I recall that at Chislet colliery in Kent a small number of older men in the
late 50s were exempt on medical grounds from wearing helmets, they usually
worked on switches and haulage, colliers at that time preferred to work with
the large lighthouse type electric hand lamps. By the 1960s these had been
withdrawn and all underground workers had to use the battery and cable type
lamp, many men never adapted to these (having to clip them to their helmet)
my father a deputy being one, until the day he retired tied the cable round
his neck with the lamp head hanging loose.
-----Original Message-----
From: mining-history [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Alan
Vickers
Sent: 08 March 2004 13:38
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Head Protection in UK Mines.
The introduction of the cap lamp may well have encouraged the use of safety
helmets.
I have been told that some miners, wearing a cloth cap, had been known to
attach a 'clip' which would take the headpiece of a cap lamp, otherwise
they would have to carry it in their hand all the time.
There were still hand lamps in use, of course. In my time working in coal
mines from 1949 to 1965 I can recall:
Acetylene hand lamps being used at a naked lamp mine until the early 1960s.
The miners used to take their lamps home at the end of the shift and one or
two local shops used to sell 'carbide' with which to make the acetylene.
Miners working in 'bord and pillar workings' at one colliery carrying flame
safety lamps only in 1955, their working places were about three miles from
the shaft bottom.
There were still some electric hand lamps in use at some collieries.
Miners using electrically operated machines used to carry a flame safety
lamp, to be used for gas detection, as well as a cap lamp.
In later years miners using electrically powered coal face machines carried
a 'Ringrose automatic gas detector' instead of a flame safety lamp, but
still in addition to a cap lamp.
Deputies, shotfirers, overmen, some officials, undermanager and manager
carriied a flame safety lamp in addition to a cap lamp. The lamp carried by
overmen, officials, undermanager and undermanager was usually smaller than
those used by deputies and shotfirers. A polished reflector was often used
in the head piece of the cap lamp used by senior officials and managers,
this projected the beam of light quite a long way. A standard reflector was
used in everybody else's cap lamp head piece.
Alan Vickers.
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