We were lucky to have the chance to visit Big Pit on Monday 13th February! We were all very excited as we made our way there on the coach- it took quite a long time and we couldn’t wait to get out to explore!
When we arrived, Mrs Biggar and Miss Mogford took their classes off down the mine to see what life was really like for the miners who worked there. We couldn’t believe that children our age had to work for 12 hours a day….6 DAYS A WEEK! It was so dark, dirty….and DANGEROUS! Meanwhile, Miss Evans and Mr Harris took the rest of us to explore the mine above ground…We saw where the explosives were kept in world war 1 (it was far away from the rest of the mine), we saw the fan room (the fan had to pump fresh air into the mine and get rid of the stale air and poisonous gases) and the bath house!
Then, after a delicious picnic, we swapped over and it was Miss Evans and Mr Harris’s turn to take the children to do their shift underground! A few of us felt a little nervous but we soon got used to the darkness. We felt safe in our hard hats, bright torches and our guide, Stevie, looked after us so well! We saw the coal face, the stables (the horses were kept underground and only came up to the surface for a two week holiday in the summer!), the equipment, the trams and when we all turned our torches off we could believe how dark it was!
It was a fantastic day out and we really got an idea of what condidtions were like for the miners. It also made us realise how very lucky we are not to have to work in a dangerous job like the children had to back then.
