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Post by John on Aug 30, 2012 11:10:51 GMT -5
Tony, do you recall one of the electrical maintenance assistants who live in Whitby. He was building a concrete boat to sail around the world in. He was still building it when I left in 79. I'm sure he'd finished casting the hull and was fitting the deck/s etc when I left. I wonder whether he finished the project and launched that boat??
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Post by dazbt on Aug 30, 2012 12:00:48 GMT -5
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Post by dazbt on Aug 30, 2012 12:02:12 GMT -5
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Post by John on Aug 30, 2012 13:32:00 GMT -5
They've made boats of concrete for years Daz, I was quite surprised at a concrete boat, but many were built during the second world war and afterwards.
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Post by spanker on Aug 30, 2012 14:30:36 GMT -5
Archimedes' Principle says that, for a boat to float, the water displaced by the boat has to weigh more than the boat. This means that a concrete boat that weighs three tons has to displace more than three tons of a water. To figure out the amount of water your boat needs to displace, apply some simple multiplication and division, as well as some facts about building a concrete boat; then start building.
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Post by dazbt on Aug 30, 2012 14:47:01 GMT -5
I think most people know a bit about concrete 'ships' but what about Pycrete Ships, made from ice and wood pulp .......... not many people know about them I'll bet
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Post by spanker on Sept 5, 2012 13:40:28 GMT -5
I read with interest yesterday that the new potash mine nr whitby at doves nest farm has reserves that will last us 100yrs and will make the UK one of the biggest producers and that the seam is one of the thickest found worldwide . There is a projected 3.5 to 6bn tons and construction of the 1;7bn project could start early 2013
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Post by dazbt on Sept 5, 2012 14:09:42 GMT -5
I read with interest yesterday that the new potash mine nr whitby at doves nest farm has reserves that will last us 100yrs and will make the UK one of the biggest producers and that the seam is one of the thickest found worldwide . There is a projected 3.5 to 6bn tons and construction of the 1;7bn project could start early 2013 Of course it's thick .............. it's in Yorkshire, likely to be pretty dense as well, ;D ;D ;D
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Post by John on Sept 5, 2012 14:48:49 GMT -5
I read with interest yesterday that the new potash mine nr whitby at doves nest farm has reserves that will last us 100yrs and will make the UK one of the biggest producers and that the seam is one of the thickest found worldwide . There is a projected 3.5 to 6bn tons and construction of the 1;7bn project could start early 2013 Of course it's thick .............. it's in Yorkshire, likely to be pretty dense as well, ;D ;D ;D There's no answer to that one.... ;D
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Post by John on Nov 19, 2012 18:28:45 GMT -5
This story was probably around 1978, we had been instructed only one electrician could take their holidays off of one shift, no two on any shift would be allowed off. Turns out three out of four central electricians had booked the same two weeks, that left me to cover 24 hours a day for two weeks.... ;D (John Blower D shift,Roger Williams B shift and I can't recall A shifts elec at the moment.
They were told to sort it out between themselves, but only one could take their holidays...
John Blower was our shop steward and he was one of the three, he met our engineer and said "only one per shift could book holidays at the same time", Boss said "yes" Well we have only one per shift who have booked, that put our engineer in a spot, he said" But I can't allow three of the central electricians at the same time" OK, I'll take it to the works convener and if he cannot get any sense out of Management we will bring in our area union rep..
Management relented.. John Littleton phoned me in the workshops first day of the holiday of the three elecs, "How are you going to cover the central area" he asked "How do you mean John"?? "Well your it". "This is going to cost you, and remember when you got chewed out for allowing a bloke to work 32 hours straight"?? "Well the job has to be covered, and you know the area better than the other lads" Meaning we were indispensible...
I was already on an overtime shift at double time too!! "OK, here's what I'll put forward, end of shift 16-00hrs, I'll go home to get my dinner and pack some snap up, I'll get back as quickly as I can, and cover 12 hours of the night shift, that will let you supervise the district from 8-00am until 8-00pm when I'll be here. Errrr Can I have my labourer work the overtime too"?? Got to look after them too!! He agreed to everything, so I got 24 hours at double time for the first shift! Fate was lurking too, stupid sump pump played up nearly every shift for some reason, wasn't planned either, just happened... That gave me 4 hours at double time for most of the two weeks.
