Buying stuff from the coal board.

[Wheldale]

My dad passed away earlier this week and while looking through some of his stuff I found a receipt from Wheldale Colliery where he was the Personnel Manager. The receipt from Nov 1982 was for 100 common bricks for personal use, price including VAT £3.72. This made me smile.

My question is was this a common thing, ie you could purchase items from the pit ie surplus items? If so was it a common thing that went on?

[John]

Never heard of anyone buying stuff from the NCB, I know a lot of stuff was borrowed on long term loan though..... ;D ;D

Canteen, group of miners just off night shift, one with a long length of hose that had a life of it's own trying to escape from it's bag.
Security Officer say down at same table for a chat, notices said "green snake" trying to escape.. "I think theed better get thee sen off home lad afor that "snake escapes and I see it" ;D

Actual incident too!!

[John]

BTW, you had to watch mineworkers, they were renown for borrowing owt that wasn't chained down or welded down. I reckon a few shearers would have been nicked had they been a bit lighter... ;D

[John]

Condolences on your loss Wheldale.

[shropshirebloke]

Like John, I'm sorry to hear about your dad.

Apart from the canteen - which sold the most amazing range of stuff (a lot of blokes used to buy tights for their wives - or at least that's what they told us....and I won't even begin to speculate about the nappies...), the only thing I can remember was that you could buy new flame lamps from the lamp room.

I always wanted one, but £30 odd back in the late 70s was a bit beyond my budget, with a young child and another one on the way.

Probably explains why I've got shelves full of the bloody things now!

[John]

But weren't the canteens stocked and run by CISWO??? I know all the goods we bought at the bath attendants office, boots, bath slippers, soap towels etc were stock from CISWO.

[Wheldale]

Maybe with my dads bricks it was a perk of management? I remember when my dad built a fish pond. An old coal board van turned up with a shovel, barrow, pick axe. Then the pit electrician turned up to wire in the outside plug socket. Also the pipe from the pump to the water fall was made from hydraulic hose. Like I said maybe a management perk?

[John]

Those were Management perks.... We just had to "borrow" things. The head timekeeper had the sills of his car replaced, hours of work for the feller doing the job, cutting the rusted out sills, making the new ones out of sheet metal, then welding them in place.

We'd have to nick the oxy gear, sheet metal and do it on our own time.

Although plenty of "foreigners" were done in the workshops on the backshifts... ;D

I know when I worked at British Gypsum, we'd get a foremans note for a bag of plaster. If stopped walking out the gate, said not was produced and free bag of plaster was cleared.
Same place, hundreds of gallons of petrol couldn't be accounted for, and yet the petrol pump was switched off and locked!!!

Some smart feller had looked at the set up, pump was on one side of the yard and flex hose and nozzle were on the other side. He discovered the pipe held a few gallons of petrol and was topping his car tank up nearly everyday!! ;D
Nozzle was soon fitted with a new padlock.. Must have been going on for months though.... ;D ;D

[dazbt]

Sorry to hear about yer dad Wheldale.

Although it wasn't uncommon for the NCB to sell off all sorts of things that were determined as surplus (I've bought all sorts of stuff from different pits and on one one occassion put a bid in for an engineering lathe at Kellingley, which I later learned was a waste of time and effort though, I was informed that the winning bid went to the head storekeeper.)

At one NCB establishment (not to be named, but rhymes with Afton Dental Lambchops) in the 1960s it was widely believed (common knowledge?) that a foreman was building a fairly luxurious bungalow for himself complete with swimming pool and material assistance from the NCB but without their knowledge. On the same day that this magnificent structure was completed and he took up residence a professionally produced invitation appeared on the aforesaid NCB establishment’s notice board, it read something along these lines;
Notice of Invitation to all NCB Employees
You are cordially invited to attend the public opening of ‘Cantara’, a beautifully appointed luxury residence situated on Barnsley Rd. Visitors are also invited to bring along swimwear and enjoy the benefits of the large swimming pool set in the extensive garden area of this property.
This invitation is extended by courtesy of the NCB Properties Dept. who having examined the recently built property determined that the cost of retrieving all of the NCB ‘provided’ materials used in the construction would be prohibitive and that a more appropriate action would be to declare the whole property a building of National Ownership and therefore open to the British Tax Paying Public.

………. as fast as the original notice was removed another copy appeared elsewhere until eventually an exhausted and apoplectic foreman gave in and realised that ceasing to scream threats of litigation and violence to ‘whoever’ was in his own best interests.

[John]

Jul 23, 2011 6:03:04 GMT -5 dazbt said:

Sorry to hear about yer dad Wheldale.

Although it wasn't uncommon for the NCB to sell off all sorts of things that were determined as surplus (I've bought all sorts of stuff from different pits and on one one occassion put a bid in for an engineering lathe at Kellingley, which I later learned was a waste of time and effort though, I was informed that the winning bid went to the head storekeeper.)

At one NCB establishment (not to be named, but rhymes with Afton Dental Lambchops) in the 1960s it was widely believed (common knowledge?) that a foreman was building a fairly luxurious bungalow for himself complete with swimming pool and material assistance from the NCB but without their knowledge. On the same day that this magnificent structure was completed and he took up residence a professionally produced invitation appeared on the aforesaid NCB establishment’s notice board, it read something along these lines;
Notice of Invitation to all NCB Employees
You are cordially invited to attend the public opening of ‘Cantara’, a beautifully appointed luxury residence situated on Barnsley Rd. Visitors are also invited to bring along swimwear and enjoy the benefits of the large swimming pool set in the extensive garden area of this property.
This invitation is extended by courtesy of the NCB Properties Dept. who having examined the recently built property determined that the cost of retrieving all of the NCB ‘provided’ materials used in the construction would be prohibitive and that a more appropriate action would be to declare the whole property a building of National Ownership and therefore open to the British Tax Paying Public.

………. as fast as the original notice was removed another copy appeared elsewhere until eventually an exhausted and apoplectic foreman gave in and realised that ceasing to scream threats of litigation and violence to ‘whoever’ was in his own best interests.

I can just visualize an intercom system he'd have chosen, DAC, Winster or Davis of Derby SIVAD??? ;D ;D ;D ;D