Event Title
Coal Mining Heritage and Pit Ponies in the East Midlands
Session
Session 5: A Heritage of Horses
Location
Mary Tefft White Cultural Center, University Library
Start Date
30-9-2023 11:00 AM
End Date
30-9-2023 12:30 PM
Description
This paper looks at how pit ponies have been remembered in coal mining heritage in the East Midlands through several local heritage initiatives from 2008 to date. Pit ponies were chosen as one of the subjects for the 2013 Arts, Humanities and Research Council (AHRC) funded ‘A History of Coal Mining in Ten Objects’ by Mine2Minds Education. Even though the last pit ponies worked in local pits fifty years ago, they are still fondly recalled in coal mining communities.
Audio testimony was collected from miners who worked with the last pit ponies, along with photos and documentation from various sources. Such is the strong cultural connection with them, they appear in rhyme, song, the arts and folklore tales.
I missed seeing pit ponies working underground at Annesley Colliery, the last ones being taken out of the pit in 1970. In 1974 during my early basic underground training, an old miner took me into the underground stables. The smell knocked you backwards and there hadn’t been a pony in there for four years! What we did see as children was a free ‘bucking bronco’ show every summer when the pit ponies were brought to the surface for the pit holidays. This ritual was witnessed by local children and families who fed them wheat and bits of apple etc. This ritual ended in the early 1970’s along with ponies working in the pits.
Recommended Citation
Amos, David, "Coal Mining Heritage and Pit Ponies in the East Midlands" (2023). Equine History Collective Conference. 8.
https://docs.rwu.edu/equinehistory-conference/2023/saturday/8
Coal Mining Heritage and Pit Ponies in the East Midlands
Mary Tefft White Cultural Center, University Library
This paper looks at how pit ponies have been remembered in coal mining heritage in the East Midlands through several local heritage initiatives from 2008 to date. Pit ponies were chosen as one of the subjects for the 2013 Arts, Humanities and Research Council (AHRC) funded ‘A History of Coal Mining in Ten Objects’ by Mine2Minds Education. Even though the last pit ponies worked in local pits fifty years ago, they are still fondly recalled in coal mining communities.
Audio testimony was collected from miners who worked with the last pit ponies, along with photos and documentation from various sources. Such is the strong cultural connection with them, they appear in rhyme, song, the arts and folklore tales.
I missed seeing pit ponies working underground at Annesley Colliery, the last ones being taken out of the pit in 1970. In 1974 during my early basic underground training, an old miner took me into the underground stables. The smell knocked you backwards and there hadn’t been a pony in there for four years! What we did see as children was a free ‘bucking bronco’ show every summer when the pit ponies were brought to the surface for the pit holidays. This ritual was witnessed by local children and families who fed them wheat and bits of apple etc. This ritual ended in the early 1970’s along with ponies working in the pits.
