The change in coal mining from the hard days of hewing and filling coal by hand on the coal face to the introduction of new machinery and supports 1940 - 1990
Can you believe it? My uncle worked at the coal face handfilling in the 40’s 50’s and 60’s. After a full shift’s work on days, he would then come home, eat and walk to tend to his allotment for another 4 hours in the summer. On afternoons shift he would tend it in the morning before going to work and on night shift, tend it after waking in the afternoon. He wasn’t a big man but muscle and sinew. These men could work HARD, non stop and never out of breath. They were strong with great endurance and still found time to look after house with decorating etc. I tell you, the FaceBook and Instagram generation couldn’t hold a candle to that generation, they even won a world war against the Axis powers too. “Hard times make strong men, Strong men make good times, good times make weak men and weak men make hard times” We are living in the last part of this phrase now.
My Granddad and uncle were coalminers and I have taught my children about what they did for a job, I’ve even took them underground to see the machinery and techniques that were used at the national coal mining museum in Wakefield. The industry maybe dead in the Uk but it’ll never be dead as long as people are taught about its history. Fair play to all the men women and children who worked in this industry and not forgetting the pit ponies and canaries
poor animals who had no choice...bless them all. this is an industry not for the faint of heart....it is hard to just watch let alone ...do it. for one thing you can't be afraid of small places. I wouldn't do it for a million dollars....not enuf money in the world.
I was in the pits from 67 to 71, a great industry. Only 4 years the memories are ingrained. So many served good apprenticeships. Many were trained by the NCB and left to work abroad. The foreign currency brought back to the UK was enormous. We lost skilled men with so much knowledge. Loved it.
No matter where it was filmed respect for our coal mineing brothers.this was hard work.i started working in 76 come out in 95 thanks were a little different way back then thanks for letting me share. Stay safe.
Been there, done that and got the body to prove it. The knackered back, every joint hurts, 60% hearing loss, scars all over, white finger and lung fibrosis. Would I do it again given the chance ?? ... You bet I would ! It was bl**dy hard work but workmates and humour beyond compare !
One of my abiding memories of the second pit that I went down was the hydraulic roof/support system moving forward and, occasionally, you could hear the rock falls behind it. The fields above were settling down several metres.
Interesting seeing the Meco-Moore Slicer loader, came into being in the 1930's phased out in early 50's, a few thousand were built, but not one has survived the scrap yard. It was the first power loader. I've worked on the AB 16 shearer loader. Finished off in Australia with heavy duty shields both Gullick and Dowty, big beasts, and the AM500HP double ended ranging drum shearers. 2.5 million tons of coal a year faces. There are now faces that produce 8 million tons of coal a year.
i work in a pillar section on the loading crew i remember setting the breaker row of props and watching the cave come at me for the first time!!!!!!!!!!!
I was an electrician in a pillar extraction panel, could get a bit "hairy" at times, but as long as the lads obeyed the Managers support rules, fairly safe. Started on the early longwalls with the NCB, Dowty three and two leg Roofmasters, and Gullick five leg Seamen Chocks, right up to the AM500Hp shearers with heavy duty Gullick and Dowty faces.
Ecellent archive footage! How on earth can 2,214 people who have watched this,not leave even a token of appreciation,like "Thanks!",for Mark posting this? ! Surely I'm not the only living ex-miner aroond this place! This footage had me jumping oot the way of thi haalage chyne,once it started booncing up and doon...[it didn't on this footage,but it sure as hell DID,when the shearer started cutting through the stone roof or floor as encountered on a faulted area of the coalfyess!!] Not the forst time me Marra's had nasty accidents,the Deputy on one face at Bates was knocked unconcious in the middle of the face when the chain flew from where a chock canopy had pushed it owa ti the face side,in a swalley,then as it whipped back,it hit the deputy on his head just as he reached over the spill-plates on the face conveyor to watch the progress of the shearer......a fatal[for some...] action to take,but almost every miner did the same thing sometime during his shift. Another Marra,a fitter,at Bedlington A pit,a nice lad,had two middle fingers taken clean off one hand as he was tensioning the haulage chain,at the armoured face conveyor head-end,where the chain had an anchorage point. He came straight back to work on the face as soon as his hand healed! I could write loads of stories about nasty accidents happening,and how resilient us lot were,I myself had bad accidents and never even lost a shift,or reported them! Suffered all my life with pain because of that ,and should have had a pension! Mind,I was a young lad and couldn't afford to stay off work,cos in them days there was no great amount of financial help from the "National Assistance"[DHSS...] like there is noo...!
