Description:This is a posed photograph, as ordinarily miners wouldn't have sat on the rails. Their snap is wrapped in paper. Other details to note about the photograph are that the man on the left with the stick is an overman, and the young lad sitting on the floor is wearing clogs. The number on the coal denotes the stall (the 12 yard long stretch of coal seam worked by three men) that it came from.
Standing is Tom Smith, the Overman. Others are, left to right: George Horney, Frank Sibborn, Charles Dickenson, Frank Hunt, Mat Henagan. The boy is the Overman's son, also named Tom Smith.
Hawkins Colliery also known as "Cannock Old Coppice" opened 1840 and was closed 1960