This is the interior of the pit where you are fitted with your hat, head torch and battery pack. All other battery operated items are removed from you in case of a spark which in turn could cause an explosion in the pit. Tests are still carried out 4 times a day to check the methane level. We went down 300ft in the lift shaft to the entrance to the pit. It was very dark, damp and eeiry. Many years ago miners and indeed their young offspring used to work for 12 hours per day in appalling conditions. Whilst the adult miners worked retrieving coal from the seam, 6 year old children would spend the 12 hours in the dark sitting on a log with a rope tied to their wrist and the main section wooden door, which was very heavy. The child used to wait to hear the pit ponies approaching and then pull the door open so the ponies and drams, filled with coal could pass. It was a terrible existence for a child. The pit ponies who pulled the one tonne drams filled with coal, lived down the pit in the dark for 50 weeks of the year. They often died down there being bitten by rats. They were only allowed to the surface for two weeks in August when the pit closed. Many went into the the light and were blinded. A cruel life. Life in those days was very hard. The pit later changed to having the drams pass through to the the surface on a rail system. The whole trip down the pit was very interesting indeed, some areas were very low and those who were tall had to crouch down to pass by. It made you think deeply about the lives that were lost down the pit and the sheer existence of those who worked there. The last coal to be taken from the pit was in 1980. The pit is now a working museum. I hope you have enjoyed my series on the pit. There is so much information I have missed out but we could be here a week! Thank you for your views and comments Susan