Memories of Arthur Hodgson
I left my job at Brough's shop, situated at the bottom of Station Road, in the summer of 1947. My new job was at Ushaw Moor colliery and it meant a pay increase, from three pounds to five pounds per week.I was thinking about marriage to my girlfriend Ethel and the extra money was very important.
My first job at the pit involved 'pulling out' at the pit shaft bottom; that meant moving coal tubs and coupling them up for sending into the pit. After a few months I became what was called a linesman.It also involved dust sampling and air measurement. The air measurement was a test for carbon monoxide.
In about 1954 I became a coal hewer [the coal getter]and my equipment was a 'windy pick', which used compressed air. It was smaller and lighter than the old fashioned hand pick; it was about 8 lbs lighter and easier to use, especially when there was a need to lie down on the coal face.
I left Ushaw Moor at one point to become a trainer of face workers at Esh Winning colliery. I also did some work at Brancepeth colliery. By 1967 I was a shotfirer/deputy at Bearpark. Although coal face workers on piece work could earn more than me, I had the benefit of a regular staff wage; the pension arrangements were also a consideration.
THREE STORIES
[1]I understand that there was once an argument between New Brancepeth colliery and Ushaw Moor colliery concerning their respective boundaries. Ushaw Moor went to seek coal from a certain area and found that New Brancepeth had already mined it. There was some unhappiness at Ushaw Moor about that!
[2]Esh Winning colliery had pit head baths but Ushaw Moor did not. Two lads, the Sinclair brothers from Cornsay, used to walk from Cornsay to Esh Winning to bath, change and then walk to, and work at, Ushaw Moor colliery. They had permission to do that.After their shift at Ushaw Moor they did the same thing in reverse!
[3]Mice were a small problem at Ushaw Moor pit. Occasionally they would be found in the food bags that were provided for the pit ponies and elsewhere. My father in law, Dick Hope, once dashed a rat against the wall, when down the pit, but otherwise I am not aware of a rat problem at Ushaw Moor. In contrast Waterhouses colliery had lots of rats down their pit.
During each summer there were wild roses outside the Ushaw Moor pit office. The building itself had a room for the sole use of the manager. The undermanager was also provided with a room; previously it had been used for storing junk. The overmen shared a room. The manager's clerk had a room of his own. He was called Harry Hodgson [no relation to me]. He started off as a clerk at Esh Winning pit office and was promoted to manager's clerk at Ushaw Moor. I recall that he was very efficient and had good shorthand skills.
I got on well with Jack Stoker, the Ushaw Moor manager.He was near to retirement at that time. He insisted that I be at the office when he arrived [by Coal Board van] at 9am. He wanted to know what was happening at the pit as soon as he arrived. He felt that I was in a position to tell him!
It has been said by a few people that he came from Bearpark colliery to manage Ushaw Moor pit into early closure. In fact by opening up Longwall faces he helped to prolong the pit's life!
I remember Freddie Turner the assistant weighman. The main weighman was a diminutive and bouncy fellow but I forget his name.
George Graham, featured in a cricket article,was the son of Arthur Graham. George worked underground as a pipe fitter. Billy Quinn, the Ushaw Moor cricketer, was a teacher at an Esh Winning Catholic school - he might have been headmaster, I am not sure.
I recall the deaths of miners Baxendale, Seed and Holiday with great sadness. Life was tough and dangerous but you had to do your best and earn a living, which is what they were trying to do. It was all so long time ago. I apologise if I have recalled anything incorrectly.
Arthur Hodgson
Those of you that have managed to retain good hearing up to now try and look after it!Do not stand and admire road diggers for hours on end. (Comment this)