[jambutty]

Originally Posted by West Ender

Can you answer a query for me? When I was very young, before I went to Paddock House School, I remember miners getting on the Blackburn buses at Church Commercial, which I got to go to West End. This must have been before pithead baths as they always had coal dust on their faces. Where was there a pit near there? I can't remember one.

As near as I can remember Blackburn didn’t have a pit. Maybe the guys that you saw weren’t miners but workers in a coal yard where domestic coal was bagged. They would get just as mucky as a miner, as would the coalman who delivered the coal to the houses. Apart from Scaitcliffe pit in Accrington there was a pit at Huncoat, one at Hapton and a drift mine at Read, then Burnley.

It was very difficult to get rid of the coal dust embedded at the base of the eyelashes. So miners would look like they were wearing eyeliner makeup. Most never bothered to try during the week.

If you tried using soap it got in your eyes and stung like blazes. We were told to use Vaseline.