|
Post by John on Jun 12, 2008 11:04:54 GMT -5
Please add your contributions in this thread please.
|
|
|
Post by dazbt on Jun 13, 2008 7:09:46 GMT -5
Re Mining History, Harry Tootle's Glossary has not been available on line for a few months now, great pity really. Maybe someone is building up to a publication.
|
|
|
Post by John on Jun 13, 2008 7:36:21 GMT -5
Re Mining History, Harry Tootle's Glossary has not been available on line for a few months now, great pity really. Maybe someone is building up to a publication. I wondered why it didn't turn up in a search Daz, anyway, nowt stopping us building one up here to rival his old list!
|
|
|
Post by John on Oct 14, 2008 7:55:47 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by stoney on Feb 23, 2013 8:12:10 GMT -5
Capel...... the metal termination on the end of a winding rope.
|
|
rob52
Shotfirer.
Posts: 199
|
Post by rob52 on May 9, 2014 7:47:40 GMT -5
Adit: A tunnel driven into a hillside in connection with mineral workings, for transport, ventilation or drainage (or all three)
After-damp: A mixture of carbon monoxide and other gases resulting from an explosion or fire
Bankwork: A primitive system of long-way working practiced in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire & Leicestershire mainly between mid-eighteenth and mid-nineteeth centuries
Bell-pit A shallow shaft, where coal is worked around he pit-bottom until the sides are in danger of collapsing when it is abandoned. Seen in section it has the general shape of a bell.
Blackdamp: A mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide and found generally in coalmines, resulting from the oxidation of coal and timber. Its production may leave insufficient oxygen to support life.
Bord & Pillar: North Eastern variant of Stall & Pillar. The boards were rectangular excavations separated by solid pillars of coal left of support the roof. In the nineteenth century, the pillars were also largely removed in a second working.
Brattice: Where a colliery had only one shaft, this was divided from top to bottom by a vertical wooden partition called a 'brattice'. Air flowed down one segment of the shaft and up the other. Brattice, nowadays usually of cloth, are similarly used in headings to facilitate flow of air.
Cesspool: An absorbing well. An excavation in the earth through which surface water finds its way to a permeable stratum and is drained away.
Chaldron: The principal capacity measure used in the North Eastern Coal Trade. The Newcastle Chaldron was equal to 53cwt and the London Chaldron about 27cwt.
Choke Damp: A synonym for black damp. Many nineteenth-century writers applied this term also to afterdamp, and this has confused some present day historians.
Corf: A hazel basket in which coal was conveyed from the coal face to the surface before the introduction of wheeled tubs and cages. Also spelled "Corve"
Creep: The heaving of the floor of the roadways underground, otherwise called 'floor lift'
Crush: Convergence of the strata
Dip: Coal seams are almost always inclined. Working down-hill is said to be the 'dip' and working up hill to be the 'rise'. The 'strike' of the seam is its level course (at right angles to its inclination or slope).
Dumb Drift: In furnace ventilation, a tunnel isolated from the furnace carrying the return air into the upcast shaft over the top of the furnace, so as to reduce the risk of explosion.
Face: The working face of coal
Fault: A fracture of a coal seam caused by earth movement; it is called an up-throw (where the seam continues at a higher level) or a down-throw (where it continues at a lower level)
Fire Damp: Inflammable gas whose chief constituent is Methane. It is emitted from the seam (and also the floor & roof) during working, can also accumulate in the the Goaf and be pushed over the face by a Goaf roof fall.
Gate (gateway or gateroad): Underground roadways, a term used mainly in the midlands.
Getter: A man producing coal at the coal face. In many cases he was also the filler.
Gin: See Whim-gin
Glenny: A safety lamp; probably a corruption of Clanny, after Dr W. R. Clanny who invented several lamps, the first in 1813.
Goaf (or Gob): The waste area from which coal has been removed; it is partly filled with small coal and debris.
Gob Fire: Spontaneous combustion of small coal in the Gob.
Gob Road: Gate supported by pack walls for bringing coal from the face in hand-got longwall working.
Gob etihs: Chewing tobacco spat into the Goaf/Gob once the miner had finished chewing it
Hewer: A coal getter
Holing: undercutting the coal face (hence "holer", the man carrying out this operation)
Kerf (or kif): The cut taken along the bottom of the coal-face originally by a man with a pick (the holer) and later by machine. Hand holing produces far more slack than machine holing, so cutting machines were more readily adopted where seams were thin.
Packs: In hand-got longwall working, pack walls used to be built to support roadways in the Gob. In later practice, packs were also built in strips in the area from which coal had been won, allowing the roof to settle gradually. In modern practice, packs have largely been dispensed with and the roof settles quickly.
Rag and chain: An early type of pump operated manually by animals or water wheel.
Round Coals: Large coal from which the small has been separated
Staithes: Coal wharves on the Tyne and Wear
Staple: A shaft connecting one seam with another underground.
