This coal tub came to the Museum in 1980. The curved metal piece on the right is the tail-end of the shafts, which swivel up and down and from side to side to allow the pony some freedom of movement. The tub ran on metal rails.
Not many Fells worked underground. They were rather tall compared to the Welsh Section A and Shetland breeds that were normally used. However in Northumberland there were several pits, for both coal and iron ore, which used them; they had deep enough "drifts" to provide headroom. Fell ponies were still used in one coal mine in Northumberland until well into the 20th century. Bigger Fell types were used around the coal yards pulling equipment, on the collieries' dairy farms, and to deliver milk from the farms to local villages.
"The three-and-a-half year old pony geldings offered at Brough Hill Fair and other similar fairs in that district are invariably purchased by dealers at prices of from £15 to £20. These men take the ponies down into Country Durham or into the Doncaster mining area, break them to gears, and sell them within a very short time to the big colliery companies at just twice what the ponies cost them. In other words, the dealers get as much profit out of the ponies within six months as the silly breeder gets for keeping them three and a half years. It is most remarkable, but quite true, that very few Fell pony breeders of today possess a saddle. They are pony breeders and have good eyes for a pony but they are not horsemen, and for that reason only, they are almost ready to give away these grand ponies just when they are ready to go into hard work." (R B Charlton, 1952)
Some pits were opencast, and there, the height of the pony did not matter so long as it was strong, willing and obedient.
Pit ponies were well looked
after although of course life underground
was very unnatural for them. Their understanding
of their work was well known. One that worked
in the Durham coalfield during the second
World War (not a Fell, probably
a Welsh Section A) was known to be the best
and most intelligent worker the pit had. If you
couldn't work with him, you couldn't work
with any pony. There was one lad who never
could, however; the pony had taken a dislike
to him. Whenever he reached a bend in
the track he would trot fast round it so that the tub
flipped over sideways. This was a disaster
because all work stopped while the tub was
manhandled back onto the rails and the spilt
coal reloaded; the pony standing meanwhile and
resting peacefully while the lad sweated
and swore. And he'd do it the next trip too....
(thanks to Marion Jones, nee Shaw, whose
father was a "Bevan Boy" at this pit.)
For images of pit ponies and the conditions in which they were kept, see the Durham Mining Museum site.
The last of the Fell ponies in work underground. The "drift" has lots of head room for them here. The ponies are hauling pit props to support new workings, or to shore up older ones.
A copy of this photo from the Fell Pony Society archive is on display in the Museum. The copyright of the original belongs to the now defunct British National Coal Board (please email the webminion if you have information about the current holder of the copyright).