Dahn t' Pit

Dahn t' Pit tells the story of a Yorkshire miner and his sweetheart in the years before the First World War. In Book 1, Bag Muck, young Tom Brocklesby starts work at the age of 12 as a trapper in Cadeby Colliery. He overcomes his terror of the pit and makes plans to get a better job by going to Night School. His self-improvement is noticed by Gertie Holdsworth, a Sunday School teacher, and soon they are walking out together - but their plans are set back by the Bag Muck strike and its appalling consequences. In Book 2, Big Smoke, Tom goes to London to train as an inspector of mines and his eyes are opened to a wider world. Gertie has troubles of her own when a friend of her employer tries to seduce her. In Book 3, Firedamp! Tom, a newly-qualified inspector of mines, is involved in the Cadeby Colliery disaster of 1912. Although the main characters in this trilogy are fictional, the events of the Bag Muck strike of 1902-3, and the Cadeby Colliery Disaster of 1912, which form the background to the story, are historical and are based on oral history passed down through the author's family, backed up by careful research.