public speaking, as he was a union organizer who went on to a career in politics. |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Liz the Squeak Date: 29 May 02 - 03:25 PM A great great great uncle was a collier in Gloucestershire at the time of his wedding in 1877. He returned to his village of birth in Dorset to marry, stayed there and became a woodsawyer (lumberjack/sawmill worker) like his father. I can't read the name of the village he mined at, and I can't fathom how or why he got to Gloucestershire. There was plenty of work around the area in the 1860-70s, it's a heavily agricultural area, with arable, bovine, ovine and porcine farming, fishing, plus a multitude of related trades... maybe he got the wanderlust. The closest I've ever been is to sing 'the coal and Albert Berry'. LTS
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Gareth Date: 29 May 02 - 03:30 PM Bardford - Correct the check weighman was elected by the Colliers to keep an eye on the Management Coal Weighers, this was in the days when colliers were on Piecework, each to thier stall ( bit of the face ) From my bedroom/study here in Ystrad Mynach I can see the remains of 4 colleries, Wylie, Penaltna, Llanbradach, and Bargoed Brittania. And two closed Railways, that took the Coal down to Cardiff, Newport and Barry. But as the toast went in the old South Wales Miners Federation - "To the day the last man left the last pit on the last shift" Gareth |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: RoyH (Burl) Date: 29 May 02 - 03:57 PM My Grandad and a couple of uncles had spells of working in the pit. But a third uncle, Uncle Sid, was a miner all his working life, a total of 52 years. The story goes that at one stage he was in a roof fall that killed his brother. He escaped but within a week had lost all his hair, which never grew back, and he developed a stutter which he never lost. He liked a pint,he played football,he maintained a flourishing garden, and an aviary. He also made models in wood, notably a working model pithead mounted on a tabletop. In the interests of accuracy, he cut a hole in the table top to allow the cage to go up and down. My aunt was not pleased. At family gatherings he would clog dance and sing music hall songs, his favourite being 'I like pickled onions'. Despite the toll it had taken on him he loved the miner's life. A month before he died he spent Christmas with us and danced, sang, and chatted about old days about the pit. I sang him some mining songs. He was very happy. It was the last time I saw him. Uncle Sid was a man of character, a favourite uncle, and I loved him. I'm always proud to say that there was a real coal miner in my family. I'm very grateful to this thread for giving me a chance to talk about him. |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Mr Red Date: 29 May 02 - 04:51 PM Mum, Dad and paternal GP's were the local agents for several pits. Coal sellers to cool cellars as it were. Skip another two generations and there were some Ironstone miners near Chesterfield. Me? the closest I came was writing a pit shanty. |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: BanjoRay Date: 29 May 02 - 06:11 PM My brother was also a miner when he was much younger, and I remember a story he told me once. He and a few other guys were doing maintenance work near a conveyor belt in one of the two roadways (tunnels) leading to each end of a coalface. The face was squeezing heavily, with disturbing sounds coming from the strata, and with immense amounts of pressure on the pit props. Some of the wooden ones were cracking up, so the guys decided to get the hell out of there. The only problem was that one of them had got himself stuck underneath the conveyor belt, and the others tried to get him out. So the guy under the belt came out with the line "leave me lads, save yourselves!". This was such a film cliche that my brother and his mates totally creased up, and took ages to get it together enough to get the guy out. There was of course absolutely no way they'd have left him. Cheers |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Pete Jennings Date: 29 May 02 - 08:19 PM 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
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: BK Date: 29 May 02 - 08:55 PM No dramatic stories; just "coal cracker" stock from northeastern Pa. My grandad saw the men w/black lung & supposedly very quickly resolved to become a carpenter instead of a minor & went on to become a construction supervisor & travelled all over the eastern & central coal mining areas of the U.S. building the "breakers" which were used as part of processing the coal. He had a job during the depression, while many others didn't & considered himself quite lucky. 'Course he had asthma & tobacco addiction & died a [somewhat] early respiratory/cardiac death anyway. We used to see the unending fires around the Kingston, Pa. area in what were apparently tailing dumps from the mines. Some of them were still burning when I was an adult. Cheers, BK |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Metchosin Date: 29 May 02 - 09:13 PM Me! Coal miners all, initially. My paternal grandfather in the Jinglepot Mine when he was young. Also his father before him and all his uncles. My greatgrandfather and one of his brothers survived the coal mine explosion of BC's No. 5 Pit at Wellington Colliery in 1888, which killed 77. Unfortunately his youngest brother did not make it out. After that disaster, my greatgrandfather decided to run a Blind Pig instead and ended up serving time for his choice of occupation, (didn't have the luck of the Bronfman's and the Seagrams) but at least he lived to a ripe old age.