I was glad when they brought in the rack and pinion haulage, one less danger out the way, seen many a haulage chain break, hit the floor flat, or you'd end up being whipped by it.
Think you will find this was filmed at coalmines in the UK, oh and btw we had miners from the Windrush generation working in Collieries from the '60s till the last colliery closed down!
Started in S Wales in late 60s, worked in machine cut faces until the pit closed in 1986. Year or two out, then back into a coal level in the Rhondda. One man in a stall, good 5-6ft seam, but with a 1-2ft band of muck running through the middle. Wasn't allowed to bore and fire the coal so had to be worked with blast puncture, shovel and pick. One doughty in stall with the rest wooden props, Push your own dram in and out and lay your own rails, and that coal a like 'iron' to work. So, James, your dating of 1976 a little bit out there my friend.
Really???? Looked pretty hard work to me in the 80's when we had geological problems, and couldn't catch the roof, 15-20 foot of timber mid face being loaded above the shields.
Can you believe it? My uncle worked at the coal face handfilling in the 40’s 50’s and 60’s. After a full shift’s work on days, he would then come home, eat and walk to tend to his allotment for another 4 hours in the summer. On afternoons shift he would tend it in the morning before going to work and on night shift, tend it after waking in the afternoon. He wasn’t a big man but muscle and sinew. These men could work HARD, non stop and never out of breath. They were strong with great endurance and still found time to look after house with decorating etc. I tell you, the FaceBook and Instagram generation couldn’t hold a candle to that generation, they even won a world war against the Axis powers too. “Hard times make strong men, Strong men make good times, good times make weak men and weak men make hard times” We are living in the last part of this phrase now.
As an ex miner of 15 years it is great to see our history on here. For me it will never be forgotten
My Granddad and uncle were coalminers and I have taught my children about what they did for a job, I’ve even took them underground to see the machinery and techniques that were used at the national coal mining museum in Wakefield. The industry maybe dead in the Uk but it’ll never be dead as long as people are taught about its history. Fair play to all the men women and children who worked in this industry and not forgetting the pit ponies and canaries
poor animals who had no choice...bless them all. this is an industry not for the faint of heart....it is hard to just watch let alone ...do it. for one thing you can't be afraid of small places. I wouldn't do it for a million dollars....not enuf money in the world.
I was in the pits from 67 to 71, a great industry. Only 4 years the memories are ingrained. So many served good apprenticeships. Many were trained by the NCB and left to work abroad. The foreign currency brought back to the UK was enormous. We lost skilled men with so much knowledge. Loved it.
Cherry Picker I have a friend who is a coalminer. He has talked to me of what it is to be a coal miner.
I am in awe of these people
NCB apprenticeships best trained and paid.
No matter where it was filmed respect for our coal mineing brothers.this was hard work.i started working in 76 come out in 95 thanks were a little different way back then thanks for letting me share. Stay safe.
Been there, done that and got the body to prove it. The knackered back, every joint hurts, 60% hearing loss, scars all over, white finger and lung fibrosis. Would I do it again given the chance ?? ... You bet I would ! It was bl**dy hard work but workmates and humour beyond compare !
One of my abiding memories of the second pit that I went down was the hydraulic roof/support system moving forward and, occasionally, you could hear the rock falls behind it. The fields above were settling down several metres.
Interesting seeing the Meco-Moore Slicer loader, came into being in the 1930's phased out in early 50's, a few thousand were built, but not one has survived the scrap yard. It was the first power loader. I've worked on the AB 16 shearer loader. Finished off in Australia with heavy duty shields both Gullick and Dowty, big beasts, and the AM500HP double ended ranging drum shearers. 2.5 million tons of coal a year faces. There are now faces that produce 8 million tons of coal a year.
