Chris’s affinity with his blue hardhat had earned him various nicknames, most recently at Newlands as “Bob” after another man with a blue hat, Bob the Builder. Apparently there were some other nicknames, deemed unsuitable for print. Chris began his longwall career in 1974 at the NCB’s Rossington Colliery where he worked his way up from workman to deputy. In 1984 he took a job in the USA as a longwall co-ordinator and general mine supervisor at Meigs #2 mine in Ohio. From there he moved to Cyprus Shoshone Mine in Wyoming as longwall manager. The move was then made to Australia where he was a longwall manager and operations manager at Springvale for three years, before he entered his current profession as a longwall consultant in 1999.

Out of work Chris’s favourite hobbies include sports fishing, shooting and reloading, scuba diving, cabinet making & getting “hammered” by his son when he plays basketball against him.

ILN:What is your earliest mining memory?

CT: My first underground visit, which was arranged from school. This was to Rossington Colliery, National Coal Board, Doncaster Area. The shaft was 889 yards deep and was actually crooked, so the cage banged around a great deal when in use. Some men actually only worked one day, they would make their first trip underground and be so worried about their safety due to the cage ride that they would come straight back out the pit and quit their job.

ILN: What made you choose mining as a career?

CT: I was an apprentice auto-electrician for 3 years and became disillusioned with the money so I packed it in and went as a labourer to the nearest coal mine, which just happened to be Rossington.

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

CT: My present job! I travel around to various mines, meet many fine people & help my client out with the issue they hired me to assist them with!

ILN: What was your least favourite job?

CT: Any job which entails too much paperwork or any job which includes spells on nightshift.

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

CT: A Pommy bloke called Brian Jones; he has now retired & lives in Greece (a rough life, but someone has to do it). Brian was actually my first undermanager when I was a material lad. He was also the manager for the ‘Bridge Training Scheme’ at our mine. This was a training scheme which helped potential management employee’s bridge their skills gap from being a workman to a deputy. It was an absolutely brilliant system, in which I was given the opportunity to work on every job in the pit. The NCB would have had to be the best trainers on the planet at that time. He also hired me to work in the USA as a Longwall Co-ordinator & became not only my mentor but also one of my dearest friends.

ILN: What do you consider your best mining achievement?

CT: Probably making a success out of my first big move. Leaving the UK and fighting to survive in the U.S. mines & actually managing the longwall which owned all American Electric Power’s production records from shiftly to annual.

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

CT: Generally, improved automation.

ILN: Do you hold any mining records?

CT: None personally, but I was part of the group that still own many at Shoshone in Wyoming (it has since closed), best quarter at Newlands & some at Springvale (I think?).

ILN: Do you have any unfulfilled ambitions?

CT: I would like to be part of the team that runs a million tonnes in a month off a longwall in Australia.

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

CT: My first day at Rossington colliery, I was a material lad (first shift underground and working by myself!) and the Deputy dropped me off at a location where a minecar of boards was parked up next to a conveyor belt. The Deputy instructed me to wait 30 minutes then put the boards on the belt, which I promptly did (a full car maybe 1000 or so). He did not tell me which belt to put them on, so I put them on the top belt. I did not even consider that he may want them on the bottom belt or I would have asked. The mine soon came to a standstill with boards stuck in the various chutes etc. It was my first experience with the biggest problem in the mining industry, poor communications!

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

CT: I was part of a mine rescue team in Ohio when our sister mine had a seal breach and became flooded with two billion gallons of water. Our team was required to explore the area for several weeks, initially we were operating in shoulder deep, very cold water. It was a miserable situation to expose people to. To add to this problem the pH of the flooded area was too acidic and chemicals were poured down the shaft to neutralise the water so it could be pumped out into the local river. This had been done incorrectly and the alkaline had not mixed with the mine water, so we had to be on the lookout for abnormal colouration of water to ensure we did not suffer any alkaline burns.

ILN: What is your worst memory of coal mining?

CT: A fatality, fortunately I have only been exposed to one in my 29 year career.

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

CT: No. There are too many variables to handle for the present technology to cope with!

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

CT: Until the fully automated remotely operated face is available, I would like to see more emphasis put on respirable dust suppression and control.