library in Mansfield which might include widows pensions. There are the accident books for various pits held at both the Notts and the Derbyshire Record offices, as well as the records of the Nottinghamshire Miners Association up at the N.U.M. Thanks Limey, you forget sometimes the sort of conditions men worked under. Of course, the unofficial way was much preferred due to the time it took - meaning you could get on with mining coal (and making money). The "unofficial" method was to knock the timber out with a sledge hammer, hoping the roof would hold long enough to get away. The "official" method of removing them was to attach a chain, or cable, to the bottom of the timber, then use a "come along" or similar device to pull the timber out from a safe location. They were pretty particular about pulling them out as the cost was deducted from their pay. He was "pulling timbers" to allow the roof to fall in the "gob" or "goaf" area behind a longwall. On a more interesting note to the miners here, is what caused the roof fall. We believe she was the first woman to receive a "widows pension" from what eventually became the NUM. Of interest is the fact that his wife, my grandmother, received a pension from the Union. Unfortunately, I don't know many of the details, or even which pit he worked at, but my maternal grandfather, Charles Martin, died from injuries he received in a roof fall.
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