The Early Shift
Miners wore flat caps, hobnailed boots and moleskin (thick cotton) trousers. They didn’t wear hard hats or safety gear, but they did tie their trousers at the knee (said to keep out the rats!)
Lucky for some
The miners started work at five o’clock in the morning. There were many superstitions about their dangerous working lives. A miner would go back home if he saw a woman on the way to work, as this was said to be bad luck.
Taking the bait
At the pit, the miners would collect a tally (a token that showed how many men were underground).
They also took tools, a lamp and their ‘bait’ into the mine – a sandwich and a flask of water or cold tea.
What is in this case
1 Tallies Every miner had a tally. It was used to identify him, allocate his pay and for safety checks. Tallies, also known as tokens and checks, had to be made to withstand the damp and dangerous conditions in the mines.
2 Overman’s Helmet 1900s The overman was in charge of mine safety underground. The flap at the back of his helmet protected his white collar from the dripping water.
3-4 Compressed cardboard helmets Miners wore cloth caps until safety helmets were introduced in the 1930s. Some continued to wear their caps underneath the uncomfortable new cardboard helmets!
5 Bakelite and leather helmet 1950s The miners’ helmets had a metal bracket on the front, where they could attach a lamp. These often provided the only light for working in the mine tunnels.
6 Candles Before mining lamps were invented, miners used candles made of tallow (animal fat). They stood them in a midge (a wooden box or tin). The miners had to pay for their own candles.
7 Midge lamp This paraffin lamp belonged to Stan Cawthorne. He used it for 30 years in Eston Mine, until the mine closed in 1949.
8 Oil lamp These lights were fuelled with lamp oil (paraffin). The metal disk behind the naked flame reflected the light, making it brighter.
9 Carbide lamp Carbide lamps, which burn acetylene, were first used in mines in the 1920s. They produce a very bright light, but the naked flame made them dangerous. Many mines contained natural gases that could explode.
10 Miner’s lamp, early 20th century For safety, naked flames were banned in mines in 1952. Miners complained that some of the new electric safety lamps were heavy and didn’t produce much light.
11 Drawing of different types of safety lamp Safety lamps were designed to enclose the naked flames. This stopped the heat igniting the explosive firedamp (methane gas) that could build up in the mines.
12 Squib boxes Miners worked the ironstone seams using explosives which they lit with squibs (fuses). These only worked if kept really dry. We still use the saying ‘damp squib’ to describe something not as exciting as expected.
13 Pick axe Miners used pick axes to create holes in the rock face. These were a starting place for making bigger holes with a ‘jumper’ drill.
14 Jumper drill These long chisel-ended metal poles were used to make deep holes for placing explosives. The miners had to throw the jumper drill repeatedly at the rock face, which required strength and skill.
15 Hand-powered ratchet drill This type of drill was more powerful and easier to use than a jumper drill. Miners could drill holes for blasting out the rock much more quickly.
16 Scraper After drilling, the miners used a scraper to clear out the holes ready for the explosives.
17 Pricker Gunpowder and clay were packed into the drill hole, around a pricker. When the pricker was pulled out, it left a neat hole for the squib (fuse).
18 Stemmer Miners used a stemmer to pack the explosives into the hole. These were made of brass or wood to ensure they did not cause a spark.