My name is Selwyn Rees and I decided to go to work in the mines when I was 15 years old for the money that was being paid to those that worked there. It was slightly more than you could earn in other top ground jobs at the time.
I did 16 weeks training at Old mills before finally starting underground at Writhlington colliery.
I had to learn all the jobs there before being allotted a ‘Stint’ on the coal face.
During my time underground I had lots of frightening experiences like hearing the roof go crack above us whilst we were working . It cracked because of the coal extraction leaving a gap that the roof finally reached the floor through collapse. The timber supports that were used to support the roof also split under the pressure of the roof pressing down on them.
As I was a first aid man down there I had to treat many different injuries , the worst experience was having to help treat my father who had the roof collapse on him fracturing both his legs and both his bones in his left lower arm. Dad never recovered enough to get back to work as his injuries were too extensive.
I had spent nearly 11 years working down the pit working in hazardous conditions when I thought that it would be best to find a less dangerous job as the wife and I had our three daughters by that time .
So I ended my career in the mines and moved to a different occupation.