What a great day was had by all at the National Coal Mining Museum. On arrival, we were met by the wonderful volunteers and escorted to the first part of our tour. We split into two groups and the first group went to visit Aunty Brenda. She told us all about life as a miner’s wife. She lived in a two up two down terraced house. It had no bathroom. If they needed the toilet in the night, she used a guzunder, which does what it says ‘on the tin.’ It goes under the bed. After that we went to see the mining baths, they were huge and all the men got showered in one room and washed each other’s’ backs. The pit ponies were amazing. In years gone by, they were only allowed up from the mine for 2 weeks a year. That is the only time they would see daylight. After lunch, we met Brian our tour guide down the mine. He was so funny. He turned all the lights out and when we put them back on there was a huge rat on his shoulder. We all highly recommend a visit. You will not be disappointed
