Hi Diana, Yes, as a rule of thumb, they stuck to their respective mines. Colliers/Haggers/Hewers in coal mines, and miners in iron-ore mines. Neither were safer than the other, suffering the same conditions, and homes, but whereas the likelihood of a gas explosion in a coal mine was great, and in an iron-ore mine, negligable; the fall of roof in an ore mine was considerably more serious than a fall of coal or shale in a colliery. Why? If you try and lift a standard shovel of coal, which could be 18 inches to 20 inches across, you could do so without much problem. A similar sized shovel of iron-ore would be extremely difficult to move, let alone lift! We demonstrate this fact during our underground tour. Having said all that, some transfer from mine to colliery did occur, but rarely the other way. Finally, Cleator Moor was unique in that it had a shaft that mined coal and iron-ore, being on the coal fault, where a considerable movement of ground had occured, where the newer coal measures had become level with the older (deeper) iron-ore deposits. As Norman Nicholson put it "Red and Black berries from the same bush". This was one of only two iron-ore mines that suffered from gas, as the methane technically was in the same mine/colliery, although no methane problems were ever reported in the ore areas. The men carried safety lamps in the coal workings, but the ore miners were allowed to smoke clay pipes! The other gaseous ore mine was Hodbarrow in Millom, where occasional small explosions were known, caused by decaying wood in abandoned or flooded workings. Dave (Florence Mine Heritage Centre, Egremont) ----- Original Message ----- From: "diana smith" <diana.smith@ntlworld.com> To: <CUMBERLAND-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, October 07, 2002 1:25 PM Subject: [CUL] Miners - thanks Dave! > Thanks Dave for the very informative piece about Irish miners in Cumberland. > (Hope you got my reply offlist). > > I have another question: did iron miners always stick to iron mines, and > coal miners to coalmines, or might a miner work in both iron mines and > coalmines during his working life, chopping and changing with what work was > available? (Hope that makes sense!) > > Diana > > ______________________________