You wouldn't believe it though, but each shift was a dog, I worked bloody hard most shifts, talk about Murphy poking his law at me at every corner!! Come the end of the month, John was doing the time sheets and asked me what he owed me...... Here's a breakdown.. 24 hours at double time with two sump times, plus worked through snap, plus quick return. 12 hour shift with worked through snap, sump time and quick return. same for each shift totaling one 24 hr shift and 13 12 hour shifts with three double time shifts involved..
I forget what my gross and net pay was for that month, had to be in excess of 600 pounds net, a lot of money in 1978. I'm glad I never had to do that sort of coverage ever again...I'm sure I slept for 24 hours after it was done...
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Post by peter77 on Feb 9, 2013 1:24:19 GMT -5
Are you aware that photo while using the gentleman endured presents itself ore canisters of which brought back recollections of that time period put in melting off straight down generally there. Our Shop | Rock Salt UK
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Post by John on Feb 9, 2013 9:12:18 GMT -5
Are you aware that photo while using the gentleman endured presents itself ore canisters of which brought back recollections of that time period put in melting off straight down generally there. I'm sorry Peter, I don't understand what you're on about, you obviously have English as your second language, not being rude, I commend you on being able to read and write in a second language, but I don't understand your post. Can you elaborate for me please?? If you are on about the two 1000 tonne ore bins, "canisters" By melting, do you mean driving??? The two bins were driven from top to bottom, by first using a raise boring machine from the bottom to the top. Then using explosives, fired out and the muck was dropped down the raise bore hole to the bottom and loaded onto a conveyor. The two bins were driven 100 feet through rock salt. MCC the mine contractors drove both bins around 1975, it was extremely hot, try 50'sC. The men were totally stripped save for underwear, while working in those bins, not my ideal working conditions!!
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Post by Minutor on Mar 28, 2014 15:35:26 GMT -5
I worked at Boulby in 77/78, underground in the geology Dept. I was on D shift. I left to go to college and subsequently into teaching. I'm trying to remember the name of a colleague who died in a rock fall in 78 - Phil ??. I remember it was the extra shift (Saturday?) that you had the option of working or not at the end of the shift cycle, and I went to a dance with my girlfriend instead of going in. Has anyone got any details of the fatalities that occurred at Boulby? I can't find anything online. The Assistant Geologist was Phil Dutton from Liverton, a very likeable hyperactive beanpole of a man who ran a small farm as well as his job at Boulby. It was later than 1978 though as I took over from him after he was killed, perhaps 1981, immediately prior to that I was the shift geo on A Shift. There was a massive roof fall in the access road, a full crosscut length and thicker than the length of a roof-bolt. I was hauled into the Mines Inspector investigation as I had been on the panel on the night shift before the fall. Other fatalities I remember well were Bernard Allison a deputy who was killed scaling sidewall on one of the West Link panels. Bernard was my first deputy when I started as a geological assistant / miner on 3 & 7 Panels. The other was a young electrician who was trapped against a Heliminer on a panel in the South (maybe 10 Panel) after a piece of roof about 1.5m by 1.0m and about 20cm thick fell out between four roof bolts. The rock landed behind him edge on and fell against him trapping him against the machine, he was still alive when they got him to the pit bottom but died of internal injuries. I can't remember his name but seem to remember he came from Middlesbrough, he was a really nice bloke but was always nervous underground on a panel, just before he was killed he told me he wasn't cut out for mining and was looking for another job.
