Work in progress
There’s a scene near the end of Dr Zhivago (the movie) where the sick Zhivago sees Lara, his lost love, walking down the street as the tram he’s on passes her by. He struggles to get off and catch up with her but collapses and dies. She walks on. We’ve ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next In early 1936 Cliff started attending Bible classes, mainly because some of his friends were. Working on farms had meant few opportunities for socialising, and there were boys and girls in Bible class. The fact they were getting home from church as late as 11pm ... Read more
Contents | Next There are large gaps in Cliff’s story between 1936 and 1940, but I’ve done my best to piece together what’s available. Over those four or five years Dad was improving himself. Always energetic, he started Correspondence School, learned Morse Code and finally got a job in the ... Read more
Previous | Contents | “I’ve seen Dad working like that, with the suction end of a pump under his feet pumping gallons of water as he used a pneumatic drill on solid lime rock, with water pouring down from above and from the muddy parts of the tunnel between each ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next From Cliff’s notes ~ Ian. There was a large winch to haul skips of coal up the long underground drive — the tunnel that led to the coal face. A heavy, endless wire rope was used, which at the top and bottom of the drive ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next After Cliff was fired by the miserable WH on January 7th 1936 he moved back home to his parents and started his second stint at the mine. Once again this is partly in his words, partly in mine from his notes. ~ Ian Cliff was ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next These pages, which cover Cliff’s coal mining stories, are partly written by him, and partly by me, in the third person, based on his notes. His first job was at the Ackers mine, where he worked on at least three separate occasions, he said, as ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next Notes to give context to Cliff’s coal mining stories ~Ian. Coal was discovered in Waro (North of Hikurangi) and Kamo (North of Whangarei) in the 1860s, and commercial mining began in the ’70s. Cliff’s father John, or Jack, was just one of several miners and ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next My birthplace and residence was 11 Seddon Street, Westhoughton in Lancashire, England, a short street of adjoining houses with two rooms up and two down. Typical “Coronation Street”. From the front door you stepped onto the footpath. From the back door you stepped into an ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next Cliff was a bit short of seventeen and a half years old when he walked off his last farm job, moved back home and started the second of his two stints in the mine. Since he was working alongside his father, this will be a ... Read more