Ian McDonnell began his mining career at Hickleton Colliery in the old Doncaster Area in 1964 – where he completed a 5 year apprenticeship in mine surveying and passing Doncaster Mining Tech.

In 1969 he had a stint in civil work with local authorities before gravitating back to mining in 1977. He started at Dearne Valley Colliery with face training and working in development with “a lad called piggy Skidmore”.

He was then deputy before moving to development overman. “In 1984 I decided the writing was on the wall for coal and left”

Ian went back to University in Sheffield and read for a degree in Mathematics and worked as a mathematics teacher in Essex. Unfortunately in 1993 Ian was in a bad accident and was forced to retire. At the moment he is spending his time studying for an MSc. in Mathematics and visiting his second son and family in Brisbane.

Q: What is your earliest mining memory?

A: My earliest mining memory is my first shift underground as an apprentice mine surveyor doing gate line extensions to four gates and the face survey. The face was in P 21s Parkgate East seam. Four miles from the shaft and 1000 yards down the shaft we stripped to just shorts, helmet and boots in the tail / return gate and it was like entering the jaws of hell itself.

Our boss told us that if we heard a …”whump” followed by “ tink tink tink…” run like hell …that would be a weight bump.

Ten yards along the 440 yard long face……..WHUMP...we ran as quick as we could at a face height of around 50 inches! The face was supported by wooden props and packs.

Q: What made you choose mining as a career?

A: We lived in a mining village in South Yorkshire, surrounded by coal mines, with one in every village. All my friends were miners and although I had attended grammar school I only got 1 A Level, not enough for Uni, and there weren’t any other jobs around - or so I thought.

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

A:As part of a development team at Dearne Valley Colliery .

Q: What was your least favourite job?

A: Sitting at the end of a roadway as a “button” man.

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

A: Bill Rimmington / John Blundell….the first bloke was the team leader, the second was the manager at Dearne who persuaded me to take my Deputy / Overman / Undermanagers tickets at Dearne.

Q: What do you consider your best mining achievement?

A: Working underground in various guises and not getting seriously hurt.

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

A: Mechanisation.

Q: Do you hold any mining records?

A: I was part of a contracting team that at one time held the European record for drawing board to production at Kinsley Drift in 15 months. I drove the shearer to take the 1st strip off.

Q: Do you have any unfulfilled ambitions?

A: I would love to have managed my own Colliery

Q: Most embarrassing moment down the mine?

A: One day, having crawled 100 yards or so to get to the face of P25s face heading....our party of 3 "surveyors" were met by 3 heading men. As is the custom we were asked if what we had been up to the night before. We let our youngest member blabber on about the young lady he had had a great night with..... then.......watched as one of the big hairy bummed development men said... "that's my daughter”... all the while winking at us behind our young colleagues back!

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

A: There are too numerous to mention, but I suppose one that sticks in my mind was the day we were surveying P 25S face in the Parkgate East. The area was well known for “weight bumps”. Sitting at the tail gate buttock waiting for the shearer to cut through to the tail when it bumped. The 30 foot long machine was thrown into the gob……and the roof came down until it rested on the pan side chopping two of the M/C drivers fingers off and knocking out dozens of props…

Q: What is your worst memory of coal mining?

A: Again too numerous to mention. Probably going down the mine to measure up for a fatality after an explosion…and riding on the paddy bringing the body / bodies out …and knowing the people were mates of mine.

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

A: They were asking this question in the early 70s…….ROLF was supposed to be the bees knees.

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

A: Anything that takes as much of the danger out of coal extraction as possible.