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Post by John on Mar 28, 2014 16:35:52 GMT -5
I worked at Boulby in 77/78, underground in the geology Dept. I was on D shift. I left to go to college and subsequently into teaching. I'm trying to remember the name of a colleague who died in a rock fall in 78 - Phil ??. I remember it was the extra shift (Saturday?) that you had the option of working or not at the end of the shift cycle, and I went to a dance with my girlfriend instead of going in. Has anyone got any details of the fatalities that occurred at Boulby? I can't find anything online. The Assistant Geologist was Phil Dutton from Liverton, a very likeable hyperactive beanpole of a man who ran a small farm as well as his job at Boulby. It was later than 1978 though as I took over from him after he was killed, perhaps 1981, immediately prior to that I was the shift geo on A Shift. There was a massive roof fall in the access road, a full crosscut length and thicker than the length of a roof-bolt. I was hauled into the Mines Inspector investigation as I had been on the panel on the night shift before the fall, I had seen the roof and it looked as if the pillar was punching through and there was a distinct parting. Unusually there was no pressure on the roof-bolt plates and I remember discussing this with the panel shift Deputy who had the roof under observation. I still wonder if I missed something that night which could have prevented the death, it just didn't look that bad. As a result of this fall the bolting pattern was changed with the outer bolts being put in at an angle the theory being in any similar situation the bolt plates would be put under pressure making the bad roof more obvious. The widths of the pillars were also reduced I recall so they would crush rather than punch through the roof. Other fatalities I remember well were Bernard Allison a deputy who was killed scaling sidewall on one of the West Link panels. Bernard was my first deputy when I started as a geological assistant / miner on 3 & 7 Panels. The other was a young electrician who was trapped against a Heliminer on a panel in the South (maybe 10 Panel) after a piece of roof about 1.5m by 1.0m and about 20cm thick fell out between four roof bolts. The rock landed behind him edge on and fell against him trapping him against the machine, he was still alive when they got him to the pit bottom but died of internal injuries. I can't remember his name but seem to remember he came from Middlesbrough, he was a really nice bloke but was always nervous underground on a panel, just before he was killed he told me he wasn't cut out for mining and was looking for another job. I remember Phil Dutton, sad he was killed, nice bloke. The first fatality I recall was an "A" shift heliminer driver in our first outburst, don't recall the date, sometime after the first HM was installed. That was on the south side. Then a young miner who was sent up to the East district on "C" shift, sadly I was one of the last blokes he spoke to before his accident..Ironically, both the fitters and us Elecs refused to work in the area the lad got killed in, as we considered it too dangerous. The machine maintenance bay.That was about a week before Christmas, nice present for his wife who was due to deliver a baby anytime... Then around 1978 Lee Selwood,(Reagan Sellwoods Brother) and a miner were killed on an ANDO day, they were doing a GEB move..I was doing maintenance on the electrics of one of the trunk belts and was instructed to finish my job, leave it safe and make my way out the pit, I bumped into the surveyor and our mining shift supervisor on the way out. Lee was a very good friend of mine, sadly we were all shocked on our staff over his loss.
Bernard Allison, that name rings a bell, can't put a face to the name now, just too many years.
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Post by Minutor on Mar 30, 2014 13:06:03 GMT -5
I suppose I qualify as an "Early Years" CPL man having started in January 1978. I was a fireman at Grangetown Fire Station although I did come from Loftus originally, if it hadn't been for the 1977/78 national fire strike and the fact it coincided with me buying a house I might never have got into mining and my life would have been very different; a real hinge point for me. At the end of 1977 I was looking for work, I had an opportunity at BSC Lackenby but having been there countless times as a fireman I gave it a miss, likewise with ICI Wilton. It was my mother who had heard that CPL were recruiting "geologists" (she probably heard it at Hintons bacon counter in Loftus!) so I phoned up and was given an interview a few days later.
Of course it wasn't "geologists" they were recruiting but Geological Assistants (or GA's as we were known). The geology department was in Portakabins next to the overflow changing room Portakabins , I was interviewed by Peter Kemp who was an Assistant Geologist and Peter Woods the Chief Geologist. I was offered the job and would start immediately and like a lot of CPL new-starts at that time I hadn't got a clue what to expect, didn't even have an underground visit before signing on the dotted line.
I started on day-shift to do my thirty day probation, I was given my lockers in the Portakabins, taken to the stores next to the surface workshops for donkey jacket, overalls, belt, boots and helmet, back to the mine offices and assigned a lamp. I was assigned to an experienced GA (I think his name was Steve) and down I went with a yellow band of electricians tape around my helmet to signify I was on probation.
