After a few days of hiking and cycling the peaks, dales and ridges of
the Peak District, we drove onto southern Yorkshire.
In Overton, near Wakefield we visited the National Coal Mining Museum which
involved a tour of the mine works 140 metres below the surface. As we were in a real coal mine there was no photographic or electrical equipment allowed, so sorry we have no pictures to show you.
On the tour we learned that up until 1842 women and children as young as 6 worked underground. On their hands and knees they dragged 50kg bags of coal through a network of tunnels to a central point where pit ponies took it to the surface.
On the tour we learned that up until 1842 women and children as young as 6 worked underground. On their hands and knees they dragged 50kg bags of coal through a network of tunnels to a central point where pit ponies took it to the surface.
At the peak in the early 20th century there were 72,000 pit ponies and
1,230,000 men employed in the British coal industry.
Men worked the coal face by candle light, but candles were expensive so
the women and boys worked in total darkness. In 1842 a large disaster resulted
in Queen Victoria calling a Royal Commission, the outcome of which was that
women and children under the age of 10 were no longer allowed to work underground;
and that it wasn't until 1991 that this limitation changed and women could be
employed in technical roles.
On the tour we were shown 19th century mining practices and then
subsequent advancements. I hadn't appreciated the consequences of the British
narrow coal seams, relative to Australia. Our guide had worked in four
Yorkshire collieries where the seams varied from 4ft to 6ft. He wasn't aware of
any British colliery being large enough to drive a vehicle into or around a
pit.
From Wakefield we drove onto York. By chance, The Royal Shakespeare
summer series had a pop-up Globe-like theatre in the city. We were fortunate to
see Henry V with "Groundling" tickets. These tickets give you access
to the ground level standing area right in front of the stage. The performance
was not a sell out and we had enough space to sit with an unobstructed view. On
numerous occasions during the production actors left the stage and came into
the audience, standing or kneeling right in front of us delivering their lines.
It was fabulous.
We also did the usual York tourist stuff
including the Minster, Clifford Tower, The Railway Museum and walked the old
market lane called The Shambles.
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