Hello

I’m trying to find information on a John Charles Albert Makaula-White who was a miner at Tilmanstone (also known as the East Kent Colliery, Eythorne) when he lost his life in the Isle of Man whilst competing in the TT motorcycle races in May 1950 at Handley's Corner while practicing on his 500cc Triumph. I’d really like to know what work he did and is there any chance of a photograph of him.

Best regards Paul Bradford

Tilmanstone Colliery about 1910

Much interested in your account of Bentley Colliery. My grandfather worked there. He had lots of laughs & reminiscences about Bevin Boys. My mother recalled a shipment of Polish/Russian ponies being off loaded into a field near the pit. It was not a pleasant memory as she described the dreadful condition of these horses, and how sick they all were. I think it must have been roundabout the end of the First World War.

My Grand father, Henry Bailey of Milton, S-O-T was a Captain in the Mine Rescue team, I have a full set of mine drawings used during the rescue attempts. I have contacted the Museum in Hanley, and they would be most pleased to received the Minnie pit drawings, so they are going to a good home. My Grandfather lived to a great old age. An interesting fact about him was that he, and a number of miners from Milton, joined the Royal Engineering in WW1, they were responsible for digging tunnels to the Germany trenches and placing explosives.

The 'Pool of Peace' - Spanbroekmolen - was formed by a 91,000lb ammonal explosion set off at 03:10 on 7 June 1917

This group from Milton were involved in one of the biggest explosions of WW1, when they dug tunnels to the Germany fortification on the hill above Ypres, and blew it up.
I have, amongst my Grandfathers artifacts, a map of the tunnels dug under Ypres during the battle of the Somme, some are in Germany.

My Uncle was Reg Bailey, who was a Deputy Manager at Hem Heath and was responsible for the link tunnel between Florence and Hem Heath.

Following in the family tradition, I attended Camborne School of Mines in Cornwall, and work overseas most of the time on various projects.

Kind Regards
Mike Swift

See also John Lumsdon's Miners in World War 1

Hi
I am hoping you will be able to help me with some oral history which has many and varied versions.

The story as you have it is exactly as it has been told over the years except for the name.

It is/was believed that an ancestor of mine was the woman who went down the mine, depending on who you were talking to was either Alice or Agnes but not Maud, so I was hoping you or Anne Harriss may be able to tell me Maud's maiden name so this can be resolved once and for all.

Thank you in anticipation.

Jennifer

Melbourne, Australia

Hapton Valley Colliery Explosion Friday 23rd March 1962 - Accident Report on Ian Winstanley's Site (PDF Format)

I have just spent an interesting time exploring your web site. How did I get there? Well, grandfather, Arthur George McMunn,(born 1900) to whom I was devoted, was a miner and a member of the Miner's Rescue Service. He was a very intelligent and well read  man (much more intelligent than I and I am the equivalent of an Assistant Professor at the South Bank University, London). His education was cut short due to the death of his father and he went down the pit to keep the family out of the workhouse. He managed to teach other children  working in the mines to read and write! He educated himself through the Workers Educational Authority, he knew more about politics, social history, social injustice and classical music than I could  ever know.  A couple of years ago I was voted as being one of the most influential people in Occupational Health in the UK– that was a tribute to my grandfather rather than me as it is because of his influence that I became an OH Nurse.

He died in 1976 but his memory lives on for me! I wish I knew more about where he worked.
My grandfather may have worked at Bradford Colliery (Manchester, not Yorkshire).

He worked his way up from that. Eventually he gained a managerial position of some kind and then moved out of the mines themselves and went to work as a Welfare Officer at a clinic in Wigan and alsoat Oakmere Hall which was a rehab facility for injured miners near Northwich, Cheshire. He retired in 1965. Oakmere Hall was sold and is now an expensive residential development.

Bradford Colliery

Mum was an occupational health nurse and worked for the NCB for many years firstly at Bradford Colliery and then at Astley Green (near Tyldesley, Lancashire). I too am an occupational health nurse by profession but have moved into academia. I no longer practice as an OHN but am the course director for an occupational health nursing degree and an MSc in Occupational Health and Safety at the South Bank University in London. I incorporate a little about what I know of my grandfather's experience down the mines in my introductory lectures.

The role of men such as these have been under-appreciated and under valued. My mother has his "medallion" he was awarded for his part in the Miner's rescue service. It was awarded by the Lancashire and Cheshire Mine Owners Association. I would love to find out more about it. Any ideas?

Kind regards
Anne Harriss

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