Tunnels to HELL

Mining is a part of Britain’s industrial heritage, but there’s no doubt that these tunnels, deep underground, were a highly perilous place to work. However, they provided employment for entire communities – young children worked in the mines until 1842, when a law was passed prohibiting women and children under 10 from doing so. Even then, many 10 to 13-year-old boys continued to work as miners until 1918 when it became law that all under 14s must attend school.

Fatal accidents were all too regular – some miners would fall from overcrowded tubs as they were lowered into the mines. Others died from explosions, suffocated, or