Stopping: A wall built to prevent air flowing beyond it.
Stythe: Blackdamp
Viewer: The old name or manager.
Whim-gin: A horse driven winding device.
Whimsey: Term applied first to windlasses, then to whim-gins, but by early nineteenth century, usually meaning an atmospheric winding engine. In South Yorkshire atmospheric pumping engines were also called whimseys.
Whole: "Working in the Whole" means working virgin coal by bored and pillar method; as distinct from "working in the Broken" where only the pillars are left to be got.
Winning: Opening out a mine so that it is ready to be used.
Working: The art of producing coal.
Rob
|
|
rob52
Shotfirer.
Posts: 199
|
Post by rob52 on May 9, 2014 7:54:17 GMT -5
Durham Specific:
Air Blarer: (Air Blower) An air mover that works like a vacuum cleaner taking in air at one end and redirecting it out at the other. Yorkshire call it a "ventura".
Amain: Tubs are said to be "Amain" if they break away from the set and are freewheeling down the way. Quite a lot of deaths in mines occurred in haulage work, often through tubs getting Amain. All classes of haulage workers face this hazard, whether pony putters in the old days or loco drivers today.
Backbye: The galleries and districts away from the face.
Datal Workers: Under the old grade system was the lowest and worst paid class of work except for surface work.
Back Shift: Originally the second shift, that is the afternoon or near afternoon shift. With the advent of three shift working the back shift became afternoon shift. In Doncaster there was a hated four (4) shifts system with two (2) afternoon shifts.
Back Shift Overman: The head man on Back Shift.
Bait: (Yorkshire = Snap) Bait time, the 20 minutes the miner takes off the shift to eat a couple of sandwiches and get a drink. In the days of piecework - as recently as the 1950's in UK Coal - there was no special time for Bait, it was eaten when the belt broke, or the miners were waiting for tubs or mine cars; if the shift went well it might not be eaten at all. 1970's it was eaten mid shift, usually two sandwiches often with jam, sometimes with dripping, very often just butter, not in this case out of poverty but out of experience, knowing that a good few hours slog at the shovel has still to take place after "Bait" and it can't be done on a bloated belly. There is also the factor of taste, men will eat things underground they would never have the wish to on the surface, like a raw onion or a lemon for example.
Bait Poke: (Bait Bag) The small generally ex army bag which some miners carry their sandwiches in. Often outbye workers, haulage workers and older workers used Bait Pokes. They carried more often flasks of tea, a bag of sweets and more sandwiches than face workers.
Bait Time: "The secretary of wot lodge says its time that ye had yor bait, so wi take wasells tiv a quiet spot, Wiv a plank and a chock forra seat, And the crack at last flies thick an fast Of the die's in the club last neet." (The Collier Lad is a Canny Lad, Johnny Handle, Newcastle upon Tyne)
Bait Tin: Tin rounded at one end, perhaps 8 inches long, 4 inches deep with a flat back. It has a wire handle to enable it to be connected to the belt and carried to work.
Band: inter-strattification a soft vein of coal often with a fury appearance and feel. Its very breakable. Some "Band" is a grey colour and feels like clay when you handle it. It comes between the seams of coal. Others know "Band" as a 'dark heavy stone'
Banksman: Often the man incharge of the Cage. Three raps on the cage would be a sign for Miners to get into the cage for transport to the face. "Me father Use'd to ca'l th turn, WHne the land shift wes owe, A'l the way ootbye, y'id hear him cry Does tha, kna its efter fowler, He'd cry, rapper ti bank Me canny lad, Wind her away keep turnin. The backshift men are gaanin hem, Thi'l be back in the morning." (Rap'per ti Bank. Gateshead Song)
Barrier: Term given to the boundaries established between various owners' royalties. A Barrier of coal was also left between collieries to protect one colliery against excessive weight or flooding from another Colliery. Bat: From Doncaster Coalfield, refers to Haulage, sort of like a Cricket Bat except it has a shorter handle and longer blade, and there is a piece of belting hammered to the end of it. When the tubs are running in (12 or 24 at a time) they get up quite some speed towards pit bottom, to slow them a "Bat" is pushed or slid under the wheel of the first tub. A haulage lad does this, walking with the tubs until they grind to a halt.
Beatle: A very small engine, fixed on a prop, used to pull the tub out of a low side, when the "Gallowa" (pony) couldn't manage it. The putters had to operate it.
'Bet' Hand, 'Bet' Knee or 'Bet' Elbow: "Sciagma", brought about by working in cramped quarters of the coal seam, due to constant chafing of the stone floor against knees or elbows, or the wear of the shovel against the hands. Results in festering of the joint or limb and a huge inflammation area develops.
Bevin: A term used to describe a day off which you get paid for. You might say you had a Bevin if the face was gassed out or you were waiting for the colliery bus but it did not turn up.