Steve (if that was his name) kept me out of trouble for thirty days, showed me the job of a GA which wasn't that hard to learn (Geiger probes, safety holes, exploration holes, probe holes, mapping, sampling, safety holes and the card system they had for recording data), those days most of the interesting interpretation was done by the Assistant Geologists on the surface and all the leg-work and safety hole interpretation done by the GA's. Steve also taught me how not to get run over by an Eimco 915, how not to get my knackers crushed by a trailing cable reeling in, the basics of scaling and all the best places to have a sit-down which GA's seemed to do quite a bit of in the early days. At the end of my thirty days I was assigned to A Shift and put on a continuous mining panel in the South District. I can't remember the panel number but it was on the north side of the panel which was driven west from the bottom of the south spearhead (9 Panel perhaps?). Those days we were still mining in a conventional room and pillar layout with square pillars, roads and crosscuts were laid-out with 36 metere centres whilst the roads themselves were 6 metres wide and between about 3.2m and 3.8m high.
After the fatal (if relatively small) gas blow on the 2 Panel in the south the Heliminer 120HR's were fitted with reinforced cabs, oxygen self rescuers and a system of forward drilling called "safety holes" was agreed with the Mines Inspectorate. The interpretation of the safety holes is where the GA's came in and despite the relatively leisurely role we enjoyed it did come with some pretty heavy responsibility. In a 6 metre heading four safety holes were drilled (at that time by Secoma single boom jumbo using rotary auger drill steels with a tungsten carbide tipped cutting bit) about 0.5m from the roof across the face and angled slightly upwards, length wise I think they were 10 metres at that time. The holes were tested by GA's using a gamma probe and an inspection of the cone of cuttings left by the drill, the geology was plotted on the back of a card and the decision on what gradient and roof height to mine was marked on the sidewall and the information passed on to the Deputy. In addition the GA had to decide if he thought secondary ore with potential gas was present, looking back on it quite a responsibility as people's lives were at stake if we got it wrong. In 1978 continuous mining panels had no alternative but to mine without blasting so a route through the potash seam had to be plotted to avoid any potential secondary ore, this often meant dipping down into the underlying salt which resulted in dilution of the potash grade. More to follow
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Post by John on Mar 30, 2014 15:20:56 GMT -5
I was the same, didn't know what to expect, my first day underground was when "B" shift was on days, I was getting dressed in my pit clobber, just got my sweater on and was about to put my donkey jacket on I'd bought with me, when Phil Chapman stopped and told me I won't need either the sweater of coat!! God!! He was so right, back then everywhere, that is everywhere in the underground section was HOT!!! There's wasn't a lot of roadways, almost impossible to get lost. The ventilation back then was one fan on the surface blowing air down four four foot vent tubes down No2 shaft, and the exhaust air up the same shaft warming the "cool" air up on it's way down!! God I hated the north side where the workshops were going to be and the tops of the two ore bins...It was well over 130F up there, probably nearer 145 if the truth was known, the metalwork on the cutters was so hot it would burn you if you touched it with bare skin!!
Things improved when No1 shaft came on line and the No1 fan was installed in the south side fan chamber, it was on my shift when it was started, I covered the start up as we had a 25 man limit on that shift. Was even better when No2 fan was installed in the north fan chamber and started.... The mine was still hot, but a lot more comfortable. That was 1975.
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Post by boring on Dec 12, 2014 12:34:28 GMT -5
Concrete Boat update~ i was a plasterer before i started at Boulby mine in the geology dept in 1976, and did my close personal supervision on `C` shift with Phil Dutton and Mick Carter, i didn`t think i`d be there that long `cos it going to be a job over winter but then one winter merged into another until the ando shift accident in 1978 when i was supposed to work but overslept and had the day off. That was the shift that Lee Sellwood and a miner from Eston called Cliff Motsom were involved in the panel move sidewall fall and fatally injured. i terminated my employment and worked a weeks notice and went back on the building site but after 6 months i was laid off so i started back at Boulby for another 31 winters.
The electrician`s assistant was called Kenwood Ward Foxton and he built his concrete boat successfully at a farm just off Grinkle lane near Easington, he employed 3 specialist plasterers from Hull an asked me if i would help making the team up to 4 plasterers. We used Ferrous Cement and Sharp sand and floated the hull to a smooth finnish, he positioned several hose pipes with small holes in to spray around and above the boat to allow the the cement to `cure`for 2 or 3 months before i came back to finish plastering the deck and the insides on my own and it was the hardest day`s work of my life compared with my geological duties.
