I am of a later generation and find all this fascinating, a lost history from only 50 or so years ago. This forum is becoming a very valuable resource to record the rich heritage of this area.
As an aside, I was able to have a few hours on a "Marion" in 1982 deep down in the hole just west of the Moorhouse drift. It was very interesting to see a 100 metres of coal seam exposed with rubble from above filling the old mine workings. It was striking how little coal had actually been extracted by the underground mining. Pit props and metal etc were very evident, as was a circular metal shaft further west past Hope House farm.
Wish I had taken more pics now!!
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