My paternal grandmother's family as well. Hungarian greatgrandfather on that side, left the coal mines of Pennsylvania for those around Nanaimo BC, then eventually tried his hand over the Chilcoot Pass in the goldfield's of the Klondike. Great grandmother's first husband killed in mine in Pa., prior to her coming to BC. Maternal greatgrandfather and grandmother's brother killed in coal mines in Scotland. Lots of tragedies on all sides. All those that made it, eventually chose other ways to survive. |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Metchosin Date: 29 May 02 - 09:24 PM Bearheart, wierd how moonshine and coalmining seem to go hand in hand, no matter what part of the world you come from. Maybe a way to try to handle pain and tragedy. |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: NicoleC Date: 29 May 02 - 10:20 PM My paternal grandfather worked in coal mines in Southwest Virginia his whole life, and managed to escape unscathed. I remember his hat with a light on it, and his older hat with a what looked like a mirror and candlestick holder. I don't know if that's exactly what it was, and I was too scared of him to ask. Most of Southwest VA is a honeycomb of mines and leftover equipment -- left to rot and pollute. Not much coal mining there anymore. On the other side of the family, my gr-grandfather worked for a while at the Century Mine in WV. It's closed down now, but I've been to visit. WV is a mess from all the coal mines, but mother nature works wonders eventually. My grandfather remembers some rivers running blackish-brown and being totally dead of life when he was a kid, but are mostly clean and full of fish now.
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: GUEST,Peter Cook Date: 30 May 02 - 12:46 AM "So, all, in all.... Yes, I would really rather had been a judge." "But, instead, I became a minor, a coal miner."
From:Beyond the Fringe
Sincerely, |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Metchosin Date: 30 May 02 - 12:56 AM me too, but I didn't 'ave the latin for it. |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: paddymac Date: 30 May 02 - 01:03 AM One of my g-g-g-grandfathers was a miner in PA during the "troubles" involving the "Molly Maguires." He & a brother and their families left there the year several "Mollies" were hung (1872?) and went to Iowa. Don't know if he was involved in the "Mollies" or not. |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: GUEST,Peter Cook Date: 30 May 02 - 01:03 AM Judging Exams? They ARE noted for their Latin you know? Very rigorous exams. The minor exams are not nearly so rigorous. They only ask you one question, "Who are you?" I got 50% on that!!
Sincerely |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: GUEST,JBGoode Date: 30 May 02 - 05:21 AM My father tells me my grandfather was a moonshiner as well, with people coming around to get it. He also told me he was beaten up by state police (Pittston, PA) for sticking up for worker's rights. May have been union, not sure... He told me that when someone died in the mines, the company would drop off the body on the front porch of his house, with no funeral or coffin or anything. My father also told me that my grandfather love music, anything having to do with music...including Lawrence Welk! On my mother's side, unsure...he worked in the mines...possible alcoholic, "schizophrenic"...violated his family...saw him for the first time at his funeral. jbgoode
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Gareth Date: 30 May 02 - 05:34 AM The Valleys are greener now, but the cost has been unemployment.