Bevin Boy: Anybody who is inexperienced or who does a job badly. Commenced use after the WWII Bevin Boys who were conscripted to mine coal instead of serving in the armed forces in war time military service conscription, sent down the pit after minimal basic training and if they failed to show up for work charged with desertion and locked up by the old bill then hauled before the courts.
Blower: Name given to a sudden discharge of gas from a roof, seam or floor, a highly dangerous phenomena.
Bob-A-Job Man: A deputy of overman who won't let the men rest from one job to another. Bob-A-Job Men pen their time chasing young workers or low paid workers around the pit trying to find them jobs to do - one after another.
Bonny Leets: Durham term, similar meaning to Bull's-eyes in Yorkshire. At one time the officials had spot lights on their cap lamps which gave out a long beam. The workers could see them coming at a great distance and would shout out "Here's a bonny leet coming" or "here's a bull's eye". Most miners use spot helmet mounted spotlights now so this way of identifying officials is more or less dead.
Bull Week: of Yorkshire origin, refers to the week before a holiday when the miner will work every shift so as to have as big a wage packet as possible.
Butterfly: A very important safety device on the cable that hauls the "Cage", if for some reason the cage is overwinding when coming up the butterfly will stop it. If left unchecked the cage would carry right over the top of the pulley wheels and be destroyed. As soon as the Cage gets past a particular height the butterfly will disengage the rope and hold the cage in the air until it can be recouped..
Butty System: The hated system of subcontracting in Yorkshire (and some of the southern coal fields) where contracts were hired out to a 'Buttyman' (a sub contractor) who was paid a price by management and then decided how much the workers who actually did the job were worth paying. In many cases the men had to literally fight in the pit to get the money they were entitled to (for works completed/undertaken) off the 'Buttyman.
Cabins: U/G places Occupied by overmen and fitters. Places hewn out of stone and whitewashed. Long tables and benches installed along with desks for overmen's plans, books and deployment tables.
Cage: (Yorkshire term Chairs) Man and material access from surface to pit bottom. UK Coal field cages typically had two to five decks.
Cannel Coal: It burns with a bright flame, this is a very rare coal and as of 1975 easily won supplies in the UK are exhausted except for open cast mining of old U/G working.
Canny: The word of many meanings…yet when used the circumstance and tone of voice clearly indicate its meaning
a) Canny good….Not too bad b) Canny wick….."Neygood" (Not good at all) c) 'She's canny, mind' (Nice looking girl) d) "She's a canny body' (usually applied to old folk meaning a sweet old lady) e) 'Will het ti teak it canny' (We will have to take it slowly) f) 'Will be canny abbot this job' (We will be smart in doing this job; careful) g) 'How duw?' 'Canny!' (How are you keeping? Well!) h) 'Goan canny' (Durham term for going slow and working to rule - limited industrial sabotage would emphasise "E")
|
|
rob52
Shotfirer.
Posts: 199
|
Post by rob52 on May 16, 2014 7:04:54 GMT -5
Durham Specific: Part 2)
Canteen: (A) The place where men can get a cup of tea and a pie either before or after going down the pit. At some a beautiful dinner with soup and pudding was served. At some on Friday, pay day, men used to meet their wives with children in the canteen to save the wife the cooking of a meal. The wives would get dressed up have dinner and then make an early start to the coast for a day out. Union subs were paid over a table set up in the canteen, master notes were divided up by the 'Cavil" Leaders.
Canteen: (B) Name given to the "Waater Bottle" a vessel for carrying your drinking water, (Doncaster = A Dudley's after the firm that makes them) varies from 3 to 5 pints capacity. Some staff in hot sections of Hatfield Main would drink up to 1 gallon per day.
Cap: Refers to a gas reading lamp. "To have a cap" means to have a reading of gas usually when it is above 3percent. The gas is ignited above the flame in the lamp. At 5 percent it looks like a perfect pyramid; at less than 5 percent it is more like a volcano, and after that the flame starts to 'tail' up. It used to be that one in every five men in a working area was entitled to carry a lamp, men who carried a lamp were required to take a test to demonstrate their capability in reading caps at the various gas levels.
Cap Piece: (& when used at the bottom of the prop Sole Piece) Two names given to the same object dependent on whether one uses it on the top of the prop or at the bottom. It is a square piece of wood about 6 inch by 6 inch & 2 inch or 3 inch deep. Wooden props would nearly always have one of these on the bottom and perhaps on the top as well before they were banged in tight against the roof. WHen setting iron props under iron bars and girders a cap piece must always be used because steel flies in all directions when the weight comes on to it.
Caunch: Pronounced 'canch' (Yorkshire = 'the Lip') worked by Caunchman in Durham (Yorkshire = 'rippers' , in Scotland = Brushers, inNorthumberland = 'Stonemen' )
Cavils: The system of Job Control that operated for hundreds of years in Northumberland & Durham, a kind of lottery to allocate working places.
