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Bizzard, if your coal is to the scale of the models, I wonder how they got such big lumps out of the mine. I suppose coal was brought out in those lift cages the men went up and down in, but they weren't that big were they? Help me out here, I'm from South London and we never had coal mines here.

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22 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

You're a womble.....remember:giggles:

They’re common... or something like that. 

2 minutes ago, WotEver said:

They’re common... or something like that. 

Yeah, I remember...

 

“The Wombles of Wimbledon. Common are we. “

 

I think they learnt English from Yoda. 

 

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1 hour ago, Peter X said:

Bizzard, if your coal is to the scale of the models, I wonder how they got such big lumps out of the mine. I suppose coal was brought out in those lift cages the men went up and down in, but they weren't that big were they? Help me out here, I'm from South London and we never had coal mines here.

I know, it gave me a big problen lifting them off the lorry's and then far too big to get in the stove. Been hours breaking them up with nut crackers.

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19 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

Oi!

 

What about the Kent coalfield.

 

(Further sarf than Sarf Lunnon)

Miles away at the other end of Kent from me. Dig a hole where I am and you'd be going through a lot of heavy London clay, then further down chalk.

19 hours ago, WotEver said:

They’re common... or something like that. 

Yeah, I remember...

 

“The Wombles of Wimbledon. Common are we. “

 

I think they learnt English from Yoda. 

 

Wimbledon Common is a real thing, and is actually quite tidy and free of litter. If the wombles are real, maybe they'd fancy a day out in Croydon to clean up my street? 93 bus into Wimbledon then Tramlink; easy. From the way they move on the telly, I suspect they're like Daleks, not good with stairs, but I think Wimbledon station has step-free access so that's OK.

19 hours ago, bizzard said:

I know, it gave me a big problen lifting them off the lorry's and then far too big to get in the stove. Been hours breaking them up with nut crackers.

Do what the miners should have done for you at the coal face, drill them to split them up. I know this! I've seen miners working in films. It's a lot easier in the NBT, ours comes all nicely packed in bags.

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I am just old enough to remember the pit ponies, we used to get a few every year when they were on holiday, they were all black,  they hauled little waggons on rails, and I suppose they met trains which must have gone underground a little way.

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7 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I am just old enough to remember the pit ponies, we used to get a few every year when they were on holiday, they were all black,  they hauled little waggons on rails, and I suppose they met trains which must have gone underground a little way.

Lol, they would be all black.....

 

 

 

 

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You have got me wondering now. I don't think the overground trains went underground to meet the pony trains. In deep mines this would have been virtually impossible. Whether the underground lines sloped up to the surface (it would have to be a very long slope in some places) or whether the coal from the pony trains was transferred to some type of lift or conveyor belt to get it to the surface, I'm not sure. There were miners in my family, but none is still alive for me to ask them.

Edited by Athy
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25 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I am just old enough to remember the pit ponies, we used to get a few every year when they were on holiday, they were all black,  they hauled little waggons on rails, and I suppose they met trains which must have gone underground a little way.

No, they dragged the drams to the cage bottom, from where the drams were hauled to the surface in the lifts.
 

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26 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I am just old enough to remember the pit ponies, we used to get a few every year when they were on holiday, they were all black,  they hauled little waggons on rails, and I suppose they met trains which must have gone underground a little way.

Little wagons on rails like this maybe?

 

 

IMG_0315.JPG

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6 minutes ago, Athy said:

You have got me wondering now. I don't think the overground trains went underground to meet the pony trains. In deep mines this would have been virtually impossible. Whether the underground lines sloped up to the surface (it would have to be a very long slope in some places) or whether the coal from the pony trains was transferred to some type of lift of conveyor belt to get it to the surface, I'm not sure. There were miners in my family, but none is still alive for me to ask them.

You could ask me, I'm still alive, lol...

 

 

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13 minutes ago, Athy said:

You have got me wondering now. I don't think the overground trains went underground to meet the pony trains. In deep mines this would have been virtually impossible. Whether the underground lines sloped up to the surface (it would have to be a very long slope in some places) or whether the coal from the pony trains was transferred to some type of lift of conveyor belt to get it to the surface, I'm not sure. There were miners in my family, but none is still alive for me to ask them.

Depends whether it was "shaft" pit or an "adit/level" pit.
Shaft pits obviously had a vertical shaft from the surface down to the coal seams, so the ponies would drag the drams along underground lines to the shaft bottom, where the drams would be pushed into the cages and lifted to the surface. Those are the mines with the tall steel winding gear above them, typically seen in the Rhondda Valleys.
Adit/level mines have tunnels that are not vertical but go either into the side of a hill or slope down towards the seams. The slopes can be quite steep. Sometimes the ponies might pull the drams out of the mine but if the level was steep often they had a winch to pull them to the surface. Many of the mines in the Forest of Dean are adit/levels.

 

EDIT.
Drams are what we from South Wales called the wagons. Other regional names may apply.

Edited by Graham Davis
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39 minutes ago, Graham Davis said:

.

 

EDIT.
Drams are what we from South Wales called the wagons. Other regional names may apply.

 

Pretty sure "dram" has a totally different meaning in Scotland. ?

 

Ponies wouldn't have got a look in. ?

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2 hours ago, NB Esk said:

I'm still alive, lol...

Awfully glad to hear that. ?

 

On reading about the pit ponies I went off for a look for some photos on the web, The b&w is a lovely one but the colour one is really interesting - it's in Wales (seemingly) and it's of a pony called Sultan. 

iu.jpeg

iu.jpeg

Edited by Tumshie
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