Watnall Pit - life and death of a 9-year-old pony driver

In an age when coal mines are now a thing of the past, the death statistics for just two our our local pits can be quite sobering, almost 100 miners and boys killed. When you read of boys of 9, 12 and 14 among the deaths it is even more shocking by today's standards. So young, they could have been recent pupils at Bogend infant school which our previous two articles were about. 

The rural setting of Watnall and High Park Collieries (shown below), surrounded by hedges and woodland at the side of Moorgreen reservoir, belies their grim but alas typical mortality rates. This article remembers two of the local boys killed underground and lists the full death stats for both pits...

High Park Colliery, Moorgreen
Its rural setting belies its grim mortality rates

Watnall fatality

9-year-old Edmund Varley son of John & Jane Varley of Watnall was a "pony driver" at Watnall pit which meant he lead the pit ponies along as they pulled coal waggons on rails underground. He was severely injured when he and his pony were buried under a "fall of roof" on Friday 16th August 1833. He died two days later. He worked at Watnall No. 3 pit, sunk in 1803 and closed in 1853 located in the village of Watnall Cantelupe approx. 200m NW of the Royal Oak pub where the inquest into his death was held...

"Edmund Varley, 9 years old, was buried under a fall of roof, in a Gate Road, along with his Ass. Although he was extricated he died from his injuries two days later. He was ganging tubs to and from the coalface stall working taking empties to the face and full tubs back to a main road to be clipped onto a haulage rope which would take the tubs to the pit bottom."

A typical picture of a boy ganging a set of tubs is shown below. However, as can be seen, the boy is riding illegally on the crank of the tub between that and the pony and many boys were severely injured or killed when they fell off or were kicked by the pony and were run over.

High Park fatality

12-year-old master Buckley (his first name is not recorded) worked as a pony driver too. He became one of the statistics on November 25th 1867 when he was "run over on the main level." We know nothing about his family or his mother in who would now have one less mouth to feed at the table...

Pit pony drivers at Brinsley

Watnall pit deaths

incl. earlier workings like Watnall No.3 pit 

High Park pit deaths

Pit ponies and the life of a pony driver

What did the pony driver do? The National Coal Mining Museum explains... 

"It was often the first task new, young lads were given, to lead the pony, to pull tubs of coal or materials along the pit floor. Here the ponies would live in purpose-built underground stables for 50 weeks of the year. The brick-paved walk led to the 12 to 15-foot-wide passage which was divided by wooden partitions providing comfortable sized stalls and protected by thick wooden planks on huge roof supports (pit props).

When the first shift started at 7am, the pony driver would announce their arrival by the sound of clogs and the opening of the door, a blast of cold air would usher them in. The light would disturb the swarm of flies and many mice which added to the ponies’ lot. Where air doors were impractical, a thick hessian sheet or air curtain was hung (a brattish sheet.)

A yoke-like piece of equipment that fastened to the pony harness and then attached to the tub (Limber or limmers gear) would hang on a nail at the back of his stall. The ponies wore a skull pad to prevent injury from low rooves and he would wear a variety of harnesses and collars to enable him to haul his loads. He was tethered when snap or bait time (a 20 minutes break) allowed him, his nosebag."

Pit ponies for sale in Ripley Market Place, Derbyshire (date unknown). 
Photo Credit – MuBu Miner collection.

Taffy the pit pony – from Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence 

"Meantime Arthur, still fond of his father, would lean on the arm of Morel’s chair and say: ‘Tell us about down the Pit, Dad. This Morel loved to do.

‘We’ll theer’s one little o’ss, we call ‘im Taffy,’ he would begin ‘An’ he’s a fawce un!’

Morel had a warm way of telling a story. He made one feel Taffy’s cunning. ‘He’s a brown u’n,’ he would answer, ‘an’ not very high. Well he comes i’th’ stall wi’ a rattle, an’ then yo’ ’ear him sneeze. Ello Taff,’ you say, ‘what art thou sneezing for. Bin ta’ein some snuff?  An’ e sneezes again. Then he slivers up an’ shoves ’is ’ead on yer, that cadin’.

‘What’s want Taff?’ yo say.

‘And what does he,’ Arthur always asked.

‘He want’s a bit o’ bacca me duck.’

 This story of Taffy would go on interminably, and everyone loved it."

It wasn't only underground that horsepower
was used to transport coal.

Sources and credits

http://healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/Fatalities/Notts/Notts-H5.html

https://miningheritage.co.uk/pit-pony/

https://www.ncm.org.uk/news/voices-in-the-coalshed-pony-drivers/

Victorian London - Publications - Social Investigation/Journalism - The Horse World of London, by W. J. Gordon, 1893 - Chapter 10 - The Coal Horse

MuBu Miner Collection