Lady Lucy Bertram Markham, the namesake of this lamp, was wedded to Sir Arthur Bazil Markham—a prominent member of the Nottinghamshire Markham family, proprietors of Markham pits, ironworks, and the renowned Markham engineering facility. Throughout her life, Lady Markham dedicated herself to fundraising endeavors for the less fortunate and the families of miners. She orchestrated auctions featuring vintage miners’ lamps to generate funds for her noble causes. While images of her engaging in such an auction are available on Google, they have been subject to copyright claims by Alamy. In one of these images, a gleaming, full-sized miners’ lamp is visible in the background, possibly composed of solid silver. This raises intriguing speculation about the existence of the actual “Lady Markham Lamp” within the Markham family’s possession.

This intricately detailed replica stands at 5 inches in height, weighing 5 ounces. It continues to captivate with its meticulous artistry and craftsmanship.

The post A 5-inch Edward Barnard & Sons replica of the Lady Markham Lamp appeared first on Old Flames.

The Old Protector model 176 oil lamp, dating back to before 1911, appears to have undergone modifications around 1913 to comply with the 1911 Mines & Quarries Act. Historical research indicates that while its patent date is listed as 1913, this likely corresponds to its upgrade to adhere to the regulations set by the Mines & Quarries Act of 1911. Remarkably, this particular lamp is one of the only two Protector workman’s lamps that endured the purge of non-conforming lamps in 1911. The other survivor is the “Prestwich Protector Patent” lamp with SL or BL ignition and the Protector twin wick tube system. Notably, this vintage Type 176 lacks the twin wick system and is ignited by hand with pricker adjustment.

The sole remaining lamp apart from these two is the Type “A” aluminium officials lamp, which has retained its original form and features a single capped gauze. This lamp is characterized by its loose top design, an early locking bar, and a slide band lock.

The limited survival of these lamps can be attributed to a plausible factor: the delicate nature of the thin iron plate at the base.

The post Old Protector Model 176 Oil Lamp appeared first on Old Flames.

The post A day in the Life of a Miner – Stilfontein Mine, South Africa appeared first on Old Flames.

The post Friemann & Wolf Duisburg, FWD 20502 Lamp appeared first on Old Flames.

The post Impact ignition in Safety lamps appeared first on Old Flames.

It’s about 20 odd years since the last ponies came out of the pits in England, Ellington had the last ones, and I think a pit in Wales brought theirs out just before. I used to work with them quite often, we had over 100, that varied in size from 8.5 hands to 14 hands, I believe at 14.5 hands, a pony becomes a horse. At Ashington Colliery where I did my training, I was told they had over 600, but they had 4.500 men underground too.

The saddest story I ever heard about them was detailed in a book, by a chap called Thompson, an ex colliery manager, who taught at the local Mining School, it was called ‘How Long Did The Ponies Live’. It tells of the time when at a mine just north of Newcastle, a shaft collapsed, and the men underground were very lucky to get out. They left all the ‘Choppy’ out for the ponies to eat, and as much water as they could find, and had to leave them and run. They were never able to get back.

The horseshoes were special ones made of beryllium, a copper alloy that doesn’t create sparks. If a pony was required to work in an area where gas may be a problem, the farrier used to fit these beryllium shoes, which were very expensive, then put steel ones back on when the job was done. The small ones, (and they are very small!) came from Scotland, and the larger ones came from, I was told, the deepest pit in Lancashire, which was, I believe, Parsonage Colliery.

Beryllium was also used in place of steel for tools that had to be used in return airways, hammers, chisels, spanners and all bricklayers tools. They had to be handed back after each job.

In the gallery below you’ll see pit ponies, from my early days. I knew the horse keeper with the soft cap on, holding a small piebald pony in the last image.

– Information provided by Bosuns Mate.

The post Pit Ponies appeared first on Old Flames.

Who remembers the first phone below, the Davis of Derby speech powered handset, carried tucked in your shirt on the early power loading faces, you were always talking when you should be listening. They plugged into a socket on the lock-out boxes.
The GEC phone, next to the speech powered handset, was unbelievably still in use when I started at the mine, all of the pit on one party line.

The third phone below, came from Ireland Colliery in Derbyshire I was informed by the seller, it didn’t look like that when I got it!
The fourth phone is a surface phone, but it was intrinsically safe, and was connected to the underground system. The label reads MH direct, which would have been Managers House direct.

The last one below came from Bedlington in Northumberland. The seller said it belonged to an uncle, who was an electrician at Ashington Colliery during WW2. It’s a field telephone, used to tap into the lines when fault finding.

– Information provided by Bosuns Mate.

The post Mining Telephones appeared first on Old Flames.

To soften the blow of parting with the lamps, I sent her a small imitation brass Protector, as in the picture, and, I’m pleased to say, she sounded overjoyed to receive it!

– Information provided by Bosuns Mate.

The post Hailwood & Ackroyd Coloured Glass Lamps appeared first on Old Flames.

For anybody who has never seen a gasometer, every geriatric cricket fan will remember the famous one in Surrey, at Kennington Oval. In those days, the BBC only had one camera at a test match, and it was facing the gasometer, which would rise and fall at mealtimes, according to how hungry the customers were.
I don’t remember seeing Bradman bat in front of it, as we didn’t have TV then, but I remember watching Lindsey Hasset bat in front of it, and, few will believe this, bowl too.

– Information provided by Bosuns Mate.

The post Modified Abbot and Birks Wolf Lamps appeared first on Old Flames.