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Horse working underground in a thick seam, from Mines and Miners, Simonin,1869
© NCMME copy photo
© NCMME copy photo
Long before steam locomotives and winding gear arrived, horses and ponies worked on the surface providing general haulage such as the transportation of coal for local use. At many small mines, the animals also provided power for the horse-driven winding gins. In the 17th century horses turned the horse gins which worked the underground pumping and winding machinery.
The first records of ponies being used underground appear in the mid-18th century when they are reported to have been used to drag a single corf (basket) on a sledge. The introduction of wooden waggonways underground meant that a single horse could draw several corves at once and by the 1790s, when cast iron rails were being used, one horse would pull around ten rail tubs, each holding around 300 kg of coal.
Records reveal that in thin-seam pits where roadways were too low for ponies, women and children continued to be used to drag the coal to the bottom of the shaft. But after 1842, children under ten and women were prohibited from working underground in the UK and this probably accelerated the use of horses and ponies for underground haulage.
The first records of ponies being used underground appear in the mid-18th century when they are reported to have been used to drag a single corf (basket) on a sledge. The introduction of wooden waggonways underground meant that a single horse could draw several corves at once and by the 1790s, when cast iron rails were being used, one horse would pull around ten rail tubs, each holding around 300 kg of coal.
Records reveal that in thin-seam pits where roadways were too low for ponies, women and children continued to be used to drag the coal to the bottom of the shaft. But after 1842, children under ten and women were prohibited from working underground in the UK and this probably accelerated the use of horses and ponies for underground haulage.