CHAPTER EIGHT

Miscellaneous

Contents

Conditions underground - Accidents - The Miners’ Wages - Fossils - Two Poems

Conditions underground
     The air was at a constant temperature, summer and winter, of some 62º Fahrenheit (17º Celsius), and free from harmful dust.   Explosive gas was not a problem and the tunnel roofs, which were 8 to 10 feet ( 2 to 3 m.) high, gave plenty of head-room.   It must be remembered, however, that the men worked in semi-darkness within pools of light given off by their carbide lamps.   In this regard any photograph of the underground workings cannot give a true impression of the limited amount of illumination available to the men.   Conditions, however, in the Irthlingborough Mine were undoubtedly far better than those to be encountered in the mining of other minerals, particularly coal.   
     Visitors to the mine agreed.    There were at least 16 visits from 1943 onwards, each involving up to 30 people, ranging from local schoolboys to County Councillors and members of various mining-related institutions.    Visitors, without exception, commented on the congenial conditions encountered underground.    These visits were planned to show the mechanised operations in practice, and no doubt the visitors would be taken to areas of the mine where conditions were more acceptable.    There were, however, other areas where water was present and access involved the workers trudging through muddy tunnels clad in Wellington boots; here, men were often paid extra wages and provided with suitable footwear.
     While, after 1949, surface workers could enjoy subsidised meals in a canteen, it was, for underground workers, a matter of taking a 20-minute break to eat their ‘snap’, the food they had carried with them (fig. 1), while perched on a dry sleeper or a lump of rock.

Accidents
     Miners, it must be remembered, worked with the ever-present possibility of fatal accidents or severe injury; hardly two weeks would pass without a report of injury, in some cases requiring hospitalisation.    Despite this there was a happy atmosphere underground and a genuine sense of camaraderie.    During the 50 years’ life of the mine 12 or more men lost their lives, four of them working above ground.    As time passed the incidence of fatal injuries was reduced, mainly as a result of new support rules introduced after 1960 at the demand of H.M. Inspector of Mines.    These were listed in booklets given to each miner, with illustrations indicating the props or roof support rails to be erected in various situations, and it was the duty of the Deputy of each district to see that these rules were strictly adhered to.    In addition more men now wore safety helmets, together with safety boots fitted with steel toe-caps (made by the local firm, George Denton & Sons of Rushden under the name of Totectors ), and there was a general awareness of the inherent dangers of the job.    The foreman of the Fitting Shop, on the surface, always carried a glass eye in his pocket.   If he caught a man using a milling machine, grinder, or welding equipment without proper eye protection, he would drop the eye on the bench beside the offender, saying "take this, you’ll be needing it very soon".   The warning never needed to be used twice on the same man.
     Filmed in 1920, this video gives some indication of the alarmingly nonchalant attitude of some miners in the early years.    

Under the mining regulations it was always necessary to provide an ambulance station (fig. 2) in every working district.    Each included a stretcher with blankets so that an injured miner could be kept warm while he was being taken to the surface, where there was an ambulance room fitted out with basic medical supplies and a local doctor would be already in attendance.    After the Second World War ex-WD. containers, used during World War II to drop supplies into France, were purchased by the Company; these were either attached to the tunnel wall or cemented into brick piers in each working district and were used to house a stretcher and blankets.    There were also hot water bottles, electric kettles and a cupboard containing rudimentary first aid equipment.    In 1946, after much discussion with the inspectorate and the local doctor, it was decided to allow chosen men, qualified in first aid, to administer morphine in certain cases.    This was supplied in ampoules of a specified strength, thus avoiding overdose, and was held in a locked cabinet in the Deputy’s cabin in each working district.    The need for such a facility had become apparent when the authorities found that many injured men died, not directly from the injuries received, but more often from shock due to the time-lag between the accident happening and the arrival of the injured person at hospital.    Deputies were required to be proficient in first aid and here (fig. 3) we see a Deputy administering first aid to one of his injured miners.   Stretcher cases were brought to the surface by laying the stretcher on one of the trolley locomotives but, not long before the mine closed, an ambulance vehicle was constructed in the workshops so that the injured man would not be subjected to the effect of the cool air encountered when travelling to the surface.    In the event of a severe or fatal accident the Mines Inspector in Leicester would be informed immediately, and he would arrive within two hours to visit the scene.   By that time a plan, and a full description of the event would have been prepared for him so that he could pronounce his verdict, either as to where any blame could be attributed, or whether it should be recorded as a purely accidental occurrence.    Later, of course, in the case of a death, there would be an inquest.   On at least two occasions where the death was caused by a fall of rock from the roof, and the deputy had assured the Inspector that he had instructed the miner to erect a prop, the Inspector, whilst pronouncing the cause as accidental, would inform the manager that firm measures should be taken to ensure that timbering instructions were quickly obeyed.   Invariably, when a fatal injury occurred, whether on the surface or underground, a mood of despondency pervaded the works for some time.    There was also an understandable sense of relief at the realisation that ‘it might have been me’.
     There were, however, some lucky escapes shown in the following three examples.    Firstly a report for the week ending the 15th September, 1945.   

