Shady Oak Pit

It may not look much now, but 180 years ago this was one of the main coal pits at work in Poynton. The Shady Oak Pit was sunk after 1826 and wound coal until the late 1830s. When I was a youngster I spoke with a former collier who was born in 1892. He had discussed this pit with old people in his youth and was able to relay to me the tale one of them told him of starting their career in mining by being sent down this pit at the age of 8 years to tend the air doors underground. What a life, having to sit alone in the dark for hours waiting to open the door as the coal tubs reached it. Not the good old days at all.