They had stables underground for the pit ponies, but they came up periodically, may have been annually ( from memory, but were going back to the 50's ) for a break. They had farms for them, and retirement, they were looked after at least in years, they were still going in the 50's / 60's. In the 1950's - 1980's there were around 100 pits, still working, Essington, Cannock, Hednesford, Rugeley, Cannock Chase, Walsall Wood, Brownhills area. We went down Hednesford number 5 pit 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. Brian

Having worked all my life in Coal Mining in Staffordshire can confirm that there were stables underground. At the colliery I worked at the ponies were always well kept and the miners would often take special treats for the ponies as they always thought very highly of these animals. They were used to haul both full and empty tubs around the Pit Bottom area. The only time they ever came to the surface was for the traditional two week Miners Holiday. At the colliery where I worked the cage was rather small. It had three decks but only the top deck was sufficiently high to enable one pony at a time to enter the cage. This deck was also very small in width and depth being designed for six men standing two abreast and three deep. When the ponies were loaded into the cage they had to open a hatch at the roof of the top deck and the pony would be coaxed into this very limited space, made to sit down with its head through the open hatch. A very tricky operation. Because the lighting underground was negligible, they had to wear "blinkers" to protect their eyes whilst on the surface. It was a real treat to see them making the most of very limited freedom and to watch them gambol about was a great sight to experience. After the two week break the procedure would have to be gone through again to get the ponies back into the mine. Despite all this, they were always well cared for. The colliery blacksmith was required to go underground to shoe the ponies when necessary. Inspections were made at regular intervals by a Veterinary Surgeon and also the Mines Inspectorate. Hope this is of interest. John Roberts In the Staffordshire Potteries Where the Mugs Come From -------------------------------------------------- From: "brian" <brian@kddpowercentre.com> Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2012 9:41 PM To: <staffordshire@rootsweb.com> Subject: Re: [STAFFORDSHIRE] 1881 -- The Iron Works, Moxley/Wednesfield > They had stables underground for the pit ponies, but they came up > periodically, may have been annually ( from memory, but were going back to > the 50's ) for a break. They had farms for them, and retirement, they were > looked after at least in years, they were still going in the 50's / 60's. > > In the 1950's - 1980's there were around 100 pits, still working, > Essington, > Cannock, Hednesford, Rugeley, Cannock Chase, Walsall Wood, Brownhills > area. > > We went down Hednesford number 5 pit 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. > > Brian > > ****************************** > 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 > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2012.0.1913 / Virus Database: 2114/4848 - Release Date: 03/03/12 >

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

Coal face - where they were working to get at it. It may well have continued on in a seam, but they were only at one point then. Colliery - coal works, coal mine. Cage - a sort of lift I suppose. Elevator to Americans. It was exactly that - a steel cage, wire sides roof and floor. All open! Decks - levels I think, so the lift/cage might be a couple of storeys high - would move people faster if so. The bottom level would go to one level of tunnel the next might go to a different one. The sides were removable I think, slid up and down, so they could get out... Often mines were not lit, they worked by feel. Or, candles, whatever. Bad air would be fairly common. Canaries keeled over before men did - if the canary died the men got out - it was a primitive early warning system. Other times it was explosive bad air - chipping at the rock would produce sparks, or a candle, and up it would all go - another mining disaster. Not uncommon, for sure. Or course, the mine collapsed by itself often enough. More killed of course. Life was cheap in effect. I have been in Old now disused mines (gold ones and coal ones), tourist ones, where the old cages etc are still in use. But, they use electricity these days and pump the water out too. Back then, water was a constant presence and problem. Even if they had the technology to pump it out, it may not have been very effective, may well have been too expensive to an owner who wanted to keep costs down - and as I said, the mine workers lives were cheap - always more to fill the gaps! Of course, it was not always as bad as I paint, but often enough, it was. Dawn -----Original Message----- From: staffordshire-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:staffordshire-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Marilyn L. Arnold Sent: Sunday, 4 March 2012 10:44 AM To: staffordshire@rootsweb.com Subject: [STAFFORDSHIRE] COAL MINING QUESTIONS 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 __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6935 (20120303) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6935 (20120303) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com

Hi: The Coal Mining History Resource Centre website at: http://www.cmhrc.co.uk/site/home/index.html contains a lot of useful and interesting information. It also contains an indexed database of people killed in coal mining accidents, often with details of what happened - sobering reading. Best wishes Paul

