Change Wasn't Anything New For John In Recent Years
The usual statements and reasons were given out but within a week the writing was on the wall

The next day the pit was in turmoil, some miners still in their pit muck (dirty clothes) from the night shift and others still not changed to go down the pit. They were all milling around the Union office until eventually an official asked if only a representative of each team would stay on the surface and everyone else to go about their work as normal.

"What's f-ing normal about this then", came a shout from a burly miner still in his dirty clothes.
"Were going nowhere until it's sorted out."
And the big man didn't. Fortunately most of the men on day shift went down the mine and then their anger was turned on to the management who were conspicuous in their absence.

The usual statements and reasons were given out but within a week the writing was on the wall. The manager had implied that jobs were being lost by the industry day to day and if anyone wanted job security then they would have to seek a transfer to another pit. This was a recurring situation at the time. Tell the old ones to take the redundancy offer before it is withdrawn. Tell the younger ones that they will have a job for the time being but if they hang on to this pit then another one will close and the jobs will be taken by other miners.

Transferees from other pits mainly decided they had been gypsies of the coal field too long and would sooner take the money, older miners didn't want to travel and try to adapt into another pit's families or cliques.

A battle was fought but the Management knew they had done enough scare mongering to oblige their superiors and the job was done. The Colliery Manager and his team were looking after their own backs and is it soon apparent where they stood in all this at Newcroft.

The miners were in too much turmoil to act efficiently as a unit, however, the Unions were split after 1984 and within ten days the last coaling shift was photographed for posterity entering the air lock at the shaft side.

John had mates he only ever saw at work because they had transferred from out of the area and soon they were never to see them again (in the foreseeable future at least).
It came so fast that John didn't have much time to think the terms over and went for security and transferred to another pit.

He got a transfer to Betteville which was the nearest to Newcroft village but most of is colleagues had to go further afield due to the skill needs of different pits. He was to stay on at Newcroft until next February as some parts of the mine were being salvaged and a few transferees would stay on until the job was done. He often wondered if he had done the right thing, maybe he ought to make a clean break and leave the industry. Ex workmates who had left seemed to be doing alright; or did they just profess to be doing well. Talk in the local pub was about investments and shares and savings plans. Others were wishing their lives away by counting down the weeks months and years to their pension.

He often felt a bit out of the clique of some of his old workmates who didn't have to work three shifts, drove around in new cars, spending more time in the pub and welfare. In his mind the mathematics told him he could not afford to lose his rate of pay and there didn't seem many if any good jobs outside the industry. Terry and a lot more of his pals had all gone to the same pit which was Denford, over 15 miles away. They said the production bonus was good there, signed on and went. Just like that, the bonus is good, let's have some of it. That's all that mattered for some these days.

John's time at Newcroft had come to an end. Jude was at school from 9 to 3.30pm and Emily started a part time job, how a few months had changed their routine. The day came in mid March eventually when John started at his new pit. He was a little nervous at this new start but he was an experienced underground man, he new what mining coal was all about. He also knew that the terminology underground differed in only a mile or so with various pits but that was going to be amusing at times as he would compare his old terms with the terminology of his new pit.
Knowing a few lads who worked there was a help, he would see and pass a friendly face for sure as he settled in. In fact his granddad had worked there as recently as the 1960's. His dad had followed but moved to Newcroft as miners did back then, mainly for more money. So in actual fact he was the third generation to work there and that gave him a good feeling.