- Painting of Agecroft Colliery
Painting of Agecroft Colliery by John Beswick - Painting of Agecroft Colliery
Painting of Agecroft Colliery by John Beswick
TitleInvisible Histories project interview: Agecroft Colliery - John Beswick
ReferenceSUBJ/INVHIST/1/IH018
Date
23 May 2013
CreatorBell, Sue
Production date 2013-05-23 - 2013-05-23
Scope and ContentAudio file and summary (Word file) of interview with John Beswick ex-employee of Agecroft Colliery.
John Beswick worked at Agecroft, starting around 1967/8. In the interview he talks about his time working for the colliery as well as going into other bits of his life. His father had worked in the pits for 49 years and gave him a beating when he found out John had signed up to work for the Coal Board. He remembers the Board as being like a family and speaks of his loyalty towards them. Other experiences relayed include the fact that all his current friends are former pit workers, a tale about the ghost of Bickershaw pit, and an anecdote about travelling down in the cages.
John goes on to talk about how the transport section where he worked was privatized and discusses the Transport union and their reaction to the strike in 1984/5. He evokes a picture of police charging pickets and explains how the transport vehicles were sometimes mistaken for vehicles carrying ‘scab’ miners. Further to this he discusses accidents and deceased miners.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this interview are the interviewee’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Working Class Movement Library
John Beswick worked at Agecroft, starting around 1967/8. In the interview he talks about his time working for the colliery as well as going into other bits of his life. His father had worked in the pits for 49 years and gave him a beating when he found out John had signed up to work for the Coal Board. He remembers the Board as being like a family and speaks of his loyalty towards them. Other experiences relayed include the fact that all his current friends are former pit workers, a tale about the ghost of Bickershaw pit, and an anecdote about travelling down in the cages.
John goes on to talk about how the transport section where he worked was privatized and discusses the Transport union and their reaction to the strike in 1984/5. He evokes a picture of police charging pickets and explains how the transport vehicles were sometimes mistaken for vehicles carrying ‘scab’ miners. Further to this he discusses accidents and deceased miners.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this interview are the interviewee’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Working Class Movement Library
Extent1 audio file and 1 word file
LanguageEnglish
Related object
Persons keywordAgecroft Colliery, Beswick, John
SubjectWorkers, Oral history, Miners, Coal industry, Miners' Strike (1984-1985)
Conditions governing accessOpen
Levelfile
Normal locationDigital Resource - S:\Audio visual archive\Invisible Histories project