Chock (A): A single oblong lump of wood about 2&1/2 feet long, 10inch square & 10 inch deep.
Chock (B): A square structure of interlocking chocks which holds up the roof. The chock is constructed upon a pair of 'trips' . These are a release mechanism which provide an easier means of knocking the chock out, than if it is set directly between the roof and the floor. When the face moves forward after the strip of coal has been taken off, the chock is knocked out and reset further forward.
"So the belts are set and rolling in the new tracks, and Wi'l draw off the chocks while lying on we're backs, then wi'l set them again in their new place, fot'ta stop the weight'in on the face. Doon the Brockwell seam in the north of number five west." (Stoneman's Lament, Jonny Handle)
Chock (C ): A hydraulic system of roof supports which runs the entire length of the face and is operated by handles. The hydraulics operate on a mixture of oil and water.
Choppy: A corn like food which the pony eats at bait time from his choppy box and also at lows when he comes out.
Chummins: Empty tubs. When tubs are empty they are said to be "chum". The putter runs his chumminess into the hewers for filling.
Chum Neuks: The putters last run in when the work places would be left empty for the week-end or at holiday times. He would go in with just the limmers and no empty tub. He would shackle the last full tub & take it out. No more empties would be brought in until the start of the new week. When going in like this the putter was said to be 'gaanin in chum necks'.
Claggy: (Geordie parlance sticky) stcky adhesive and usually wet.
Clarty: Muddy, wet, semi liquid coal dust resulting from very wet seams and small coals teaming up against the miner.
Clay Carrier: The worker who cleared away a road down the face for the shot firers and assisted the shot firers. The brought the clay to the shot firer for stemming of the blast holes.
Cleat: The grain of the coal. Coal crystallises in lines and cleat is the name given by miners to the horizontal direction of the lines. If a hewer caught these cleats running horizontal to him he would have one hell of a job breaking into it. , but if the cleats run towards him he can tear the coal down in huge lumps. in Durham coal hewn with the cleat was known as 'Boardress Coal', coal hewn the hard way was 'Headress Coal' .
Coalrunners: Yorkshire lads who go down with the tubs. To warn the men a new set of empty tubs was coming you would bang on the pipes and this would echo through the areas relaying the message. Often the lad rides on the back tub, he is not supposed to but it is easier than trying to walk fast enough to keep pace with the tubs.
Coup: Durham term for the swap of Cavils. This might be done for a variety of reasons.
Cows: (Geordie pronounced 'cuw') A long iron bar that trails behind the last tub in a set, if the Tub set breaks away the rope when going up hill the cow throw the last tub off the way and stops the set from "getting amain"
Crack: On the way inbye I stopped to hear 'the crack' before gaining on a bit further…….A light hearted conversation, includes the latest jokes, news of the day underground & most other things.
Cracket (a): A piece of wood used by the Collier in the days of hand Hewing, wedged into the ground like a shooting stick, set between the Hewer's neck, elbow or arm when he was working lying down.
Cracket (b): A stool, on which the Hewer squatted in 3 or 4ft seams. Old miners in late 1970's used to 'luck for a bit of Cracket' at Bait Time and come up with a small piece of wood on which they squat. This is a modern application of an otherwise redundant word
" The bonny pit Laddie, the canny pit Laddie, The bonny pit Laddie for me, O! He sits on his Cracket & Hews in his jacket, And brings the white sillier to me, O! " (Allan's Tyneside Songs, Newcastle Upon Tyne 1891)
Crawler: A person who brown noses the overmen/management
Creeper: A long chain with teeth on it usually on a gradient but sometimes on a level. These are to give the tubs a start. The teeth hook underneath the tubs and pull the tubs forward. The creepers might be wound by hand, to slow the tubs down when they were on a gradient, or they might be powered by compressed air to push the tubs round a difficult place. If the pressure of work is too hard, haulage lads have been known to break the creepers by wedging wood beneath the teeth and the wall and letting the weight of the tub smash the creeper so they could get a rest.
Crosscut: An excavation or 'Drift' driven in any direction between the headings, air course, and broadway coursing. In the bord and pillar operation, the major excavations would be driven in a square fashion, number of drifts 'heading' forward and others at right-angles to them. The cross-cut intersects them in a perpendicular fashion.
Rob
|
|
rob52
Shotfirer.
Posts: 199
|
Post by rob52 on May 16, 2014 7:05:59 GMT -5
Durham Specific Part 3)
Dadd (a): To hit something (or somebody) with a flat object. 'You dadd' a mouse with a shovel - or someone who is provoking you.
Dadd (b): to dash out a small fire of gas, or a small accumulation of gas with a jacket'
Dadding (c): Before the advent of pit head baths, the women folk were often seen 'dadding' there mens's pit clothes against the outside wall of the house to knock the coal dust from them. Late 1970's seen in the holidays when the collier brought his pit gear & clothes home while the baths are being cleaned out.