These men worked hard everyday, this is rare in our world today. We were meant to work.!!!!!!!.
Outstanding archive videos. Many thanks for uploading this!
I worked at 2 Coal Mines Tilmanstone Colliery 3033 feet deep and Betteshanger colliery 1900 ft deep. still miss it.
i work in a pillar section on the loading crew i remember setting the breaker row of props and watching the cave come at me for the first time!!!!!!!!!!!
I was an electrician in a pillar extraction panel, could get a bit "hairy" at times, but as long as the lads obeyed the Managers support rules, fairly safe. Started on the early longwalls with the NCB, Dowty three and two leg Roofmasters, and Gullick five leg Seamen Chocks, right up to the AM500Hp shearers with heavy duty Gullick and Dowty faces.
Thanks for the video of the early longwall. Its the first ive seen that..
Ecellent archive footage! How on earth can 2,214 people who have watched this,not leave even a token of appreciation,like "Thanks!",for Mark posting this? !
Surely I'm not the only living ex-miner aroond this place!
This footage had me jumping oot the way of thi haalage chyne,once it started booncing up and doon...[it didn't on this footage,but it sure as hell DID,when the shearer started cutting through the stone roof or floor as encountered on a faulted area of the coalfyess!!]
Not the forst time me Marra's had nasty accidents,the Deputy on one face at Bates was knocked unconcious in the middle of the face when the chain flew from where a chock canopy had pushed it owa ti the face side,in a swalley,then as it whipped back,it hit the deputy on his head just as he reached over the spill-plates on the face conveyor to watch the progress of the shearer......a fatal[for some...] action to take,but almost every miner did the same thing sometime during his shift.
Another Marra,a fitter,at Bedlington A pit,a nice lad,had two middle fingers taken clean off one hand as he was tensioning the haulage chain,at the armoured face conveyor head-end,where the chain had an anchorage point.
He came straight back to work on the face as soon as his hand healed!
I could write loads of stories about nasty accidents happening,and how resilient us lot were,I myself had bad accidents and never even lost a shift,or reported them!
Suffered all my life with pain because of that ,and should have had a pension!
Mind,I was a young lad and couldn't afford to stay off work,cos in them days there was no
great amount of financial help from the "National Assistance"[DHSS...] like there is noo...!
I can tell your from north east👍😁 great stories mate👌
I was glad when they brought in the rack and pinion haulage, one less danger out the way, seen many a haulage chain break, hit the floor flat, or you'd end up being whipped by it.
Very awesome video
Hard American White men doing hard back breaking work. Much respect. Thanks for the upload.
Think you will find this was filmed at coalmines in the UK, oh and btw we had miners from the Windrush generation working in Collieries from the '60s till the last colliery closed down!
Racists spotted!!!!
@@merlinonline67 Certainly looked like UK pits to me also.
Cool Beans 😎
I,wouldn't have minded being on the shovel drilling and blasting,i:m from South Wales.
Doesn't seem like much is holding up the ceiling
✌✌✌
Dios los bendiga
The hard work in coal mines was pretty 1976 from there after people joining mining were only playing at being mine workers
Started in S Wales in late 60s, worked in machine cut faces until the pit closed in 1986. Year or two out, then back into a coal level in the Rhondda. One man in a stall, good 5-6ft seam, but with a 1-2ft band of muck running through the middle. Wasn't allowed to bore and fire the coal so had to be worked with blast puncture, shovel and pick. One doughty in stall with the rest wooden props, Push your own dram in and out and lay your own rails, and that coal a like 'iron' to work. So, James, your dating of 1976 a little bit out there my friend.
You saying men were only playing at coal mining after 76, make me wonder if you ever actually went down a coal mine, never mind worked down one.
Really???? Looked pretty hard work to me in the 80's when we had geological problems, and couldn't catch the roof, 15-20 foot of timber mid face being loaded above the shields.
As a mechanised long wall face advances conditions get harder,no playing miners mate.
Why the stupid music
Piss it off..annoying 😤