HOLING OUT

Photograph courtesy of National Museum of Wales

This is another of Mr Jones's wonderful photographs, this one taken at the Plas-y-Coed level, in the district of Pontypool in around 1905. Here a collier can be seen 'Holing Out' beneath the coal seam. This cut was made to a depth of around three feet, making it easier for breaking down and removing the coal. Imagine having to do this job, crouched in this position with one's leg bent double under one, and cutting away with a mandrel (small pick) hour after hour. Note the lighted candle close to his left arm. The amount of light in this picture was provided by the photographer rather than the collier. Using just the candle for light, this man would have been working in semi-darkness. The reason for 'Holing Out' was to make it easier to break down and obtain large lump coal, as colliers would not have been paid for any small coal they produced.

Depending on the hardness of the coal, sometimes the coal would prove very difficult to remove, even when it had been undercut. In these circumstances, an explosive shot or two would be needed to help free the coal. This young boy can be seen drilling a hole between where the coal joins the overburden, and where the separation would hopefully take place. Before the shot was fired everyone would retire to a safe place, usually a manhole, which was a recess cut out of the side of a heading (tunnel) where they could be safe from the blast. The job of firing these shots was done by a specialist trained in explosives usually someone with the title of the fireman who did this job as part of his underground duties.