"A FORTUNATE ESCAPE    On Wednesday last an unusual accident occurred in the working of the 5360 machine [Finedon Quarry].    The bottom man, A*****, had assisted in the moving forward of the trailing cable by means of the bucket. Having attached the sling to the bucket teeth and the machine having moved the cable forward along the edge of the quarry face and lowered the bucket to enable A***** to remove the sling from the teeth, A***** signalled the driver away.    The driver lowered the bucket and commenced his first digging operation.    In the act of scooping up the loose muck at the base of the face the other bottom man heard a shout and immediately called upon the driver to stop.    The bucket had then reached the base of the limestone bed and was approximately half full.    The driver immediately stopped, lowered the bucket right back, and in company with others around frantically scooped the muck away and after approximately two minutes uncovered the head of A***** who had been buried in the muck and was lying against the bucket door.    Fortunately he received no injury whatsoever, no scratch or bruising except a little shock and was able to complete his shift after a rest in the cabin.   
     It appears when he gave the signal "away", to the driver he immediately turned, intending to walk away from the edge to the ladder and slipped backwards, falling into the bucket unseen and before he could collect himself the bucket was beginning to scoop the muck and he started screaming.   
     Arrangements have now been made that the driver will not move until the man who will use the sling for such purposes again, has moved a distance of at the least 15 yards ( 14 m.) from the bucket to give the necessary signal authorising the driver to proceed with his job of digging."

The report for the week ending 22 April, 1944 states :-  

"Big traffic accident underground and derailment at main East turn 11:30 am Wednesday -- road blocked until 6 pm (6.5 hours) -- drivers and rope runners questioned -- evidently train coming from mine passed the lights -- no injuries -- mine OK for output as plenty of trams in districts but the Finedon Quarry was 100 trams short."

Finally, a first-hand account where five people could have been involved in an horrendous accident.
     When the surveyor was carrying out his quarterly survey of the mine workings he always called upon the assistance of two Day Workers from underground.    For these Day Men this appeared to be an easy job, in contrast to the hard work they would normally be doing.    It would take three days to carry out this survey,    but on this occasion one of the Day Workers thought it would be a good idea to make the job extend a further day by lagging behind as much as possible.    Halfway through the third day, time was getting short, and it was necessary to urge the men to move a little faster.    The particular Day Man lagging behind was told, in no uncertain terms, to hurry and to wind up the measuring tape while at the same time walking.    Luckily he immediately complied, and as he walked out of the tunnel to the crosscut, his co-worker with him, a length of about 40 feet (12 m.) of roof fell behind them with a loud bang.    At the time two further men were working at the face, so the surveyor immediately ran into the tunnel over the rock fall, where he found to his relief that neither of these men was badly hurt, the only slight injury being a small scratch to the back of the knee of one of them.   The surveyor, on returning to his measuring work, found the two Day Workers already well ahead.   He had no difficulty in completing the work in the three days, finding it, indeed, difficult for him to keep pace with the men.   The man who had been reprimanded for lagging behind now literally shook at the knees, saying "you saved my life".   On reaching the Steps Entrance he immediately gave in his notice and was never seen again underground.    Had the roof fall occurred only moments earlier five men might have died; this would certainly have become a national news item.