By the way, he sailed around the world and the Boulby Crystal did and article on him.
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Post by John on Dec 12, 2014 17:16:14 GMT -5
Concrete Boat update~ i was a plasterer before i started at Boulby mine in the geology dept in 1976, and did my close personal supervision on `C` shift with Phil Dutton and Mick Carter, i didn`t think i`d be there that long `cos it going to be a job over winter but then one winter merged into another until the ando shift accident in 1978 when i was supposed to work but overslept and had the day off. That was the shift that Lee Sellwood and a miner from Eston called Cliff Motsom were involved in the panel move sidewall fall and fatally injured. i terminated my employment and worked a weeks notice and went back on the building site but after 6 months i was laid off so i started back at Boulby for another 31 winters. The electrician`s assistant was called Kenwood Ward Foxton and he built his concrete boat successfully at a farm just off Grinkle lane near Easington, he employed 3 specialist plasterers from Hull an asked me if i would help making the team up to 4 plasterers. We used Ferrous Cement and Sharp sand and floated the hull to a smooth finnish, he positioned several hose pipes with small holes in to spray around and above the boat to allow the the cement to `cure`for 2 or 3 months before i came back to finish plastering the deck and the insides on my own and it was the hardest day`s work of my life compared with my geological duties. By the way, he sailed around the world and the Boulby Crystal did and article on him. Nahh Then, as they used to say up there... I recall Phil, Mick Carters name rings a bell too, and I'd forgotten the miners name who was assisting Lee, very good mate of mine, I was stunned like all the electrical staff were over his loss. His Brother Selwood took it really bad. Even though he lost his life, Lee was a hero, he pushed the district supervisor out the way or he'd could well have been the third fatality that gruesome Saturday.
I often wondered if Ken had finished that boat, none of us thought it would be seaworthy...LOL Glad it was and that he did accomplish his dream. There were a lot of good lads at that pit way back, although I enjoyed my life down under, I miss the lads I worked with, and I loved my job, it gave me a lot of satisfaction, and for most of my time there I worked unsupervised, and had the satisfaction of never having to call a Foreman out.
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Post by boring on Dec 14, 2014 12:28:32 GMT -5
Your not kidding, good lads and how, i was in awe of the NCB and TIN (Steve Ainsworth) personell, tradesmen and miners, mining `is` there trade.
I said i worked my notice until only Wednsday instead of Friday, we were backshift on 8 panel in the south up by `K` stores, the deputy was Mick Kilpatrick who i had great admiration for along with all the yorkshire and geordy fellas, they all seem to have old heads on young bodies, the lads told Mick that the geologist was on his last shift before leaving and Mick snapped at them and that `he`didn`t want to SEE anybody get anybody, well i came off the district about 10.15 and sat at the back of the bait table writing the card out from me notebook then noticed all the men coming up towards the cabin half an hour earlier than the EOS, George `porky` Porton snatched the book out of my hand at the same time Billy Garbutt bear hugged me and placed me lenth ways on the table while Mick Bulmer (wingnut) Tony Stokes(gealan) , Ginger Roberts, Les Stevenson, Dave Brown and others ripped all my clothes off until naked with just a hat, lamp rescuer and boots on, i jumped off the table and immediately grabbed Gingers haversack with his overalls in and made it to pit bottom. i thought `how did that happen? Mick Kilpatric had gone round to every man and told the lads that we`ve got our tons for today so park your machine up and make your way to the bait cabin, i`ll be down after i`ve shovelled the box end. Well he didn`t SEE. When i got to pit bottom i tried to keep a low profile, that didn`t last long, i was still naked when i got the the bank. An unforgettable experience.
