Parkside Memories, 1959 to 1989
Parkside Re-visited (1975-89)
I was working for Sellars Ltd, a firm of pie makers at the time, where hours were long and pay short, we had a grown up family who needed feeding and clothing, money was tight, and the loss making grocer's shop that had been our main source of income had been closed a year previously. We had been in the shop for a number of years, from leaving Parkside in 1963 until 1974 when we closed it down and sold all the fixtures and fittings to some people from Skelmersdale, who wanted to start up in a small grocers shop. Edna had obtained a job with Rathbones in their Pemberton branch, but we needed more money to live to a decent standard, because what I was getting at Sellars was a pittance, a princely sum of £45 per week, working approximately 66 hours for it. 75p/hour for 40 hours and time + 1/3 for any overtime.
I'd had a word with a former colleague of mine at Parkside, Jimmy Holmes, who was a deputy there, and he informed me that the wages were a lot better than when I had been there previously, as deputies were now being paid for working weekends, a something that didn't happen when I was there in '63. I had seen Jimmy at a Speechday ceremony I attended when our son, Dave was at the Grammar School, and I had toyed with the idea of going back into mining, but what pushed me over the edge, as it were, was the fact that Eric had seen fit to stop me a day's wage when I had been incapacitated with a bad stomach. Up to then I had worked extra time for nothing on various occasions. Any problems, and I was sent to iron them out.
One time, I had to go and placate an irate customer who had supposedly found a dead fly in a pie. I must have spent four hours of my own time doing this, and saved Eric a court appearance. So when he started to "penny pinch" it really got my back up. I saw the wages book once. I wasn't supposed to see it but I did, Eric and Roy together with Colin were all drawing a straight £75, and Eric and Roy each had director's fees of £60 per week. Fair enough, it was their business, and they were entitled to pay themselves any amount that they wished to do. When I asked Eric for a raise he said that they couldn't afford it. I thought "No, but you and Roy can squander it, buying cars and caravans".
One day, when I had finished work a bit early, it was probably on a Wednesday, because Wednesday and Saturday were "half days," when you only worked from 4.00am until 1.00pm! I went out to Parkside to see if there was any work available. Wages then in the NCB were £61 per week for general workers, i.e. daywagemen. On top of this was concessionary fuel, which was a lot more useful than free pies! And this just for 37 hours.
I looked in at the deputies report room, nothing had changed. I saw a man in there, sweating profusely, shirt open to the waist, making his report out. I didn't know it at the time but I found out later that it was Jack Ellis, or "Iron Jack", as he was known. There were still some of my old mates there, Frank Bourhill, Jimmy Holmes, Wally Thomas, Peter Toothill, to name a few. I saw Ron Silver, the personnel manager and he told me that there were no vacancies, other than ripping on regular nights, which I didn't fancy so I decided to leave it for a while.
I went in to see Derek Taylor the Admin. Officer to arrange an underground visit, and he said that there was one planned for the following Friday night. These visits were a regular feature at that time, and each Friday at 6pm, there was a trip down the pit, a quick walk to the face and back, a shower, and a bite to eat in the staff canteen.
I turned up as arranged on the Friday at 6.00pm.but I hadn't said anything to anyone at the bakehouse about it. As I went into the deputies' baths to get changed, there was a feeling of "deja-vu" about it all, as if I hadn't been away from the place for 12 years. We picked up our lamps and self rescuers, which were an innovation that I hadn't seen previously, and made our way to the shaft along the covered walkway, passing the control room on our way.
Entering the cage, we were lowered down the shaft, and the last 12 years were gone in an instant! It came back to me just like it was yesterday, when I last rode the cage. I could see all the buntons as we passed, and I couldn't help thinking of the times when we installed them. Arriving at No3 horizon, we made our way inbye. I've forgotten who the official was who took us round, but it was a party from some offices somewhere that I was tacked on to, with one man dressed in a fisherman's jersey and wearing thigh length waders! I don't know who told him to wear this get up, but he lost some sweat!
We were taken along the South tunnel on the man-riding train, to the airlock that led to the return airway, as the face that we were going to visit was S10, in the Ince 6ft seam. No one can describe the smell of the return airway. It is something that has to be experienced. I can best describe it as a mixture of sweat, coal, hot oil, and powder smoke. It's all there. There was also the familiar "popping" of the ears as we went through the airdoors. Walking along the roadway in Indian file, we soon reached the face.
