Down the mines

Story: John Mellor | Photo: Saleema Imam

A group of intrepid local historians set off from Burngreave Cemetery early in May to visit the National Coal Mining Museum at Wakefield.

For several of the group, it was their first visit to Caphouse Colliery and proved to be an eye-opening experience into the history of the coal mining industry.

The museum has a well-stocked library where members of the group were able to do research into drift mines, examples of which were once found in Pitsmoor. The visit continued with a tour of the buildings on the surface where there were two pit ponies in stables.

We saw the Winding Engine House, which operated the winding gear, and the Fan House, which supplied a constant stream of fresh air to the underground workings. The extensive Pithead Baths, with their large banks of ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’ lockers at either end, prompted some humorous anecdotes from the guides, all ex-miners with their own characteristic sense of humour.

But the most unforgettable, and indeed shocking, part of the tour was the hour and a half spent exploring the underground roadways and coal faces after a descent of 140 metres (450 feet) in the ‘cage’, kitted out with miners’ helmets and lamps. Shocking in the way that lifelike figures were used to display the appalling conditions in the 19th Century, when women and young children laboured for long hours in dark, damp and dangerous conditions.

The displays took us through periods when the only tools available were picks and shovels and the coal had to be dragged on wooden sledges pulled by women and children on their hands and knees up long slopes or ‘drifts’.

Later, pit ponies were used for this purpose and were kept underground for long periods of time without seeing daylight or green grass. Canaries were used to detect toxic gases such as carbon monoxide: when the canary fell off its perch, the miners knew it was time to beat a hasty retreat out of the mine!

In more recent times, large, ingenious coal-cutting machines were installed. These reduced the amount of physical work considerably and speeded up the process of extracting the coal but also increased the amount of coal dust and noise. We asked our guide how these large machines got there. He told us that they had to be dismantled at the pithead, taken down the mine piece by piece and then assembled by fitters and electricians at the coal face.

Our six hours passed very quickly and there was still much more to see – perhaps another visit? Our thanks are due to Saleema who organised the day – oh yes, and everyone was counted back at the pithead!