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Background
Information
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Joseph
Brett was 69 years old at the time of interview and was a former
miner. He brought into school a number of artifacts including a
map of the colliery, some miner’s equipment and his personal
drawings of life down a mine. He lived in Horden and had done so for the past 43 years.
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Tell us
about life down a mine
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Life
down a mine was dirty, filthy and very hot.
Some times you would want to strip off it was so hot. In the olden days I believe miners often wore very little
due to the combination of hard work and the temperature. Sweat like a pig you would.
I thought that the best part of working down a mine was the
comradeship. You made
good friends in the pit. You
had to get on well with each other and have a laugh. Of course payday on a Friday wasn’t bad either.
The worst bit about life in the pit for me was the water,
which was often up to your knees. It was either cold or hot. Still it was employment though.
Damp and hot but it was still work.
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How did you find out about
the disaster?
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I first
heard about the pit explosion early on the morning of the 29th of
May.I was in bed and
my dad woke me up with the following words. “The pit’s blown up.”
I got up and went to see my girlfriend to let her know that
I was okay.At the
time I was confused, I didn’t realise just how bad it was and
thought that they would be able to get some of the men out at
least.I know that
the rescue teams had arrived by 5am, but it was such a big
explosion that they had to send for more. People waiting at the gates wanted to go down to help the
rescue but it was impossible. There were so many people at the gates.
I know that one person was brought out quite quickly but he
was practically dead.
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Do you know
what caused the disaster?
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The
disaster was caused by a coal-cutting machine letting off sparks.
Gas must have been there and it blew.
The second explosion went for seven miles I think.
The biggest explosion we had ever had I think.
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Did the
press report the disaster sensitively?
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Everyone
knew about it. The
papers at the time were quite good. They did not sensationalise it as they would now, they
often reported it as “Unknown number missing or Many feared
dead.” In those
days there were hardly any televisions so few news reporters were
there although there were plenty of reporters.
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How do you
think the disaster affected the area?
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In
the short term the community pulled together.
Everyone was suffering because everyone knew somebody who
had died.
There was a good community spirit.
You would talk to people you would not normally talk to.
Money flowed in from all around the world for widows and
children.
In the long term this money was used to help the families
of the dead.
A lot of children got educated with that money.
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Did the
Coal Board do anything to improve safety after the disaster?
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There
was a big inquest into the disaster and there were lots of changes
as a result. You were
only allowed to have so many men in a mine at a time to prevent
such a huge number being killed again.
Rules came in about switching electricity off, improving
ventilation to get rid of the gas and removing coal dust.
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How did you
feel when the mine closed down?
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I
was retired before the pit closed down but I felt it was a great
shame. It wasn’t nice but it was work.
There’s no jobs for kids now like when I was young.
It must be hard for them just getting married and having
families. It’s important for kids round here to know about mining.
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Do you feel
that it is important for school children to be aware of what coal
mining was like?
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It’s an important link in the chain.
With the mine not being here anymore if they don’t find
out about it then people will forget.
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Many thanks to Mr. Joseph
Brett for his comments and assistance in this interview.
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