Clearing out the gummings

Ashington Colliery, c1910, taken from an album produced by the Ashington Coal Company, c1911. After the coal face has been undercut by a coal cutter (note the tidy 4" cut), a man cleaned the gummings' - loose coal or stone debris - from the cut, using a hand pick. Note hand drill and stand in the background, ready for drilling - the next stage. This photo is obviously posed as the flame lamp, hanging on the prop is too near to the swing of the pick to be legally acceptable or even sensibly safe, it has obviously been moved closer, to fit into the photograph. Note the hard sandstone 'post-stone' top.

Location: Ashington
County: Northumberland
NEG7187

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