Datal workers: Non face back bye workers on the general day rate of pay. Typical work includes loading props into tubs and maintenance, or they may be working on the haulage. Most surface workers were datal workers. Generally they were older workers, too old for the face, who had finished with face work, or workers who were partially injured, or young workers who haven't yet come on to the face.
Day Hole: A small exit or vent to be found in the shallow drift mines, particularly of Northumberland. It makes the mine cooler and provides another means of exit from the pit.
De'il: The old Durham pitmen's name for 'the devil'. He half believed that the deeper he went the more of the de'il's territory he was encroaching on. A miner who went missing would have been… 'te'an be the de'il.
Deputy: The deputy over countless years of mining changed his role repeatedly. In the 1850's he was employed in a supervisory capacity but his main job was that of setting timber and supports for the face workers. He also had the job of extracting them. In later years he was also a safety official in charge of seeing that the mines acts were obeyed. In the late1970's where supervision had increased more and more deputies and supervisors were used to oversee the face workers, often a couple of Grade 2 Deputies to a coal face and another in the gate looking after material. It was often the view of the face worker that the deputies were not there to help them rather there to spy on them and act in the same capacity as foreman to the Coal Boards ideals.
Dilly Line: A railway line used on the haulage systems both on the surface and underground. The dilly ways conveyed the coal directly from the pits to the staiths whereupon they were shot in to the keels or colliers which had come up the river. The dilly ways and the wagons often ran through the lanes behind the colliery houses sometimes say 15yards from the back door of the houses. The wagons ran on a direct haulage system using wire rope on rollers Dinting: (possibly a doncaster word, the Durham equivalent possibly = 'bottom caunch') Taking portions of the floor either to make better height and to make a solid base (setting props on soft floor was dangerous, they would slide or sink)
Dirl: The noise produced when something is hit, a resounding vibration like a bell, heard especially from the blacksmiths cabin and the fitters workshop at the surface.
Dirt (a): Name given to the stone on the conch or lip at the edge of the face.
Dirt (b): Name given to a kind of shale found between the seams or in the seam
Dirt (c): is also called 'muck' in yorkshire.
Dirt (d): Greenwell's Glossary lists "Foulness or fire damp"
Districts: The name given by miners to the sub-divisions of the seam. A district might have two or three or more units. Caviling teams were assigned to a particular unit within a district. In a district you will probably find the same height of coal for all the units, the same degree of warmth and the same type of equipment will be in use so the different cavil groups understand each other's problems even though they might not have the same degree of water or gas, or anything like that.
Doggies: A kind of charge-hand employed to assist and direct the haulage lads. The Doggie would also assist when the tubs came off the road. He might walk round the whole area of the haulage at pit bottom and all the districts and if a tub was off the road the young worker would bang on the pipes with the locker which would echo through the pitt and inform the doggie that there was a tub of the rails. He would then follow the noise in the pipes up to where the tubs were off the rails.
Doggie: (in Durham = 'wagonwayman' ) Person who repaired and looked after the haulage districts and roads; he was not really an official but more like a charge hand in the factory system. His name appears to have come from the dog nails which he used in repairing the roads.
Dog Nails: used by the road layer. He clears the road with a shovel and pick making it as level as he can and throwing the waste into a tub. He then takes a big, heavy diesel rail for the diesels to run on and lays them on the sleepers. These are hammered into place with dog nails with a thick head for securing the rail.
Downcast: The shaft which carries air down to circulate around the mine.
Drag: in Nort-east Durham; on Wearside = 'dreg' ; in Yorkshire = 'Locker' ; in Doncaster = 'dicks' A metal or wooden rod which the haulage lads thrust into the spokes of the Tub or Mine Car to slow it down or to stop it 'getting amain'. The expression 'dick' was taken quite literally by a Hatfield doggie who used to take delighting whittling or cutting these 'Lockers' in the shape of a penis - very polished, very professional - and chasing the young haulage lads around the shaft with them.
Drawing Off: withdrawing or 'drawing off' props or supports. When the ripper was removing the props to advance them and allow the stone to fall behind him he shouted 'drawing off' to warn all around that a portion of the old roof is now coming down.
Drift: A tunnel run out through huge areas of stone to get to new coal or to link up one unit with another. A drift will often be known by various names say "7's Drift" or "6's Drift", or it might be named after the man who heads the drift out (Ryding's Drift). Often roadways are driven by contract workers taken for the duration of the job, the 'big hitters' as they called them in Doncaster. These men are usually physically large and toil under tremendous strain. Contract gangs are often Poles, Germans & Yugoslavs or Scotsmen.
Duff: The small particles of coal left as residue after washing, a sand like sediment.
Duff Balls: A kind of snow ball made by rolling wet clay around in the coal dust then put on the open fire, however they would shoot off in all directions and it wasn't bright, but it was better than no fire at all.
