Pit pony
A pit pony, otherwise known as a mining horse,
History
The first known recorded use of ponies underground in Great Britain was in the
In the United States, mules outnumbered ponies in mines.[6] The use of ponies was never common in the US, though ponies were used in Appalachian coal fields in the mid-20th century.[7]
The British
In 1904, the president of the Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Pit Ponies, Countess Maud Fitzwilliam, daughter of Lawrence Dundas, 1st Marquess of Zetland, awarded a young Elsecar Collieries mine worker, John William Bell of Wentworth, the Fitzwilliam Medal for Kindness for an act of bravery that saved the life of his equine workmate. Bell's story of staying behind while his human workmates were able to escape through a small opening, to ensure that the pony would have a chance of rescue, became a successful tool for the Countess in promoting pit pony rights.[9] Bell died on 27 March 1910, when he was hit by falling rock at the Oakenshaw mine while trying to aid another miner whose hand putter's tub had become loose.[10]
In 1911, Sir Harry Lauder became an outspoken advocate, "pleading the cause of the poor pit ponies" to Sir Winston Churchill, when introduced to him at the House of Commons, reporting to the Tamworth Herald that he "could talk for hours about my wee four-footed friends of the mine. But I think I convinced him that the time has now arrived when something should be done by the law of the land to improve the lot and working conditions of the patient, equine slaves who assist so materially in carrying on the great mining industry of this country."[11]
At the peak of this practice in 1913, there were 70,000 ponies underground in Britain. In later years, mechanical haulage was introduced on the main underground roads replacing pony hauls, and ponies tended to be confined to the shorter runs from coal face to main road (known in
Probably the last colliery horse to work underground in a British
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Nineteenth-century illustration of a pony being lowered down a mine shaft at Creuzot, France.
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Pit pony and miner in a mine in New Aberdeen, Nova Scotia, August 1946. The last working pit pony was brought out of the Drummond Coal Company colliery at Westville in 1978.
Breed and conformation
Larger horses, such as varieties of
Work
In
Typically, they would work an eight-hour shift each day, during which they might haul 30 tons of coal in tubs on the underground mine railway. One 1911 writer estimated that the average working life of coal mining mules was only 3+1⁄2 years, where 20-year working lives were common on the surface.[16] Recollections differ on how well the ponies were cared for in earlier years.
In art
Pit ponies are commemorated by a 200 metres (660 ft) artwork, Sultan, created between 1996 and 1999 by Mike Petts, using 60,000 tons of coal shale waste, covered with living grass, in a country park on the site of the former Penallta Colliery, north of Caerphilly, Wales.[18] The artwork was named by local people, after one of the last pit ponies from the area, which was still living at the time.[18]
See also
- Escape from the Dark
- The Stars Look Down
- Cruelty to animals
- Animal rights
References
Footnotes
- ^ a b "60 Vintage Photos From Forgotten Moments In History: This mining horse posing for the camera with co-workers". History Daily. 3 April 2019.
- ^ a b English Pit Ponies, The Colliery Engineer, Vol. VIII, No. 1 (August 1887); pages 6-7.
- ^ MSIA "Huskar Colliery 1838", Mine Safety Institute of Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Cook, Sue, "Making History: The Husker Pit disaster, 1838 — why 26 children died", BBC Radio 4, U.K. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Simkin, John "Underground child labour in the coal mining industry did not come to an end in 1842", Spartacus Educational 2 August 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ a b H. H. Stoek, J. R. Fleming, A. J. Hoskin, A Study of Coal Mine Haulage in Illinois, Bulletin 132, University of Illinois Engineering Experiment Station, July 1922; pages 15–16.
- ^ a b Benedict, Les (director); Knudtson, Steve (producer) (1972). The Last Pony Mine (motion picture). Iowa State University Library, Special Collections. Available on YouTube in three parts part 1, part 2, part 3.
- ^ Colby, F. M. New International Yearbook: A Compendium of the World's Progress (1920), Frank Moore Colby, M.A., Editor, 1921, page 171. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
- ^ BBC "Elsecar 19", Bargain Hunt, BBC, Series 46, Episode 30 (16:20 - 19:00), Youtube, 20 September 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
- ^ Duncan, K. "In Memoriam: John William Bell", Durham Mining Museum, 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
- ^ Scottish Mining timeline. "PIT PONIES. HARRY LAUDER BEFRIENDS THEM", "Misc. Hamilton History"; Scottish Mining Website. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
- ^ a b Butcher, Joanne (21 July 2011). "Last Northumberland pit pony passes away". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-7200-0591-2.
- ^ www.wisdom.com.au. "Pit Ponies | Wollongong Heritage and Stories". www.wollongongheritageandstories.com. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
- ^ "Coal Mines Act (Schedule Three)". Act No. 50 of 1911..
- ^ a b "The Care of Mine Mules". Mines and Minerals. XXXI (11). Colliery Engineer Company: 650. June 1911.
- ^ International Correspondence Schools (1900). "Surface arrangements at a mine opened at a point below the tipple level". A Treatise on Coal Mining. The Colliery Engineer Co. pp. 33–35.
- ^ a b Cooper, John (14 December 2019). "The huge tribute to the pit ponies of Wales you may never have noticed". Wales Online. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
General references
- Bright, John (1986). Pit Ponies. London: Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-5226-9.
External links
- Pit Pony (1997) at IMDb, TV movie about pit ponies in Nova Scotia
- My Pal, Bute, an ex-mine worker from North East England describes the life and work of his pit pony
- Fforest Uchaf Horse & Pony Centre, a sanctuary in South Wales for former pit ponies and other horses