Following notices regarding the recently formed Singing Group and the u3a discount for anyone wishing to attend Southport Flower Show, the Chair introduced Gary Conley who regaled us with ‘My Life at The Manor’. This was no story of a well-to-do gentleman living in a fine Manor House, but rather the opposite – that of mining memories from a man brought up in a St. Helens’ 2 up/2 down.
Gary asked what we thought St. Helens was initially famous for and most people thought of glass (Pilkington) or pharmaceuticals (Beecham). This was incorrect as coal was produced 200 years before both. In fact, Pilkington chose St. Helens because of the access to power – coal. On leaving school, Gary became a pit fitter apprentice and eventually a fully fledged fitter. He worked all his life at Sutton Manor Coal Pit, following in his relatives’ footsteps.
Sutton Manor shafts were sunk in 1906 and high-quality coal started being produced in 1910 until its closure in 1992. (When it closed down in 1992, a survey showed that there was -and is -50+ years’ worth of coal left there).
The shafts were 2,400 feet deep – that is 5 Blackpool Towers! And when the miners had travelled down, they had to walk 2-2.5 miles to the coal face. Gary’s great grandfather worked at about 3 feet at the coal face, his grandfather worked at 5 feet, both with picks and shovels, in hot, damp conditions. Gary stated that he had it ‘easy’, working at 12 feet with hydraulics, water, machinery and a conveyor belt.
Gary explained about using his ‘number’ to obtain food in the canteen and goods from the shop (the payment was taken out of his wages), and about tallies – brass and aluminium discs which were exchanged daily at given times. If there was an explosion in the mine, the miners would not survive and all that may be left would be the brass tallies because brass does not burn. Gary also told us about the lack of toilet facilities and regaled us with some tales of desperation! We learned about ‘snap’ and ‘snap tins, canaries, Davy lamps, pit head baths, overalls and the Vaseline that miners used to remove the pit dust from eyelashes!
Gary’s presentation included slides and many, many anecdotes. It was interactive, amusing - at times hilarious – but still painted a very vivid picture of the lives and working conditions of miners. This was a talk thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed by all.
Reports of monthly meetings and information of upcoming events and activity groups can be found on our website - https://www.northwich.u3asite.uk
Come and join us for the meeting on Wednesday 15th July, 2pm at Owley Wood Recreation Club, Weaverham, when Andrew Bennet will tell all about ‘Glass Making and Stained Glass’.