Elephant Feet: Great iron base plates for attachment to hydraulic props with the intention of stopping them sinking into soft bottoms. In fact they usually did sink all the same and are more difficult to get out again with elephant feet beneath them. Knowing this the men often don't use them at all, but bury them illegally somewhere out of the way. When working as a ripper, staff were often told, 'never shovel what you can lift and never lift what you can bury' A maxim never found in the Coal Board Training Manuals.
Endless: A rope Haulage System. The wire rope going in a huge circle. Empty tubs can be clipped on one side, thus pulling them into the mine while full ones are clipped on the other side thus pulling them out. The Haulage Lad develops skills to engage & disengage the tub without stopping the haulage.
Rob
|
|
|
Post by dazbt on May 16, 2014 14:49:16 GMT -5
"Dinting: (possibly a doncaster word, the Durham equivalent possibly = 'bottom caunch')"
As are many of the coal mining terms used in the North East and Yorkshire coalfields, DINT is derived from the Old Norse language .............. English dint from Old Norse dyntr meaning a depression caused by scratching or carving.
|
|
rob52
Shotfirer.
Posts: 199
|
Post by rob52 on May 16, 2014 15:35:48 GMT -5
"dint na dat"... dazbt, I'd better get some crib Rob
|
|
|
Post by John on May 16, 2014 17:08:49 GMT -5
It was "dint" in Nottinghamshire too.
|
|
|
Post by dazbt on May 17, 2014 6:41:14 GMT -5
It was "dint" in Nottinghamshire too. Them Vikings turned up everywhere, dint they?
|
|
rob52
Shotfirer.
Posts: 199
|
Post by rob52 on May 24, 2014 20:24:55 GMT -5
Durham Specific Part 4)
Face: The coal face - the very extremity of the mine, where the coal seam is worked.
Fall: An unexpected collapse of the tunnels or the face. Support the fall as quickly as possible to stop it spreading further. 'It don't matter what fancy supports they invent, when yorkshire puts her foot down hard smoothing's got go'
Fast: (Doncaster) - Stuck, it cannot move at all.
Fault: Arises where stone intersects the coal face.It is infact a geological fault; sometimes the earth has rolled and the whole seam is twisted around; sometimes it drops miles below leaving nothing but a blank face of stone where you thought a rich vein of coal would be. Faults can result in colliery closure. To the miner, a fault makes working conditions very unpleasant, especially with machine cutting; when the machine attempts to cut the stone it creates clouds of dust which make it almost impossible to breathe. In some cases you literally could not see your hand in front of your face for the dust. Faults are commonly known in Durham & Yorkshire as white walls. There is a lesser kind of fault known as a roll, a stratum of stone which intersects the seam for a short period then disappears.
Feeder: A constant stream of water or gas.
Fettled (a): Taken care of, 'that's fettled that' also as a greeting "How duw? 'Fine fettle'. or 'What fettle?' 'Champion'
Fettled (b): A physical or verbal beating, to sort someone out…"He syoon fettled him" Fillers: Hewers (Stableman in Yorkshire) All filling was originally done by shovel. With the advent of disc cutters, most of it is now done mechanically onto a long moving chain. In the late 1970's the filler would only work in the 'necks' or stables - ie at the end of the face, where the coal has to be hewn by hand before face is ready for the machine to start its cutting. In tail gate stables, small machines are being used to replace workers. In the main gate 4-5 stablemen work very hard.
Fill off and Sod Off: (= knocking off work.) Until the coming of power loading equipment, the face worker was paid by piece. As soon as the team had finished the task, their money was assured and they could 'fill off & sod off' - ie go home. Certain caunch men were known to work themselves crazy and finish their day in five hours. As one worker finished he pitched in to assist his marras with maybe harder places.
Fire Damp: Miners name for Methane Gas. at 2.5 percent in air all electrical equipment to be switched off and men withdrawn. from 7 to 14 percent in air, it is liable to spontaneous combustion, ie without any spark or encouragement.
Flanker: To work a flanker possibly comes from racing parlance. In its original form refers to a horse coming up on the rails unexpectedly. In the pits it means 'to do something cute to the advantage of the person who has worked it'.
Flat Sheets (a): Square sheets of iron about 1inch thick and nailed on to planks to assist in the moving of tubs or corfs.
Flat Sheets (b): Used by rippers to help them shoveling. Oblong sheets of varying lengths but normally 5 or 6ft by 2&1/2 or 3 ft. These are put on the floor of the seam especially where the floor or bottom is soft. The ripper shoveling into a 20 or 30 ton heap of stones then has the boon of a solid level floor: his shovel can slide straight into the heap instead of being caught in the uneven surface.