Frank Bourhill was the overman in charge, and when he saw me he said "Neah, art t'lookin fer a start?" I think that Jimmy Holmes must have told him that I was trying to get back in the industry, and I told Frank that as soon as I could get a start I would be back. We clambered on to the face, down through the chocks, which I hadn't seen before. When you haven't experienced "complete caving" of the roof it can be a bit scary. The chocks are pulled in allowing the roof to fall behind them. Behind the chocks are "flush nets" made from pieces of chain and old pieces of conveyor belt and these stop the debris from flushing on to the chock track.
An example of complete caving behind chocks.
All this was new to me, as was the shearer. I had seen shearers working years ago when I was at Ravenhead Colliery, doing my deputy's training, but these machines were a lot more sophisticated, and faster. They were known as "rangers" from the fact that the cutting disc could be raised and lowered to cut the whole seam. The operator would cut up with the disc or wheel at the top of the seam, and when he reached the full extent of his run, he lowered the boom and took out the bottoms, going back to the main gate. As he cut the tops out, the chockmen pushed out the sliding beam on the chocks to cover the exposed roof and, as the machine went back taking the bottom coal, move the chocks in to the new track. We finally reached the main gate and came out into the roadway, where another surprise was in store. We rode out on the conveyor belt, a practice that had been completely illegal when I was at Stones. We used to ride the belts there, but the practice was really forbidden, and you would have been fined if caught. The belts at Parkside were equipped with platforms for getting on and also for alighting. When you walked on to the "getting on" platform, it dipped towards the belt, as it was hinged and had a counter weight to allow it to go back again. At the other end of the belt, there was a platform, built alongside it, which you walked on to, and then down steps leading down to the floor again. We finally reached the shaft again and came up for a welcome cup of tea. I thought to myself, "This beats working 60 hours a week in a bakehouse."
I came home and had a think about it, and decided that I should make the move. I went a couple more times to Parkside, but was met with the same reply. "Ripping on regular nights only" Finally, I went again and this time I took with me all the stuff that I had, Deputies certificate, School Certificate, ULCI certificates. When Ron Silver saw all these, he said, "Wait there a minute" and went off with my papers. I don't think that he had believed me before, when I had told him of my time at Parkside in the 60s. I don't know whom he saw, but on his return he said, "When can you start?" I was taken aback with the suddenness of it all and I said, "In a fortnight" He said, "Come in a week" I was made up!
When I went to the bakehouse the following day I told Eric that I was leaving and going back underground. He was pig sick! He really thought that I was going to Rathbones as there had been whispers that I was fed up with the job. I told him that I couldn't manage on the money that he was paying me. He sulked for a few days but he got over it. He took my key back and told me to start at 6 00am in future. That was OK as I only had part of a week to work for him. I finished on the following Saturday and after a week's holiday at home, I started back at Parkside on the 3rd of March 1975.
Starting Back Underground
The first day back, I had to go to the baths to get a locker allocated, and then to be equipped with hat, boots, and lamp belt, and I was shown to my locker, which was in the bottom deck of the main bathhouse. Albert Lowe was there, he had been Baths Superintendent at Stones but here he was just an attendant, and we had a chat about the old days, while he was sorting me out. (It was a shame really, the way that Albert's life ended. He must have been suffering from depression after leaving the pit later on, as he went out one night and jumped from the bridge in Downall Green Rd. on to the M6 and was killed outright.) I also had to have instruction in the use of the self-rescuer. I had a word with Fred Lindsay who was in charge of the ambulance room. Fred had been a deputy at Stones when I was there, and like me had left the industry to go into business. He had the job in the ambulance room because he was suffering from arthritis. I went in the canteen for a meal, and a drink, the canteen tea tasting exactly the same as it did 12 years previously, weak, slightly sweet and lukewarm! I left for home in the afternoon with instructions as to who to see the following morning.