The Miners’ Wages
     From the beginning the weekly wages to be paid to each two-man team of hand miners were calculated, and paid out, in a traditional manner peculiar to the mining industry.    The total wages for each team were handed to the miner, who himself reimbursed his helper having calculated the amount due to him.    This method was used until the introduction of the P.A.Y.E. system in 1944.    After that time, although the office would now calculate the helper’s wage, and pay it directly to him, the pay was calculated, and recorded on the joint wage slip in exactly the same way as before (fig. 4).    The column on the left shows the amounts due to both men and the column on the right shows the deductions due from both men.    For example, all employees contributed one penny per week to Dr. Barnardo's and, after 1947, they also paid two pence per week to the Company's Sports and Welfare Club.    The calculations of the wages due, on the left-hand side of the wages slip, are complicated, but basically they are based on the tonnage loaded two weeks previously.    The miner would not know what this tonnage would be but he would have kept a careful note of how many trams had been loaded in that week and could estimate the approximate tonnage.    At this time, in 1959, the Government had imposed a total wage freeze but employees were allowed a cost of living increase based on the Retail Price Index.    This can be seen on the wages slip.

Fossils
     The Northampton Sand Ironstone in general was well endowed with a variety of fossils but unfortunately there were fewer to be found in the underground workings at Irthlingborough.    There were, however, one or two pockets where fossils were present.   Usually these were softer than the enclosing rock, being casts of the original shell, formed of calcite.   The fossils illustrated are a representative selection only. Their scientific names were supplied by the Geological Museum in London who asked to retain one fossil as a unique example of a type not so far represented in their collection.    ‘Fools Gold’ (Iron Pyrites) was often seen as small beads of a gold colour glistening in the roof.   This unusually large specimen was a unique find.  

Two Poems,
These poems were among those submitted to the Company’s newspaper, Ingot News, by one of the Deputies, who had a distinct flair for verse.   His name was Robert Mason, though he was always known as ‘Oscar’ to his workmates and ‘Our Rhymster’ to the editors on Ingot News.

There’s a powerful whine in our mechanised mine,
As the Blacketts bore into the stone.
Gone are the days of the old ‘hand-kit’ ways:
When a miner had reason to groan.

A miner’s life was one of great strife,
When he lived by the sweat of his brow.
At the end of the day he felt quite worn away,
But conditions are much better now.

It was his skill that guided the drill
For boring a hole into which
He places a det. when the powder is set,
And it's fired at the touch of a switch.

There's a deafening roar and a heap on the floor,
But the miner won't wear himself out.
With an ear-splitting din the loader moves in,
And boy, watch them wagons move out !

This loader is swift : in an eight-hour shift
It fills forty wagons or more.
It makes miners sweat much less, and yet
It certainly turns out the ore.

The times are reversed - for better, not worse -
And a miner’s no longer forlorn.
A chest like a horse is not needed, of course,
For brain now means more than brawn.

Another poem on a more sombre note, which Mr Mason considered his best :-

      Journey Through Darkness

The air was now dense, the silence intense,
As a myriad stars came cascading.
Then they all disappeared, leaving darkness so weird,
As he lay there, his consciousness fading.

A minute before, he'd been shovelling ore,
Contented, his mind free from trouble,
When a rumble was heard, and disaster occurred,
And buried him under the rubble.

All through the years, he had shown by his sneers
That religion was past his belief.
But now in despair, he murmured a prayer
That the Good Lord would grant him relief.

As he frantically raved, the rescuers slaved -
A road through the fall they were clearing.
But their voices were hushed, for they feared he was crushed,
'Neath the boulders of rock they were clearing.

Then, hearing a groan sound from under the stone,
Their efforts they knew weren't in vain.
The speed was increased, and the victim released,
And he managed to smile once again.

Two rocks, they all said, had locked overhead,
And screened him from most of the weight.
It was luck, said a few, but one miner knew
That his prayers had not been too late.

Perhaps this poem should be dedicated to those who lost their lives in the cause of iron ore mining.