Further to the article about pit ponies by John Kathage (dated 23 January 2022 on the Facebook group), here are a couple of pictures. A bridle, which hung in the bar of a pub near Barnsley, and which was given to the landlady by a customer. It was either shared by two ponies, Ace and Pilot, or one had been retired or died, and the bridle handed on.
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.
