Description
Object description
British schoolchild in Bristol, GB, 1939-1944; Bevin Boy worked at Pensford Colliery, Pensford, GB, 1945-1948
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of training as Bevin Boy in Stoke-on-Trent, GB, 1945: prior experience working in engineering firm in Bristol; reasons for opting to become Bevin Boy; origins of Bevin Boy scheme; arrival in Stoke-on-Trent for training; opinion of behaviour of some of the Bevin Boys; start of training; method of hauling tubs; dangers of metal hawsers. Recollections of period as Bevin Boy at Pensford Colliery, GB, 1945-1948: different levels of mechanisation between northern England and Somerset; geology in Somerset; work moving coal; handling ponies underground.
REEL 2 Continues: character of collieries in district; near accident he had with pony; use of 'man ways'; treatment of ponies; memories of collier Charlie Hucker; anti-aircraft gunners use of pit baths during Second World War; fight between miners, British and Americans military personnel in pit baths; encounter between miners and London entrepreneurs; adherence of miners to Methodism; ownership of Pensford Colliery; effect on owners of impending nationalisation; reasons why National Coal Board lost money in Somerset field; closed ship attitude of miners; power of trade union leader David Llewellyn; role of check weighman.
REEL 3 Continues: meaning of term 'company'; method of payment and division of proceeds; explanation of term 'gob'; problems of fire underground; presence of mice and Charlie Hucker's method of catching them; fungus in mine; flooding problem; reasons why miners refused to work in the Somerset coalfield; degree of danger in mine; accidents he was involved in; background of mine managers; level of honesty amongst miners; his state of health; background to demobilisation in 1948; reasons why little food and drink was taken down mine; daily routine.
REEL 4 Continues: use of cages; accident which happened prior to his arrival; lack of contact with owners of company; working hours; lack of holidays; attitude of miners towards Bevin Boys; question of poor attendance record of some Bevin Boys; presence of Polish miners in colliery; miner's sidelines; pony names and why mares not used; headgear worn by ponies; smallholder who refused to join trade union; miner's attitude towards nationalisation; problems with winter weather, 1947; effects of nationalisation. Recollections of period as schoolchild living in Bristol, GB, 1939-1944: attempt to become cyclist messenger.
REEL 5 Continues: German Air Force bombing of Bristol; use of shelters; fire watching at Saint Ambrose Church; bomb damage to family home; public morale in Bristol; censorship of news; attitude towards Germans; need to accommodate American military personnel in Bristol, 1944; attitude towards Americans.