大象传媒

My father Mr Leslie Curzon, was a miner all his life from the age of 13. He worked at 4 different pits in the Alfreton area but Bentink was where he worked the longest and this was the pit he worked down during the war years. He told me about the 'Bevan Boys', these were men from all walks of life that were seconded to the pits on account of the lack of men through conscription to the forces. This was a great culture shock for those men who came from very different backgrounds such as jewellers, doctors, etc. These secondments were essential to the war effort in obtaining the fossel fuel for the factories and power stations. They were billeted in specially built Nissan huts which were quickly erected and made of corregated iron curved into a tunnel shape and bricked at each end. The ones in Alfreton were situated at the top of Prospect Street where the Catholic Church now stands. The condtions in the pits then was very basic and dangerous. My father would tell me how the men were working in coal seams only 12" and 18" high and they had to swing a pick-axe in this small space! Most men at that time were smokers but on account of the gasses down the mines they could not take anything like matches, cigarettes and lighters and so they would take chewing tobacco down with them.

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