Davie emigrated to Australia in 1976 and worked at Wallerawang, Grose Valley and Clarence Collieries in the western district of NSW. In 1997 he started a business assembling Huesker Longwall Minegrid Recovery mats.

 

“I was always a keen participant and supporter of soccer,” he says, “i.e. the football you play with the inside of the head, not the outside of the head.”

 

ILN:What is your earliest mining memory?

 

DH: Both my Father and Mother’s families were involved in the mining industry and work talk was common. One incident that sticks in my memory was a mining accident that occurred in 1950. Our village awakened to a mining tragedy at Knockshinnoch Castle colliery that was caused by an inrush of mud. 129 men were trapped underground, 13 men drowned but 116 men were rescued in what was one of the best mine rescue efforts ever.

 

ILN: What made you choose mining as a career?

 

DH: My circumstances at the time made me decide on a career in the mining industry. My father died in 1952 and to help support my mother I chose to work in the coal mines because they offered the best pay rates in the district. I obtained a position as an electricians apprentice in the mine, but decided to become a pit man because of the better wages on offer.

 

ILN: When was your first underground visit?

 

DH: I started working as a surface worker at the age of 15 at the re-opened Knockshinnoch Castle colliery. I used to have sneak visits down the cage to look at pit bottom. I remember going down in the cage for the first time and it was an exhilarating experience, however, one of my ‘pals’ decided to call out to the winding engine man, “Hey, Big Whisky Nose!”. Now the winding engine man took exception to this and in retaliation he let us down in the cage at production speed - (at that time weightlessness was invented!!!)

 

ILN: What was your favourite job in a coal mine?

 

DH: Winning coal is the objective in a coal mine, whether you are a miner or an Undermanager you get the same satisfaction. I loved being in control of my workplace and my machine at 20 years of age. However, today, when a development panel is advancing as planned or the Longwall is turning over above schedule I still get the same satisfaction. I used to get mesmerised while looking at the coal transferring from the belt jib to another belt.

 

ILN: What was your least favourite job?

 

DH: Without hesitation I have to say belt cleaning. I still don’t understand why main out-bye belts are mounted on the ground and not slung from the roof which makes belt cleaning so much easier to do with a machine.

 

ILN: Who, or what, has most influenced your mining career?

 

DH: A gentleman who lived 2 doors away from me in my village of New Cumnock, Ayrshire, Scotland had the most influence on my career. His name was Bill Clapperton and he took me under his wing when I first started at the coal face at the age of 17. He taught me to honour my wages and to realise that “everything came” off the point of the pick.

 

ILN: What do you consider your best mining achievement?

 

DH: Every mining official fears being involved in a serious accident. I have had the good fortune of serving 42 years directly participating in mining and also 6 years in a supportive company to the mining industry and have not been involved in anything more than a slight injury.

 

ILN: What do you see as being the greatest mining development during your career?

 

DH: Longwall mining is terrific however to allow the big outputs from the longwall, the rate of development had to be increased. In Australia we have succeeded at this and are leading the world in this field.

 

ILN: Do you hold any mining records?

 

DH: I wish! I’ve been connected to the mining industry since 1954 and might be the only one around who started underground with a carbide lamp and cloth hat.

 

ILN: Do you have any unfulfilled ambitions?

 

DH: I would like to introduce the Huesker longwall recovery system into the United Kingdom or Europe.

 

ILN: What was your most embarrassing moment in a coal mine?

 

DH: I was shotfiring at the coal face one day and I thought that I was out of range of the blasts. Unfortunately I had my back turned away from the blast and a small piece of coal hit me in the buttock, although it was very painful to me my workmates all had a great laugh. (I still have the blue scar to prove my story)

 

ILN: What was your scariest time in a coal mine?

 

DH: I worked a 14 foot seam in Scotland and this was developed at 8 feet and retracted dropping the “tops” and then hand filling into skips (or hutches as we called them in Scotland). One day when entering our workplace an intersection had fell in during the night and we thought that we had got our coal without blasting for it. My mate climbed up with a pick to dress down the sides and he ignited a gas build up with his carbide lamp. He leapt out and we stood around and watched it burn out. We reported it immediately and the pit was stopped until the mine rules were changed from being a naked light mine to a controlled mine. This was in 1958 and was the last time the carbide lamp was used in a National Coal Board coal mine.

 

ILN: What is your worst memory of coal mining?

 

DH: When you see someone close to you die of pneumonicosis/silicosis and realise that his work environment caused it.

 

ILN: Do you think that the day of the fully automated remotely operated face is near?

 

DH: No Bevercotes taught us that we need manpower to guide our machinery through changing elements..

 

ILN: What major improvements would you like to see on longwall operations?

 

DH: I know that dust is still our biggest enemy. Every operation connected to the job creates dust and I believe that stronger efforts are needed in dealing with the problem.

 

For more larrikins see Longwalls.com