I was up in good time the next day to catch the Smiths coach at the pickup point near the garage across from Stephens's way. I didn't know anyone on the coach, but I soon found out who they all were. When we arrived at the pit I got changed into some pit clothes and went to pick up my lamp. Going down pit I was put with a gang of men to do my 20 days CPS (close personal supervision), for this was something that a man who had been out of the pit for more than 2 years had to do.
I was placed with Dick Stead, Bob Woodcock, and old Jimmy (I don't recall his last name) and we were engaged in re-ripping E3 brow. This was a roadway that was the access tunnel for the Ince mine and the Lower Florida and all the coal from these two seams came up this tunnel. The arches were prone to crushing as the roadway was driven through the Lower Florida, which was a bad seam for floor heave and side pressure. It took a bit of getting used to again, as using a spade wasn't anything like getting pies out of an oven! The lads were good fun to work with. We were working round about the tandem in E3 brow and the job was a bit tricky because it involved slinging a platform over the conveyor to work from. Most of the dirt went straight on to the belt as it was freed from around the damaged arch. When the arch was freed and sufficient ground got out for the new one, the new crown was set in position and we came down off the platform to clean up at the sides for the new legs. All of this was going on whilst the coal was running and the haulage system was in motion.
The chap in charge of the transfer point was Old Joe Heyes He used to sit in a manhole where his control switch was, watching in case the belts stopped. Sometimes he would pass his time, looking out for capwire, the stuff that was left after shots had been fired. This was copper wire covered in plastic, and Joe used to collect it, strip the plastic off, and binding it all together, would, in the course of a week, get about 5lb of copper which he used to take home and sell to the scrap man!
I found out that Dick's son was at school with our Dave and that his daughter had been at school with Jeff. Bob's wife was a German by birth and had married Bob when he was in the Regular Army in Germany after the last war. I spent a couple of weeks with them, and quite enjoyed it.
The haulage system was something out of a "horror" film. I've never seen a worse system in operation anywhere. The material came down pit loaded on trams or in minecars. It was then taken by the locomotive to the end of the south tunnel and here it was unloaded for the first time, and thrown to the other side of the conveyor. Everything had to be manhandled, arches, struts, stilts, covering boards, stemming, chockpieces. The material was then loaded into baskets, which were carried by monorail across 3/21 level to the top of E3 brow, a distance of 150yds. Here the baskets were transferred to the E3 monorail, which involved a lot of effort with chainblocks, as the set of 2 baskets were lowered and then lifted again.
The monorail system had been installed originally to handle the materials without them being unloaded, and when it was first thought out, the theory was very good. Materials were loaded into containers on the surface, which were placed on to trams and held in place by cones on the tram base, which fitted into suitable pockets on the underside of the container, and these were sent underground to be taken inbye by the battery loco.
As the trams reached the end of the permanent railtrack they were transferred, still loaded to the monorail, at the end of which they were put on a "coolie cart", a system made up of pre-fabricated track, on which was mounted a tram with captive wheels, a bit like the idea that holds the "roller coaster" cars in place on the fairground, and this took the material to the working face. That was the theory, but in practice it was a whole lot different.
When the monorail reached the bottom of E3, all the material was off-loaded and stacked under the belts, where the materials were split up for S10 which went off to the right, and L16 and L18 which were straight in. That was the second time of handling. From here it was taken on trams for a further 300yds before being thrown over the belts at L16 return for its journey to the face. That was the third time of handling. Halfway into L16 return, the roadway was so crushed that the material was off-loaded again, for the fourth time.
I never saw a coolie car system all the time that I was at Parkside. It was the most time consuming method of materials handling that I have ever seen, and the job that I was engaged in with Dick and Bob was to prepare E3 brow for a new haulage system. While I was with them I developed a bad back, as the old lumbago problem reared its head again. I couldn't afford to play off on it, having only just started back, so I had to carry on and work it off.
We had some fun on that job, even though I was only with them for a fortnight! When the undermanager used to go past, Bob would let him get by for about 50yds and then start to throw dust up in the air, it looked like a fog!! I often wonder if John Connaughton ever knew that it was done for his benefit!
As the haulage came through about twice a day, we had some repartee with the lads who were with it. Billy Keating was in charge of it, and he and old Jimmy would have a "dust up" every time they met, with Billy pretending to batter Jimmy, and Jimmy playing up, would pretend to be hurt.
Continued...