I got my own on Mick a few years later when he was on his last shift before he and his family went to Canada, he was the shift superviser doing his rounds, i remember he had been shouting on the tannoy for ages with no response and the next thing there was shouting `what`s up with the belts` then we heard Mick say `i knew i`d get someone`. I was sat in the bait cabin with some lads and Peter Elliot the fitter said `who up for getting Mick when he comes up so we all agreed so he arrived and Peter shouted `now` we jumped up and pulled him down and ripped his overalls to shreds then Peter produced a tin of mat black spray paint an drew some suspenders on his legs, when Mick saw the paint he screamed `oh no`. He arrived at pit bottom wearing his overalls after stitching them up with leg wire and said` i would have thrown the overalls on the belts`. He`s still in Canada now. By the way, there`s been lots of mention of John Blower, JAB in the posts, i had a xmas lunch with him last Monday and he`s looking and talking as well as ever,
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Post by John on Dec 14, 2014 13:04:16 GMT -5
Your not kidding, good lads and how, i was in awe of the NCB and TIN (Steve Ainsworth) personell, tradesmen and miners, mining `is` there trade. I said i worked my notice until only Wednsday instead of Friday, we were backshift on 8 panel in the south up by `K` stores, the deputy was Mick Kilpatrick who i had great admiration for along with all the yorkshire and geordy fellas, they all seem to have old heads on young bodies, the lads told Mick that the geologist was on his last shift before leaving and Mick snapped at them and that `he`didn`t want to SEE anybody get anybody, well i came off the district about 10.15 and sat at the back of the bait table writing the card out from me notebook then noticed all the men coming up towards the cabin half an hour earlier than the EOS, George `porky` Porton snatched the book out of my hand at the same time Billy Garbutt bear hugged me and placed me lenth ways on the table while Mick Bulmer (wingnut) Tony Stokes(gealan) , Ginger Roberts, Les Stevenson, Dave Brown and others ripped all my clothes off until naked with just a hat, lamp rescuer and boots on, i jumped off the table and immediately grabbed Gingers haversack with his overalls in and made it to pit bottom. i thought `how did that happen? Mick Kilpatric had gone round to every man and told the lads that we`ve got our tons for today so park your machine up and make your way to the bait cabin, i`ll be down after i`ve shovelled the box end. Well he didn`t SEE. When i got to pit bottom i tried to keep a low profile, that didn`t last long, i was still naked when i got the the bank. An unforgettable experience. I got my own on Mick a few years later when he was on his last shift before he and his family went to Canada, he was the shift superviser doing his rounds, i remember he had been shouting on the tannoy for ages with no response and the next thing there was shouting `what`s up with the belts` then we heard Mick say `i knew i`d get someone`. I was sat in the bait cabin with some lads and Peter Elliot the fitter said `who up for getting Mick when he comes up so we all agreed so he arrived and Peter shouted `now` we jumped up and pulled him down and ripped his overalls to shreds then Peter produced a tin of mat black spray paint an drew some suspenders on his legs, when Mick saw the paint he screamed `oh no`. He arrived at pit bottom wearing his overalls after stitching them up with leg wire and said` i would have thrown the overalls on the belts`. He`s still in Canada now. By the way, there`s been lots of mention of John Blower, JAB in the posts, i had a xmas lunch with him last Monday and he`s looking and talking as well as ever, I remember when Wingnut got that name, he was in the East District as a fitter, and was sat in the bait room with his labourer, he used to have long hair, nobody had seen him with short hair, ever!! This shift he'd turned up with a short back and sides, we walked into the bait room and someone spotted "wingnuts" prominent ears that had been hiding behind the long hair forever... Next thing "ay up, there's wingnut and his mate spring washer", we couldn't stop laughing, Wingnut got angry, but that's the worst thing he could have done, name stuck.
Pete Elliot, started just before me, he'd come up from Derbyshire, not sure but I think from Shirebrook, I'm sure he said he'd worked at Shirebrook Colliery. He was on of the fitters on "C" shift, him and Eddie Callandar..AKA JC, for Jesus Christ.. Pete lived at Carlin Howe when I first started and I lived in Skinngrove, so we used to go out and have a few beers when we were on day shifts. He introduced me to "Old Peculiar" What a God awful beer it was too...LOL Tried tracking Peter down for several years, I thought he may have returned to Derbyshire.
