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No easy life


islandgun
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Looking at the ghost ship thread, I happened upon these photos of miners in the 30s apart from the relatively grim scene this one amused me because of the character in the picture on the wall, you almost expect him to wave ! Theres some great photos here by Bill Brandt https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-51480340

343031287_minertwo.jpg.2b47ec2fc209417dfd135d2ee3487bf7.jpg

Edited by islandgun
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You do realise that the picture was taken before the availability of televisions to families like that.

The poor woman has nothing to watch apart from her husband having his "tea" and then she will making love all night to increase the size of the family to ensure they have enough money coming in from all the wages.

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8 minutes ago, islandgun said:

Not much fun to be had, thats for sure

I think people will do their best to have fun no matter what. But dire conditions to have fun in.

I suppose it's lucky that across the industrialized western world the trades unions managed to secure better conditions for their workers. Otherwise it would still be like that - just go and look at Bangladesh or wherever...

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5 minutes ago, sam triple said:

Days where if you didn’t work you didn’t eat I’m guessing 

Depression 1930's. I think your right

7 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

You do realise that the picture was taken before the availability of televisions to families like that.

The poor woman has nothing to watch apart from her husband having his "tea" and then she will making love all night to increase the size of the family to ensure they have enough money coming in from all the wages.

Another age, almost a different world, well yes a third world picture, hard to imagine anyone living like now, here at least

Just now, Retsdon said:

I think people will do their best to have fun no matter what. But dire conditions to have fun in.

I suppose it's lucky that across the industrialized western world the trades unions managed to secure better conditions for their workers. Otherwise it would still be like that - just go and look at Bangladesh or wherever...

yes

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That man probably died in his early 50s and was an invalid for the last five years of his life from "the dust" That's if he was lucky and the roof didn't fall in on him or got crushed by a truck first.

Go to South Wales and take a walk round the cemeteries in the old mining villages reading the gravestones. It tells a tale

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My maternal grandfather was a hewer of coal in nine mile point pit, cwmfelinfach. The backs of his hands had what looked like blue tattoos which, in fact , were scars from coal falls filled with could dust. They used the the galvanised bath as there were no bathrooms at that time and the cludgy was at the end of the garden. I spent many many weeks visiting when a child. The pit was still working. His father was a miner in Treorchy.

It wasn't a hard life just for the men. Women too had it hard, especially when fathers and sons worked down the mines and on different shifts. Constant cleaning, cooking, washing etc. When Mrs B researched the family tree she read up on life down the mines. What stuck in her mind was a report of a miners son asking the Dr why his mum died so young. "She was worn out" was the recirded reply.

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In the late 20s and early 30s my mother was growing up in one of those houses in the picture below. My grandfather worked in the steelworks. But around the time she was 12 or 13 he'd saved enough money to open a small shop and they moved to Pant, s small village a bit further up the hill.  But then the Depression hit in full force and from what I understand the shop went bust. In any event,  when she was 16 she and her sister were packed off to go to London as a trainee nurses at Great Ormond's Children Hospital .....just before the Blitz started! Yet no regrets or moans - it was just normal life for the times and you took it in your stride.

Anyway, it all came out OK in the end.... 

Dowlais-Ironworks-Smelt-Mill-Archive-Alb

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26 minutes ago, Bobba said:

My maternal grandfather was a hewer

That was a hard job. If ever you come across it I can recommend a book called Coming Back Brockens by a fellow called Hudson. It's actually about Peterlee in the North East, but the stories ( and the characters)  in it could have applied to any mining area in the country. 

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12 minutes ago, Retsdon said:

That was a hard job. If ever you come across it I can recommend a book called Coming Back Brockens by a fellow called Hudson. It's actually about Peterlee in the North East, but the stories ( and the characters)  in it could have applied to any mining area in the country. 

Beat me to it, I was going to suggest the first volume of his trilogy, "The Rape Of The Fair Country" by Alexander Cordell. Mother's family hail from 'UpTheGarn'.

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