For a quick tour of the Rhymney Valley CLICK 'ERE For a view of part of the ongoing problems with the disease caused by working underground WELL, CLICK 'ERE" At Senghenydd - virtually every safety rule in the book was broken, bare electrical wiring, no dust (fines) removal or damping, no alternative means of escape or ventelation from the district. - The Colliery Manager, (note, not the owners) was fined £30 - or less than 2 shillings (10p) a life. Thats the equivalent of US$50.00. Gareth |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: okthen Date: 30 May 02 - 05:42 AM I'm sure Pete Jennings dad knows this joke; On his first day down the pit, a young miner was shown to his place of work, given a pick and shovel and told to get on with it.He'd been working for about 10 minutes when he heard a whooshing sound, it got louder until something flew past his head. Having recovered he continued working untill 20 minutes later he heard the same sound with the same result. This happened every 20 minutes or so untill a few hours later he decided to put an end to this irritation and struck out with his shovel, killing what turned out to be a bat,pleased with himself he got on with his work, untill half an hour later someone came round yelling,"Everybody out, the ventillation's packed up". My father didn't laugh either when I told him that joke, just told me about the time Tatgee (my Welsh grandfather, Sian please correct)threw himself on top of my uncle Morgan to stop him from being burned, and how he remembered his father laying in bed like a blistered balloon from the burns.Grandad made the pit props, and because the mine owners were so cheap, he often cut a few trees from the Rheola forest so that he had some decent timber to work with. My father must have been about 3 or 4, the day his mother couldn't look after him and he had to accompany his father down the pit, it scared the **** out of him and was probably the impetus that drove him to obtaining a PhD. I had an "honourary" uncle who died from miners lung, well, according to the autopsy. But not according to the coal board who had given him a physical examination a week before and pronounced him fit, which meant they didn't have to pay his widow a pension. "Say hello to the new Boss, same as the old boss" Dad didn't talk much about his childhood in Wales, but get the impression that Dylan Thomas glamourises it.When I was a kid he used to say to me "You don't know your born", it's only now I realise how right he was. cheers bill |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Bullfrog Jones Date: 30 May 02 - 06:47 AM My maternal grandfather and several uncles worked in mines around Nant-Y-Moel, S Wales. (Gareth, I know Llanbradach well, too, my Auntie Flo lives there) I spent many happy summers as a boy staying with my aunts and uncles down there. For a kid from the mean streets of Sparkbrook, Birmingham, it was a real culture shock to be in a place where a sheep might wander through the back door at any time. I know what you mean about the the valleys being greener now , Gareth, much more than I remember (I once started writing a song about that --- I must dig it out and finish it). One thing I do remember though, apart from the singing, is the pride the miners took in their gardens. However small, and however steep the land, my uncles (and it was always the men) packed in as many colourful and sweet-smelling flowers as possible, presumably to make up for their monochrome existence underground. Life wasn't glamorous, and it was bloody hard, but the people in the mining communities I remember had an unquenchable thirst for life and laughter. BJ
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: greg stephens Date: 30 May 02 - 06:54 AM Reading these wonderful memories makes me wish I could be round in 100 years time to read the threads on "anyone come from call centre workers/bereavement counsellors/regeneration outreach liaison advisers?" |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: BanjoRay Date: 30 May 02 - 07:01 AM There have been some horrendous deaths down the mines over the years.My dad used to tell the story of a missing haulage man. This guy used to run a haulage engine in a mine roadway. This engine turned a large drum of thick steel cable, containing maybe a mile or so of cable, that would be used for hauling lines of tubs of coal along a railway track from a far-flung part of the mine to the bottom of the shaft. One day the guy didn't check out of the pit at the end of the shift, so people went down to look for him. After searching for several hours, he couldn't be found. He was eventually found several layers down on the drum. The theory was that he'd started his engine to haul in a line of tubs, then went and stood close by the cable to inspect it for damage as it was coming in. A sliver of broken steel strand sticking out of the cable must have caught in his clothing and hauled him onto the drum, where the rest of the cable wound round him under tension and totally squashed him. An automatic cut-out would of course have stopped the line of tubs from running into the drum. Phew! |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: okthen Date: 30 May 02 - 07:30 AM Gareth, it would be interesting to see a documentary about Senghenydd, (Britains largest mining disaster) also what happened after, why were the owners never fined (or jailed),where are their descendants? To translate, 10pence is 14 cents. cheers bill |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Hrothgar Date: 30 May 02 - 08:27 AM None of my family that I know of - thank God! |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: InOBU Date: 30 May 02 - 08:32 AM My dad was a miner when he ran away from home in the depression, hated it, didn't like to speak about it, but I think it was why he was a Union man in every thing he did until the day he died, and he raised a miner's son. Larry |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Gareth Date: 30 May 02 - 08:46 AM okthen, not aware of any documentary. The files of the local and Cardiff papers in the County Archieves are full of the accounts - but then the "Western Mail" was never a friend of the working class. There is a small museam in the Community Council Offices at Senghenydd, which is open by appointment. If any catter is visiting Caerphilly PM me, and I'll have words with the curator, me old drinking butty Councillor Reg Phillips, and see what can be arranged. The memorial is just a short walk away. But fine the owners, or imprison them, you jest !!! In the eyes of the law in 1911 the Colliers were voulanters, willingly acepting the risks. BTW the last known direct next of kin to the dead colliers passed away some 3 years ago. Yes and at the age of, it think, 98 she was still living in Senghenydd. 