Many ex-coalminers will find in this novel a powerful reminder of their own life ‘down the pit’ as it skilfully recreates a typical day in the life of Luke, a British coalface worker in the 1970’s. Although the main action takes place over a single day and just one shift, the author delves back into Luke’s trainee days in the 1950’s. But it’s not just old miners who will benefit from this story as the author carefully explains the various operations involved in bringing coal out from deep in the ground up to the surface and all the various specialists forming this tremendous team effort, from the shotfirers and rippers to the deputies, belt-end attendants and lamp-room men, electricians and mechanics, the tackle runners and the haulage men, the grease monkeys and the workers at the coal face itself, struggling to maintain productivity in the face of never-ending management demands.
