Mining Items

Pithead Baths Soap. Bars of pithead baths soap. (P.H.B.). Size 4″ x 2 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ inches. This soap was produced for the collieries and sold in the pit canteens, it came in three different colours (as seen in the main featured image) green, white and pink, the green coloured ones were the most common. These are bigger than …

Pithead Baths Soap. A bar of pithead baths soap. (P.H.B.). Size 4″ x 2 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ inches. This soap was produced for the collieries and sold in the pit canteens, the bars came in three different colours green, white and pink, the green coloured ones were the most common. These are bigger than normal bars. The canteens also …

Pithead Baths Soap. A bar of pit head baths soap. (P.H.B.). Size 4″ x 2 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ inches. This soap was produced for the collieries and sold in the pit canteens, the bars came in three different colours green, white and pink, the green coloured ones were the most common. These are bigger than normal bars. The canteens …

French Miners Pit Head Baths Suspended Clothes Basket. Made from galvanised iron. Size 12″ x 5″ x 4″ inches. The Pithead Baths Story. The idea of pithead baths in the UK had been mentioned as early as 1889 though they were not really seen to be taken seriously until just before WW1. They were in use in Germany in 1891. …

A Brass Baths Locker Key & Plastic Man-Power Board Tag. Made from brass and nickle alloy and plastic. Size of the key is 2″ inches. Tag size 1 1/4″ round. At Rose Heyworth Colliery there was a man-power board in the entrance of the baths. These tags were placed on hooks next to your name, when you came to work …

Locker Keys. A typical set of colliery pithead baths locker keys. Made from brass. Size 2″ inches.

N.C.B. Laundry Bag & Pin. Made from (bag) cotton (pin) stainless steel. Size 26″ x 16″ inches. In 1981 the National Coal Board established the laundry scheme and issued all the workmen with a couple of sets of orange coloured cotton material work-wear. This work-wear consisted of an optional jacket, short sleeved shirt and trousers and a grey vest, or …

Miners Gloves. Made from cotton and rubber. These gloves came into the industry in the 1980’s to replace the thick leather and cotton gloves. The latter was more popular with the miners as of their ability to protect the hands whereas the new cotton and rubberised gloves (as seen in the featured image) were less effective in protection and not …

James W. Smallman – Rope Clip. A James W. Smallman – Rope Clip, this exact replica of the larger model used in collieries is either a tradesman’s sample or a commemorative model made by the James W. Smallman company of Nuneaton, England and given to members of the company. Made of iron. Size 7″ x 4″ inches. This miniature rope …

Underground Klaxon Horn. A small mechanical klaxon horn. Used in the mining industry to alert men to the dangers of moving machinery such as coal cutters etc or maybe to be alerted to any shotfiring. Made from iron and brass. Size 6″ x 5″. They were housed in a steel box with a lever to press to activate the plunger …