Sir,
I was a miner in the Yorkshire pits for 33 years and have now retired. For the past several years, by way of a hobby, I have been an avid collector of colliery checks, tallies or tokens.
These were brass discs and were embossed with the individual colliery name and stamped with the miner's number. They were used as a safety measure to record an accurate account of men underground at any one time.
Unfortunately, though, I have very few from the Welsh coalfields, even though Wales, like my own area, was once littered with pits.
Recently I spent a few days in the lovely resort of Tenby and had a marvellous time.
After speaking to a few locals, I was informed that Tenby was, and always has been, the local holiday hot spot for the miners of the valleys and their families (much the same as Cleethorpes, Bridlington and Skegness on the East coast are for us!).
Therefore, I was wondering are there any fellow ex-miners or indeed anyone out there who could please help me obtain any checks/tokens from the now long closed collieries of Wales?
Any help would be most appreciated, thank you.
Bill Bennett,
5 Edinburgh Avenue,
Bolton-on-Dearne,
Rotherham,
South Yorkshire,
S63 8DS.