Floor: The floor of the seam. Also widely known as 'Bottom'
Floor Lift: When the weight of the overlying strata comes on the gateway of the mine it does not always force the roof down. Often if the roof is hard and the floor is soft, the result is that the floor boils up; a day or two later you may not be able to walk up the gate, the floor will be nearly touching the roof. This is where 'dinting' is required ie the digging up of the 'floor lift' and re-leveling of it so that a regular height is kept. This might have to be done regularly in seams with soft floors. Floor lift is also, and more commonly, the result of 'bottom pressure', simply while the coal is in the earth there is nowhere for the pressure forcing up from below to express itself. After the coal is removed the earth can boil up in an attempt to fill the vacant space.
Foreshift: The first shift. The day shift; any shift starting after midnight.
Full'un: Tub or mine car full of coal, as opposed to the 'Chummin' or empty.
Gaffer: Usually any Official from an Overman up, usually manager
Gallowa: Name for a Pit pony underground.
Gannin Board: The main haulage road from which all the places cut off.
Gates: (Tunnels) On the conventional system of Longwall face work there are three gates, or tunnels, the mullergate (mothergate) or maingate, which is the biggest of the three and carries the big belt which takes coal from the face outbye. The mullergate also has all the mechanical and electrical equipment for the operation of the belts, chains etc. The tailgates are at each side of the face and are smaller than the mullergate; up these gates come the men and materials necessary for production. Since the face could be 240yards long and 18 inches high a man in case of emergency would have to be dragged a long way, probably too long for safety, therefore on long faces there is sometimes a 'dummy gate' or 'escape gate' which is halfway between the maingate & the tailgate. Dummy gates have disappeared with more modern methods of face work.
Gaudy Day: Originally it was any day which the workers made into a holiday. It might have been the day the first cuckoo was heard, or the turnips were ready in the fields. The custom is still observed although on a more individualist basis. Decided to have a day off?...often workers will say "bugger it, lets have one off for the Queen". This seems to be the modern equivalent to the 'Gaudy Day' of old.
Goaf: (= Gob) Waste ground behind the face and the working tracks. When coal has been drawn out, the supports are moved forward leaving the roof to fall in behind into the goal. It is a planned cave-in.
Rob
|
|
rob52
Shotfirer.
Posts: 199
|
Post by rob52 on May 24, 2014 20:29:56 GMT -5
Durham Specific Part 5)
Handfill: in the late 1970's referred to hand coal filling on the so-called 'conventional system' (longwall, jib cutter, bored & fired) of face operation. The workers kneel (or lie) in a long line along the face shoveling or 'filling' the coal which has previously been fired down onto a belt rolling along behind them.
Heap: The name given to all the surface installations of the mine.
Helper Up: Young boy employed to help the barrow men or in later years putters, out of the 'sway' or bad places.
Hewer: In Durham, this was the worker (before the advent of machine cutting) who by means of a pick, usually a hand pick, felled the whole area of coal and filled the tubs. It required a very great deal of skill and a tremendous amount of strength. The hewer would hew out a long slice of coal under the coal and temporarily sprig or support it while he crawled under it to hew further in. Later he had the help of powder and wedges to loosen it; still later with machine cutting he became a filler-hewer ie shoveling the bulk of the fired down coal on to the belts but fetching down the coal not loosened by the pick. Today when the machine fills the coal as well as hewing it, (except in the 'necks' or stables) the cuttermen perform the hewer's work. The pick is still an invaluable tool to the men working in coal or on the caunches, but it's not in such continual use. In days of hand hewing, the men had to pay towards a tradesman working in a blacksmith's shop (known as 'the pick shop'). The men had to buy their own pick blades. At the end of each district or flat, there was a long steel rod on which the men placed their picks. These were sent to bank every day to be sharpened, ready for the next shift. Sometimes up to three pick blades may have been used per shift by a hewer. The hewers also had a lamp crook for hanging their oil lights on; they stuck the crook into a prop whilst working.
Hinger: (Hanger) At the gate ends of the face, a small roller connected to an iron girder, sticking out of it at right angles so that when a neighbouring girder is lowered it will fall onto the roller and one can simply push it forward to advance it rather than having to lift and push. 'Dinnat let your hinger dingle?' is a well known farewell, having both pit and lauxes connotations. Certain 'Hingers' were nicknamed 'Budgie' or 'Canary' because of the way they clung to the supports.
Hogger (a): Stockings with feet cut out (or sleeves from sweaters) which are worn over the tops of normal pit stockings. Their purpose is to prevent small bits of coal or stone falling between the boot and the stocking, thus necessitating cessation of work (very costly on contract particularly if one has built up a steady pace of shoveling).
Hogger (b): Most rubber and leather pipes, but usually the rubber ones and those used in pumping operations. Metal pipes wouldn't be known as Hoggers.
Hogger (c): The pit shorts which the miner wears underground, he will usually wear these 'hoggers', his boots, belt battery and knee pads and nothing else; sometimes only belt, boots and pads are worn.
