Description:The photograph was taken during the 1926 coal strike at Cheadle racecourse showing miners working shallow coal seams (Thomas Slack- second left), (James Thomas Slack-kneeling third form the left)( James Slack- seated first right). During the 1926 strike, after seven months of deprivation, despair and near to starvation, some miners, knowing the geology of the area, dug shafts to reach seams of outcrop coal. Many casualties occurred in the outcrops, men being buried alive or gassed because they could not afford safety equipment or timber for supports.
In this BBC Radio Stoke recording, originally broadcast 30/06/1974. Reuben Cope of Bentilee recalls his days as a boy miner in the North Staffordshire coalfield.
The recording begins with Reuben Cope recounting his experiences at the outcrop and goes on to describe the working conditions he encountered during his career as a miner in the North Staffordshire coalfield during the first half of the twentieth century.