lay beneath the surface.
Colliery, or coal mining as it is also known, is as old as history. Early man gathered coal for fire. The Romans and Chinese used coal before Christ was born.
Prior to the 1800s, coal was mined in large measure from visible outcrops or deposits close to the surface of the earth. Pits shaped like upside down bells were carved into the ground with no roof support of any kind. These bell pits were as much as two hundred fifty feet deep. When one collapsed, it opened the surrounding terrain for more mining.
In the second half of the eighteenth century, a revolution in industrial processes led to an increase in the use of steam power and an exponential increase in the demand for coal. At the same time, shaft mining became the most common form of mining in England. Miners learned to use timber to support shaft walls and the roofs of tunnels, which enabled them to dig deeper into the earth and burrow further away from the shaft. Then steam pumps became more sophisticated in removing water that seeped into tunnels, allowing shafts to extend even further into the ground.
By 1850, more than two hundred thousand English men, women, and children laboured in mines.
Colliery has made some people rich. It has cost many more their lives. A shaft is dug into the ground, often a quarter of a mile deep. Tunnels supported by timber brattice extend a hundred yards or more away from the shaft. The pits are mined round the clock by workers, who labour in shifts as long as twelve hours. They see as much of the sun as a man might hope for were he placed in a coffin.
A manâs life is measured in years. For coal miners, each birthday warns of passing another marker that stands between them and the grave. The boys have a feeling of immortality. They view going into the mines as a rite of passage to becoming a man. By the time they are old enough to understand fully what is involved, they are locked into their mean existence.
The mine tunnels are places of slow torture, dark narrow ovens filled with black soot in summer and clammy cold in winter. The miners crawl upon hands and knees, their bodies touching the roof and walls.
Rats are everywhere.
The shadow of death is omnipresent. Most of the men die prematurely from diseases of the lungs and heart or lose the strengththat they rely upon for their livelihood as a consequence of the debilitating wear and tear that their bodies endure.
The noise of digging and blasting is constant in their claustrophobic underground world. More ominous are the everyday warning sounds of strata shifting, rocks falling, roof timber cracking, and water dripping. A miner grows accustomed to these sounds or is broken by them.
Rock falls from collapsing tunnels and the rush of water if an underground stream breaches a tunnel wall are ever present threats. Poisonous and flammable gasses accumulate in air pockets within coal deposits. If one of these foul pockets is penetrated, the release of gas can lead to death by suffocation.
The miners carry Davy lamps in the tunnels. The flame is encased beneath an iron gauze top knit tightly enough to prevent it from passing through the mesh. If the flame in a Davy lamp enlarges or turns blue, it is a danger signal that gas is in the air.
But the light that the Davy lamps emit is poor. The men can make more money by working with a full light than they can with the gauze tops fastened on. Sometimes they open their lamps underground. If gas is present, the result can be a catastrophic explosion.
Not a week passes without men dying in English mines. Women and children too.
In 1838, a stream overflowed into a mine shaft after a violent thunderstorm in Silkstone in northern England. Fifteen boys between the ages of nine and twelve and eleven girls between the ages of eight and sixteen were killed. In the aftermath of the disaster, Queen Victoria ordered an inquiry. A royal commission headed by Lord Anthony Ashley was formed. Lord Ashleyâs study
Colliery, or coal mining as it is also known, is as old as history. Early man gathered coal for fire. The Romans and Chinese used coal before Christ was born.
Prior to the 1800s, coal was mined in large measure from visible outcrops or deposits close to the surface of the earth. Pits shaped like upside down bells were carved into the ground with no roof support of any kind. These bell pits were as much as two hundred fifty feet deep. When one collapsed, it opened the surrounding terrain for more mining.
In the second half of the eighteenth century, a revolution in industrial processes led to an increase in the use of steam power and an exponential increase in the demand for coal. At the same time, shaft mining became the most common form of mining in England. Miners learned to use timber to support shaft walls and the roofs of tunnels, which enabled them to dig deeper into the earth and burrow further away from the shaft. Then steam pumps became more sophisticated in removing water that seeped into tunnels, allowing shafts to extend even further into the ground.
By 1850, more than two hundred thousand English men, women, and children laboured in mines.
Colliery has made some people rich. It has cost many more their lives. A shaft is dug into the ground, often a quarter of a mile deep. Tunnels supported by timber brattice extend a hundred yards or more away from the shaft. The pits are mined round the clock by workers, who labour in shifts as long as twelve hours. They see as much of the sun as a man might hope for were he placed in a coffin.
A manâs life is measured in years. For coal miners, each birthday warns of passing another marker that stands between them and the grave. The boys have a feeling of immortality. They view going into the mines as a rite of passage to becoming a man. By the time they are old enough to understand fully what is involved, they are locked into their mean existence.
The mine tunnels are places of slow torture, dark narrow ovens filled with black soot in summer and clammy cold in winter. The miners crawl upon hands and knees, their bodies touching the roof and walls.
Rats are everywhere.
The shadow of death is omnipresent. Most of the men die prematurely from diseases of the lungs and heart or lose the strengththat they rely upon for their livelihood as a consequence of the debilitating wear and tear that their bodies endure.
The noise of digging and blasting is constant in their claustrophobic underground world. More ominous are the everyday warning sounds of strata shifting, rocks falling, roof timber cracking, and water dripping. A miner grows accustomed to these sounds or is broken by them.
Rock falls from collapsing tunnels and the rush of water if an underground stream breaches a tunnel wall are ever present threats. Poisonous and flammable gasses accumulate in air pockets within coal deposits. If one of these foul pockets is penetrated, the release of gas can lead to death by suffocation.
The miners carry Davy lamps in the tunnels. The flame is encased beneath an iron gauze top knit tightly enough to prevent it from passing through the mesh. If the flame in a Davy lamp enlarges or turns blue, it is a danger signal that gas is in the air.
But the light that the Davy lamps emit is poor. The men can make more money by working with a full light than they can with the gauze tops fastened on. Sometimes they open their lamps underground. If gas is present, the result can be a catastrophic explosion.
Not a week passes without men dying in English mines. Women and children too.
In 1838, a stream overflowed into a mine shaft after a violent thunderstorm in Silkstone in northern England. Fifteen boys between the ages of nine and twelve and eleven girls between the ages of eight and sixteen were killed. In the aftermath of the disaster, Queen Victoria ordered an inquiry. A royal commission headed by Lord Anthony Ashley was formed. Lord Ashleyâs study
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