“I started work at the local coal mine at Blackhall, County Durham, England, in 1946 as a boy of age fourteen. My first job was to pick stones from the coal as it came out of the mine. I went underground to work as a pony driver at age seventeen..

“At that time, most of the coal produced at the mine was by the Room and Pillar method, taken out by pick and shovel, and loaded into ‘tubs’, which were hauled from the coalface by ponies.

The tubs of coal were then put onto mechanical haulage systems to continue the journey to the shaft, and to be wound to the surface, where it was cleaned before delivery to the customer.

“All of the coal hewers and pony putters, drivers, were piece-workers, they were paid by the amount they produced.

“At that time, the British Coal Industry was nationalized. This heralded the modernization of the industry, and the Longwall methods of mining became the norm. Very sophisticated machinery was developed and put to use in the mines, and day-wage pay scales largely replaced the piecework arrangements.

“On a personal level, experience was gained in many different jobs all around the mine. I was a deputy (foreman) at age 25. I held many senior positions at a number of collieries in North-East England, eventually becoming General Manager at Bates Colliery in Northumberland, England, before migrating to Canada in 1981.