Maralyn, if you put "Glossary of Coal Mining Terms' into Google you will get several sites that will help you. You may wish to limit your selection to UK Sites. John Bennett On 4 Mar 2012, at 05:38, Dawn Webb wrote: > Coal face - where they were working to get at it. It may well have > continued on in a seam, but they were only at one point then. > > Colliery - coal works, coal mine. Cage - a sort of lift I suppose. Elevator > to Americans. It was exactly that - a steel cage, wire sides roof and > floor. All open! Decks - levels I think, so the lift/cage might be a > couple of storeys high - would move people faster if so. The bottom level > would go to one level of tunnel the next might go to a different one. The > sides were removable I think, slid up and down, so they could get out... > > Often mines were not lit, they worked by feel. Or, candles, whatever. > > > Bad air would be fairly common. Canaries keeled over before men did - if > the canary died the men got out - it was a primitive early warning system. > Other times it was explosive bad air - chipping at the rock would produce > sparks, or a candle, and up it would all go - another mining disaster. Not > uncommon, for sure. Or course, the mine collapsed by itself often enough. > More killed of course. > > Life was cheap in effect. > > I have been in Old now disused mines (gold ones and coal ones), tourist > ones, where the old cages etc are still in use. But, they use electricity > these days and pump the water out too. Back then, water was a constant > presence and problem. Even if they had the technology to pump it out, it > may not have been very effective, may well have been too expensive to an > owner who wanted to keep costs down - and as I said, the mine workers lives > were cheap - always more to fill the gaps! Of course, it was not always as > bad as I paint, but often enough, it was. > > Dawn > > -----Original Message----- > From: staffordshire-bounces@rootsweb.com > [mailto:staffordshire-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Marilyn L. Arnold > Sent: Sunday, 4 March 2012 10:44 AM > To: staffordshire@rootsweb.com > Subject: [STAFFORDSHIRE] COAL MINING QUESTIONS > > 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 > >

It is, thank you. Not sure if the conditions in the 180s and earlier would have been as good as in the 1950s though. Still, pit ponies I think were always valued. The mine would have not operated without them, is my understanding. Dawn -----Original Message----- From: staffordshire-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:staffordshire-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of J Roberts Sent: Sunday, 4 March 2012 9:45 AM To: staffordshire@rootsweb.com Subject: [STAFFORDSHIRE] Pit Ponies Having worked all my life in Coal Mining in Staffordshire can confirm that there were stables underground. At the colliery I worked at the ponies were always well kept and the miners would often take special treats for the ponies as they always thought very highly of these animals. They were used to haul both full and empty tubs around the Pit Bottom area. The only time they ever came to the surface was for the traditional two week Miners Holiday. At the colliery where I worked the cage was rather small. It had three decks but only the top deck was sufficiently high to enable one pony at a time to enter the cage. This deck was also very small in width and depth being designed for six men standing two abreast and three deep. When the ponies were loaded into the cage they had to open a hatch at the roof of the top deck and the pony would be coaxed into this very limited space, made to sit down with its head through the open hatch. A very tricky operation. Because the lighting underground was negligible, they had to wear "blinkers" to protect their eyes whilst on the surface. It was a real treat to see them making the most of very limited freedom and to watch them gambol about was a great sight to experience. After the two week break the procedure would have to be gone through again to get the ponies back into the mine. Despite all this, they were always well cared for. The colliery blacksmith was required to go underground to shoe the ponies when necessary. Inspections were made at regular intervals by a Veterinary Surgeon and also the Mines Inspectorate. Hope this is of interest. John Roberts In the Staffordshire Potteries Where the Mugs Come From -------------------------------------------------- From: "brian" <brian@kddpowercentre.com> Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2012 9:41 PM To: <staffordshire@rootsweb.com> Subject: Re: [STAFFORDSHIRE] 1881 -- The Iron Works, Moxley/Wednesfield > They had stables underground for the pit ponies, but they came up > periodically, may have been annually ( from memory, but were going back to > the 50's ) for a break. They had farms for them, and retirement, they were > looked after at least in years, they were still going in the 50's / 60's. > > In the 1950's - 1980's there were around 100 pits, still working, > Essington, > Cannock, Hednesford, Rugeley, Cannock Chase, Walsall Wood, Brownhills > area. > > We went down Hednesford number 5 pit 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. > > Brian > > ****************************** > 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 > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2012.0.1913 / Virus Database: 2114/4848 - Release Date: 03/03/12 > ****************************** 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 __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6935 (20120303) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6935 (20120303) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6935 (20120303) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com