Overview

The mining industry in Scotland was once one of the most profitable and largest employers in the country. Thousands of men's livelihoods depended on this precious resource as they toiled away beneath the earth. Smith writes with knowledge, passion and wry humour about the harsh realities of horrific conditions and dangers, the political struggles including the strikes in 1972 and 1974, and the highly skilled work, where men are now largely now replaced by machines. But it is also a personal story filled with tales of camaraderie of the miners and their families.The story of Bob's Smith's life in the pits, from the tender age of 14 until injury forced his retirement, is also the story of Scottish coalmining from the 1930s to the present day. Bob Smith's seven steps include: Ferniegair (Lanarkshire), Bothwell Castle (near Glasgow), Burghlea (Loanhead, near Edinburgh), The Tower Mine (Sanquhar, Dumfries and Galloway), Schotts (between Glasgow and Edinburgh), Alloa (Clackmannanshire) and Bogside (Longannet, Fife).

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9781906307332

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Reviews

'No one but a miner knows the truth about a miner's life. Bob Smith sets out to tell the truth, and if there is a better book on mining I have never seen it.' SCOTS INDEPENDENT [Praise for previous edition]

Author Information

Bob Smith was born in Larkhall, Lanarkshire in 1920 into a working class family with eight people living in a tiny two-up-two-down house. He followed his father into the pits of Ferniegair Colliery after he left school at 14 years old. Throughout his working life he experienced mining in seven different collieries. At the age of 59 he was forced to retire from a severe back injury and received a redundancy payment of just GBP2,100. He was a staunch trade unionist and served as a Miner's Lodge official for many years.

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