Pit ponies' logbook, 1955

At its peak in 1920, 1.2 million people were employed in the UK coal industry, and many of us have mining ancestors. But not all mine workers were human. The first pit ponies were sent underground in the Durham Coalfield in 1750, and they continued to labour in dangerous conditions until well into the 20th century. Anne Bradley, a curator at the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield, shares a 1955 pit-pony logbook from Easington Colliery in County Durham that highlights the crucial role pit ponies played.