Bob Williamson P2

Chapter 3. The Apprentices

Still at Calverton Colliery. I wasn't the only apprentice here, at the time there were quite a number of us. Wastage was very high as the job did not match up to the attractive picture painted by the recruitment department.

My pal from primary school Mick, was an apprentice fitter but it didn't suit him, and he left when the underground stuff began. He styles himself now as Mike but he will always be Mick to me.

Then there was Paul, known as Baz. Being in the same intake as me as an apprentice electrician, we worked quite closely together. He was, like me, a racing cyclist and it was he who introduced me to The Broad Oak Road Cycling Club. They used to meet in the Church Hall in Arnold where we talked bikes and discussed where to go on club runs on Sundays, when we weren't doing time trials. It was in this club that I met my enduring friends - Frank and Dave we were young, fit and fast.

That's another tale that I will tell you about later. Well to continue, Baz was a cornet player of some note in the colliery Brass Band and he loved his music more than the pit. I wonder why? He left and joined the RAF as a bandsman. I've since lost touch with Baz, which is a shame because we got on so well, cycling and working together. I'll bet he has a tale to tell as a cornet player in the RAF Band.

Also in the same intake of electrical apprentices was Robert. We had a spell working together on 8.00 am until 4.00pm and the next week 4.00pm until midnight. I forget the name of the electrician in charge of us; he was a fat man who was always eating sweets. His greeting was always the same,

'Have you got any gobblers today? It's your turn'.

With him it was always our turn, me and Robert. The one unfortunate affliction that had befallen Robert was that he only had one kidney. He used to get absolutely livid when they called him, ‘Odd Bollock’. It wasn't me who named him although I joined in the joke. As I said previously, it was a hard school and any little slip of dislike, of a name, and it stuck.

The only time that I took exception was once someone said,

‘Tubby, Tubby, get move on Tubby.’

I grabbed him by the throat and waved my fist under his nose and said,

‘Any more Tubby and you will get some of this bastard’. I was never bothered by Tubby again. By the end of the shift we were the best of mates again and it always seemed to work, when you stood up for yourself, once in a while.

It comes down to respect, the ones who don't say boo to a goose aren't shown any respect. Standing up for yourself among these men is the only thing that makes you accepted.

During my apprenticeship, as well as working, I did day release and night school at Trent Poly; all on the same day. Not much fun after studying all day, then a quick meal and off to the pit for a night shift. We were young then and our resilience generally carried us through till morning.

Chapter 4. Asleep On the Job

As all of the people who have worked on the night shift are aware, it's better to keep going or at least stay awake. However attractive just closing your eyes for a moment or two appears, in fact the opposite is true. When you wake up you feel so god awful that it's not worth the bother.

The safety aspect is also a consideration as it is such a dangerous place that not being alert could kill you. It was also a gross act of misconduct and a sackable offence. We did sometimes succumb and got down, as it was known. Never alone, and with a lookout on watch, who more often than not, got down as well. I was caught several times; as we all were.

Once on nights, after College I sat down at snap time, with a sandwich in my hand and having taken a bite, I promptly fell asleep. As bad luck would have it, the over - man happened by and ranted and raved at me,

‘Effing hell's flames, what the eff do you think you're doing?’

I can hear him as though it was yesterday. He was livid when I just smiled and told him to watch his blood pressure. He reported me, as I knew he would and I had to go up to Snidey Sam’s office to have a bollocking. Not as you might expect for sleeping, although that was mentioned, but for dumb insolence. Sam had a thin veneer of warmth on this day and said how he was young once (which I doubted) and not to antagonise thick Geordie overmen.

‘Most of all don't get effing caught in future.’

Now get out of my sight. Sam was back to his normal self, a bastard to the end. I didn't like it when he was being a decent human being - it wasn't natural.

The next time that we were caught was on a Sunday night shift. Neil (one of the other lads) and me had been to work on the Sunday day shift and doubled back to Sunday night shift to finish a job that we had started earlier the same weekend. It was quite a trek up to K10s face, so we decided to leave our gear at K6s Tailgate Haulage. When we got back, after the job was finished, it was quiet, warm and dark. My mate said,

‘I'm going to catch some zzz's, wake me up when it's time to go. No one ever comes up this way’.

The normal way would have been up the North Manriding Conveyor but it wasn’t running. Frank, the senior over man was coming up the return airway and we were blissfully unaware of his impending arrival. I could hear a chinking sound that I thought was a loose cable hanger. Wrong. A brass tally called a motty also makes a chinking sound but gets louder as the owner gets nearer. This one got louder and just as I was aware of this, he was on us.

I was awake with my cap lamp on, so he left me and started kicking my mate, who was well gone. It couldn't have been worse, Frank of all people, we said nothing and he was literally screaming. For that we had to go and see the big boss man, the Electrical Engineer Jock Baker, he said,

'What are the story lads'?

We told him the whole truth leaving nothing out and we were let off with a warning.

‘If you had given me a load of tripe, I would have your balls in a sling and would have thrown the book at you!’

Glossary of Terms