Dawn has answered most of these But to add a bit 1: Silence. Well yes, but even more unnerving were the small creaking noises in a mine where you knew that your party of 6 were the only people down there. The face was where the mine was being worked, the idea being just to extract coal, but some rock also had to be removed to get at the coal. Faces were unused when they became to small to be economical, or when faults meant that you got to a place where there was no more coal. It had moved up or down. 2: See http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1578726 for an example of a 3 deck one. When you look for images of coal mines you see the pithead wheels that cables went over to raise and lower the cages, usually parallel pairs. The tubs (like small railway wagons) where pushed in full of coal at the bottom and pulled out above ground to be emptied. 3: The mines were mostly not lit, but see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_lamp Other brands, such as the Stephenson (as in George) were available. 4. Search for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firedamp for the nastiest "bad air". There where others. As for never knowing how GG GF got his scar, the accident may have been mentioned in the papers, if you know when and where to search. Cheers Steve On 03/03/2012 23:43, Marilyn L. Arnold wrote: > Thank you ALL for this very interesting discussion and experiences with coal > minig! This has raised some questions and terminology with which I (and > perhaps others) am unfamiliar. Can someone help? > > 1. Brian said .... "we went ...on a school trip, all the way to the coal > faces, at a unused face the guide had everybody turn off there helmet > lights. I can still remember the total darkness." WOW. ... gave me > goosebumps. I'm sure the silence was stunning as well. > > Question1: What are "coal faces" and "unused coal faces"? The edge of > where coal becomes a different type of rock? > > 2. John. Roberts -- VERY interesting email about coal mining. THANKS! > > Question2: What is a "colliery?" You worked a cage? What is a "cage?" and > you refer to decks as if things were stacked. Coal to be hauled out? > > 3. Q3: How were the mines lit in the 1800s? Candles? Lanterns? > > 4. Q4: How often was there "bad air" as described in the story shared by > Derek of the personal story of the poor 11-year old girl? > > And thanks to Derek, Dawn as well for their very graphic descriptions of > life ... rather sobering. And, interesting about the ponies. Life > certainly wasn't easy, was it? > > Now this makes me wonder if my GG GF somehow worked in the coal mines w/the > ponies and that's how he got the scar on his lip. Interesting ..... > hmmmm..... Well, since he was b. 1865 and died before I was born, I guess > I'll never really know! (Although 4 of his grandchildren are still living). > > Thanks again, > Marilyn > DC > > ****************************** > ATTENTION TO ALL:- When replying please remove the details that do not apply to your mail and change the SUBJECT LINE for best useage of ARCHIVED MATERIALS. > ------------------------------- > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to STAFFORDSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

You might find this site useful   http://www.cmhrc.co.uk/site/home/index.html   It has a database of over 140,000 names   Derek

Greetings from Hingham. Massachusetts, USA Derek. Thanks for this one. I was able to bring up the death of my third greatgrandfather. It told me what happened and when, only a little different from family story. It was interesting in reading all about the mine in which he worked. Again, thank you, Barbara Sweeney Valente On Sun, Mar 4, 2012 at 6:12 AM, Derek <derekn@btinternet.com> wrote: > You might find this site useful > > http://www.cmhrc.co.uk/site/home/index.html > > It has a database of over 140,000 names > > Derek > ****************************** > ATTENTION TO ALL:- When replying please remove the details that do not > apply to your mail and change the SUBJECT LINE for best useage of ARCHIVED > MATERIALS. > ------------------------------- > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > STAFFORDSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >