When women wore the trousers

Laura Barton explores the little known story of a pioneering group of women who unknowingly challenged conventional notions of femininity and their working roles. The Pit Brow Lasses worked within the collieries of 19th century Wigan, Lancashire. Their unique re-appropriation of men’s ‘breeches’ worn underneath hitched up skirts was originally adopted as a functional response […]

Miners Talley Checks

The use of Pit Checks is believed to have commenced in Britain c.1860/70 and continued into the 1980/90s when they were eventually replaced by the introduction of electronic swipe cards. Pit checks are one of the most commonly encountered forms of mining memorabilia. The total number of different examples ranges well into the thousands. Although […]

The Bevin Boys 1943-1948

Bevin Boys were young British men conscripted to work in the coal mines of the United Kingdom, between December 1943 and March 1948. Chosen by lot as ten percent of all male conscripts aged 18–25, plus some volunteering as an alternative to military conscription, nearly 48,000 Bevin Boys performed vital but largely unrecognised service in […]