John Blower was new when I started, probably just been there a few months, great electrician and like me was a bit "Bolshy", he once said to me, "See, we are the two best electricians at this pit, that's why we get away with so much" One day shift we were both in No1 pit bottom at side of No1 C/V drivehead, we could hear the U/M on the other side of the shaft chatting with the Onsetter, so I whispered to Blower, lets start shouting abuse at each other to see what the U/M would do, why you effing Geordy, I'll smack you in the mouth if you say that again, we really went at it, it was bloody hard not to crack up laughing. We heard the Onsetter ring the cage off, then he came around to us, "Bloody 'ell, U/M thought you two were having a fight" we just cracked up laughing...I don't think either of us had any cross words between us in the times we worked together.
I was pretty lucky when I covered the East and South East districts, the South East was where the playful lads were, but they were under very strict orders NOT to molest me in ANY way by the District Supervisor, who was a real big feller, ex paratrooper, ex NCB Deputy who held a Class 2 ticket. He wanted me to attend a breakdown and get it running ASAP, and he knew damned well if the lads messed with me, he'd lose plenty of time, so I got away with murder.
During the start up for full production in the summer of 75, the East District was put on split shifts, we changed at the face so as to keep production continuous, I was on the phone passing my shift report out to Peter the Elec Superintendant, Id' got the telephone handset cord wrapped around me after turning and reaching for my notes, when one of the lads poured the last of his ice water down my back, I shouted some obscenities, Peter said I beg your pardon over the phone...LOL
It was damned good training for my later years when I was appointed a Leading Hand at the colliery I worked at in Australia.
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Post by John on May 4, 2018 15:16:11 GMT -5
Together with others jogging my memory, here is an incomplete list of the electrical staff of Boulby Mine 1975-1979 when I left.
Electrical Engineer in Charge..Dave Horner. Electrical Superintendent, (assistant elec engineer) Peter Allan.
Foremen. John Littleton, Winders, shafts, Ore Handling. Dave Steel day shift workshop. Trevor Atkinson, "A" shift. Malcolm Bell, "B" shift. Keith Tomlinson, "C" shift. Kevin Ashton, "C" shift after Keith left. John Richards, "D" shift.
Winder electricians. Gary O'Hagan, left in 1975 replaced by.. Norman Logan from "B" shift and.. Alan Atkinson from "C" shift.
Electricians.
John Dufty, Day shift workshop. (passed on a few years back). John Sinclair, "C" shift, last I heard he'd migrated to Canada. Roger Williams, "B" shift, shafts ore handling, central district. Fred Fletcher, "C" shift, ditto............................... Migrated to South Africa. John Waudby, myself, "C" shift East and South East districts, then took over the shafts/ore handling and central district when Fred left. Jim McMan.. John Blower, "D" shift shafts, ore handling and central district. Big John name eludes me and what shift he was on, I think "A" shift. Brian Marsden, "D" shift. George James, "B" shift. Phil Chapman, "B" shift, shafts, ore handling and central district. Peter Luke. John Hobson. Brian Hogg. John Scott.
Maintenance Assistants.
Sam Oliver, "B" shift. Tommy Hume, "C" shift. Bryan George, "C" shift, he had an older Brother on our staff, but I can't recall his name, and their Dad worked on dayshift as one of the emergency medical staff in the medical centre.
Anyone who knows of the missing names, let me know and I'll add them.
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Post by John on May 4, 2018 15:25:41 GMT -5
I'll explain why we had four 8 hour shifts. Shift times were 08-00 to 16-00 day shift 16-00 to 24-00 afters. 24-00 to 08-00 nights.
Lets just use one shift "A" Monday, Tuesday Day shift Wednesday, Thursday Afters. Friday, Saturday and Sunday night shift. Monday and Tuesday rest days. Wed, Thurs Days, Fri, Sat, Sun afters. Mon Tues, nights. Wed and Thurs rest days. Fri Sat and Sun days....Saturday was known as ANDO day, it was an over time shift, we got paid monthly on an average of 40 hour week, ANDO day was to balance that out. Mon, Tues afters. Wed, Thurs, nights. Fri, Sat, Sun rest days. that works out as one month of shifts continuous production, except Saturday day shift, which was a maintenance shift.
I know, it was the most complicated shift system I've ever worked on, but once I got used to it, I liked it.
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