Horny Tram: A flat tub without sides having an upright on each corner rather like a four poster bed without a top. It is used in the conveyance of all kinds of timber, drums of oil etc to the coal face. In Durham where the gate was very low in places the horns were sawn off to get the tram up to the face.
How!: A form of greeting having any variants. 'How' is a shortened version of 'Howdo' (how are you?) to which you may reply 'alreet!' (all right) or 'ney se bad' (not so bad). The reply to 'how' is very generally 'champion'. Another version is 'hoi'. in Wearside pits 'cher' was used instead of 'marra' so a greeting from Teesside & South Durham men might be 'howcher?' (how are you friend?), the same version of this in North-East Durham and Northumberland is 'ho ma?' (how are you marra/friend?). Farewells are just as numerous and usually have a cheerful or lauxes connotation which is linked to the mine. 'Look after yourself' in Durham became 'dint let thee dingle dangle' or 'keep thee prop up' or 'keep thee pooder dry' or, most common of all, 'keep had' (keep hold).
Hunkers: 'Squatting on the hunkers', squatting in a crouched position with the backside slightly off the balls of the feet while the weight of the body falls on the toes. This relaxed posture which most miners down the pit or on the surface assume. There is of course nowhere to sit down on the face, one cannot sit on the flooded muddy ground so the next best thing, 'the hunkers' are relied upon.
Jowl: To sound the roof. Deputies and at one time face workers carry a wooden rod, like a thin broomshank, and use this to 'jowl' or test the roof at the coal face, and from the sound (hollow or firm) to see whether it is safe. 'Jowling' is still carried on by all workers and many other miners further 'outbye'; today however the worker will pick the nearest long piece of wood or metal at hand and tap the roof and in the process of tapping shakes down any little pieces of coal or rock which otherwise falling on to his back would give him a nasty shock, and (in anticipation of bigger lumps or a fall) might make him panic. " Jowl boys, jowl, Jowl boys and listen, There many a marra misten man, because he couldn't listen. "
Jud: In the days of bord and pillar it was a measure of coal; it varied in tonnage and measure but was usually the amount which a strong man could bring down and fill in a shift. " A got fifty oota the jud, Titty fallar, titty fallay, Ee by gob it was gud, Titty fallar, titty fallay, Ah, cum oot ti ger a shaft, The timmer give a crack, Yi bug, a stone fell on me back! Titty fallar, titty fallay, Tral la lala la la, Ower the walls oot! "
Keeker: The owners's 'weighman'. He looked over the tubs as they came to bank, checked & weighed them for the owners. He also had the task of laying them out or confiscating the tubs that weren't full to the brim or had stones in them. The men would pay their own 'checkweighman': he was there to try and prevent the workers being excessively robbed; he was elected and paid by the men to look after their interests at the bank. Keps: (Catches) Metal supports at the mouth of he shaft (two at each side), which come out to hold the cage once it is 'at bank' (on the surface). They are controlled with a handle operated by the banksman. With the advent of skip winding (ie feeding the coal directly into the cage without the use of tubs or mine-cars) the catches are no longer used. Previously men would refuse to 'ride' the cage if the catches were not operational.
Kirving: After the jib cutter has cut its slice into the face the small coals which it leaves in its wake are called Kirving. They lie piled right to the roof. Crawling along an 18 inch seam with tons of loose Kirving underneath you is painful awkward work. One has to 'swim' or wriggle from side to side, as the Kirving gives under you and you can't get any propulsion forward. Your back is flat against the top, your head lying on one side and the arms and legs get cut by a thousand little pieces of glass-like kirvings as you inch your way forward.
Kist: (Box) The Kist is the place where the Deputy sits and deploys the teams of men. It might be a cabin. If there isn't a cabin, the Kist can be just a corrugated sheet set up against the wind with a chock or a plank. At the start of the shift the Deputy sits there, compares reports, and deploys the men. At the end of the shift men working overtime would go there to get what were called 'Ready Breks' . If face conditions were unusually bad the deputy would issue 'Wet Notes'
Rob
|
|
rob52
Shotfirer.
Posts: 199
|
Post by rob52 on May 24, 2014 20:37:26 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by tygwyn on May 26, 2014 11:57:14 GMT -5
Were these Audit`s,levels driven by a bunch of out of work Accountant`s?
|
|
rob52
Shotfirer.
Posts: 199
|
Post by rob52 on May 27, 2014 3:43:20 GMT -5
Hmmmm...adit...Bill Gates has a lot to answer for niggirf autocorrect typos...
Rob
|
|
|
Post by kundyhole on Jan 13, 2015 14:29:55 GMT -5
Gentlemen may I add to the list
S n i g g e r - may be North staffs only ? but hauling materials into the face from the end of the inbye haulage normally to the stage loader or cundy hole on the top end , paid 65% pit bonus insted of 50% for normal haulage . Not sure if I have seen a Dint on the list but for us it was a beat up
regards
Max
|
|