Underground cable winch at Bedwas Colliery 1950's - photo courtesy Mr D Walters

 

Bevin Boys were introduced to combat a shortage of manpower in the coal mines during the Second World War. The Minister of labour, Ernest Bevin, introduced a ballot system whereby one in ten of men called up were directed to work in the mines instead of the armed forces.

John Dennis was a Bevin Boy. He has kindly given his reflections of his times at Bedwas. Here are some edited extracts from his first weeks

 

Down to Alf Morgan's Deeps

Following the training period I went home for a long weekend, by Tuesday night I had lodgings at 10, St. Barrwg's Terrace, had been to the pithead baths to be allocated two lockers, one for working clothes, for which I had provided myself and the other for ordinary clothes. I received a new pair of boots. I had a lamp tally (No. 1815 I believe) and the knowledge that I had to be at pithead before 7 o'clock to go down in the cage.

10, St. Barrwg's Terrace had the head of its household Ernie Jones who worked in the Rock Vein as a packer. He was a quiet man occasionally given toproclaiming his support for the Communist Party. We set off for the Colliery together, past the Church, over the railway bridge and then following the road along to the baths. Not a long walk, 10 minutes, eventually passing the Manager's Office and crossing over a small metal bridge under which ran the tram road carrying the colliery spoil to the tip that dominated the hillside. Somewhere between the baths, lamproom and pithead, I was taken in hand by Harry Fowler, who was well-built, friendly and humerous. He guided me from pit bottom to where Ianto Pritchard, the fireman, was checking in the workers.Most had their regular places. Iwas to go to the lower part of the L4 face. After a brief walk from pit bottom, involving a slight rise and then a sharp left turn, we were in the main haulage road which led down on the left-hand side to L2 and L4 of the lower Black Vein. At that time September to October 1944, L2 was a fully-working coal face with some 10-11 colliers, but had less than one year to go having nearly run its life. L4 the adjacent lower down coal face was being opened up for full production.

Both faces were operated on the long wall system. It was a longish walk down the roadway to the end of L4.... this revealed one thing I disliked from the very start. Hand-held electric lamps showed light all round like a miniature lighthouse and I found the light from someone else's lamp in front of me a strangely discomforting affair. Indeed it was the practice of many miners to position a piece of cardboard so that no light shone backwards. The other feature I found discomforting in the early days was the intensity of the sound of compressed air escaping from a joint in the piping.

I found myself at the bottom of the yet-to-be-opened coal face. I was to be there only three days but it was a valuable and stress-free introduction to underground working conditions. I never appreciated the full extent of operations on the L$ at that time. I helped to load coal onto a conveyor belt at apoint where the coal was transferred to a bracket system located at right-angles to the belt and coal face and discharging the coal into the trams. What was central to my experiences of late 1945 and all of 1946 and 1947 was the group of colliers who I had met briefly at that time but later came to know very well; Will (Duff) Williams, Will Cook (Bedwas), Tom Shannon (Llanbradach), Harold Clarke (local) as well as Harold Williams (fitter). If I learned anything it was that conversation, chat and good humour were to be central to personal and social relationships.

Ianto Pritchard put me onto the fully-working coal face on the Saturday of the first week. The loading of very dusty coal from the cut and then using the mandrell to pull down the remaining coal was a remarkably dirty and thirst-provoking pattern of work. It is my firm impression that the use of mechanical coal cutters did not last long after this time. The lower Black vein coal was relatively easily worked by hand. I never saw a mechanical coal cutter in action but its effects were only too clear. After the cutter had gone the length of the face, there was a carpet of coal dust several inches thick in front of the undercut coal which was yet to fall and would be worked by mandrel. Clenaing the small coal was known as duffing up. This was an unbelievably dusty process, reducing the light from the battery hand lamps to a candle glow. The coal from duffing up was apparently of considerable use to the chemical plant at the east end of the colliery.

Settlement of the roof was controlled by packs composed ofwaste and formed by pieces stone rather like dry-stone walling on farms. Packing was carried out almost entirely on the morning shift. Hence there was a distinct difference between morning shift with activity on the coal face, packing in the gob and drilling ready for shot-firing on the roadway and the afternoon shift of coal-getting.

The afternoon shift was a much quieter affair than the morning shift. I fell into the habit of carrying out a social round towrds the end of the shift. In spite of warnings when training at Oakdale, I would hop on the belt with my lamp, travelto the top end of the belt and wander back down the face having chatted to each of the colliers.

 

 

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