I lived in Leslie Row in the 1950s and early sixties. We called that square the "tettie lots" which means potato allotments. I don't remember any potatoes being grown in that spot but have fond memories of the ponies kept there and the flat carts which were hired to carry large items from place to place.
I just about remember the drift mine in operation. We were actually allowed into the building and sometimes walked a short way down the sloping roadway into the drift itself. (No health and safety those days.) I remember I was horrified by the dank smell of the air and felt I was being allowed a quick glimpse of the horrendous atmosphere in which my father and other pitmen were obliged to work. My fondest memory of the drift, however, is of watching the pit ponies arriving from the stables, presumably situated in Stable Row. The favourite animal was called Anchor.
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