4 or Five years previously this old lady had seen the memorial to her father and many others dedicated. Gareth |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Pete Jennings Date: 30 May 02 - 10:09 AM Yes, Bill, I've heard the one about the bat... Another story I've remembered. Whe I was a coputer programmer with the Coal Board in the early seventies, following on from the Aberfan disaster there was a lot of effort, including legislation, going into making sure that the volumes of pit heaps didn't exceed a certain tonnage for their size (after which they became unstable). We had written a program which could calculate this volume (using tellurometer readings) and we took it to a few pits to gauge its accuracy against known volumes. At one pit in Wales, we got a negative response to our new-fangled technology, as they were quite happy with their present system, thank you very much. This consisted of an old bloke with a big sheet of hardboard, marked into squares, a bag of sand and a bottle of water. He would circle the pit heap, building up a sand model of it on the board and then, when he'd finished, he'd tip the sand off the board into another bag, weigh it and extrapolate the tonnage of the heap. When we got the readings from the surveyors and ran them through our program, we reckoned he was about 2% out, when the legislation demanded 5%. We went home. Pete
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: BanjoRay Date: 30 May 02 - 10:42 AM Hey Pete, which bit of British Coal did you work for? I was in the West Wales Area Laboratory when Aberfan happened, and we had to go out digging lots of holes in pit tips to try and work out densities and what was in them. To get the densities, we dug a hole, weighed the contents and poured sand in to exactly fill the hole, thus getting its volume. I wonder if anyone correlated our densities with your volumes? Isn't sand wonderful! Cheers |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Barbara Shaw Date: 30 May 02 - 12:17 PM Not coal, but my grandfather was a miner in the silver and copper mines of Arizona. He died of black lung at age 42. I'm told that he played guitar and he and his banjo-playing brother used to sit around in the evening singing and playing songs. My husband and I sit around in the evening singing and playing songs on guitar and banjo now. There's a song I wrote about him called "One More Miner" on my ShoreGrass In Connecticut CD (now in the auction). |
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Subject: THE GRESFORD DISASTER^^^ From: Gareth Date: 30 May 02 - 03:09 PM Not drifting from the thread, but back to Music - even if it originates in North Wales. Incidently the Fireman, was and still is, a safety man checking gas concentrations etc. By law he was, even then, supposed to keep records, of concentrations, and pockets. Shots (explosives) were not supposed to be blown when there was gas (firedamp) around. THE GRESFORD DISASTER
You've heard of the Gresford Disaster,
It occurred in the month of September
Now the gas in the Dennis deep section
Now a fortnight before the explosion,
Now the fireman;s reports they are missing
Down there in the dark they are lying.
Now the Lord Mayor of London's collecting
Farewell all our dear wives and children Recorded by Ewan MacColl (Steam Whistle Ballads?) Note: the Gresford disaster occurred on Friday, Sept. 22 1934. Actually, 265 miners died.RG tune is another Botany Bay variant. (From the DT)^^^ BTW White Lillys were sent in profusion to Sengynedd, and Oh yes, there was a Lord Mayors fund as well! Gareth |
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Pete Jennings Date: 30 May 02 - 06:15 PM Ray, I was with the NCB Computer Centre (Mining Systems) in Cannock (which later became Compower Ltd). I was there from 1970 to 1974, and I distinctly remember the strike of '71 when my mates in the payroll section had to burn the midnight oil because there was no provision in the system for a strike... Gareth, I was part of a team which wrote a computer system for the control of the use of explosives and detonators down the mines. It didn't really do much other than record the input, truth to tell, but in those days everyone was so scared of computer input forms that they made sure they got things right, so I like to think that we helped in some small way. See my entry above, (29 May, 8.19), about the type of incident that we helped to put an end to. Pete
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Subject: RE: who comes from coal miners? From: Gareth Date: 30 May 02 - 07:00 PM Err, Yes Pete, we do know the incident you mentioned here in South Wales. The old Merthyr Vale tips at Aberfan have now stabilised enough for them to plant trees upon them. I see the plantings every day on my way to work up the A470. As my father said, and before he got out of the pits he was an NCB Engineer (Thought there was a bettr future in teaching) - Post Aberfan, and the Watkins Enquiry - " There, but for the grace of God, went I" - At Crumlin, Abercarne, Nine Mile Point, and Betteshanger (in Kent)he'd ordered tipping (US = Tailing) without worrying about the long term future. My 18th Birthday was spent underground at the Lady Windsor Colliery nr Pontypridd. Ostensibly an Union Inspection by the Lodge I found out later that he had persueded the Lodge Chairman of the NUM to take me down, and give me a hard time. Just to remove any illusions that I may have had about the glamour of being a collier. It worked. Gareth
They came down here from London, |
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