Collier-boys and colliers were not the only mineworkers. On average, nearly half the number of underground workers were not in fact colliers. We are not going to look at all these other underground workers-the Rippers, the Roadmen, the Hitchers, the Ostlers, the Spragmen, the Splicers, and so on-but we can look at two examples. We can also note that although the dangers they faced were just as great and the work they did was often as hard, they were not thought of as ‘proper' miners by the colliers and they certainly were not paid as much.

Here, for example, is an account of the work done by an underground haulier from a report by Government Commissioners in 1842:-

..The duty of the haulier is to drive the horse and tram from the face, where the colliers are picking the coal, to the mouth of the mine. He has to look after his horse, feed him in the day ...

...His occupation requires great agility in the narrow and low-roofed road ... he frequently gets crushed ...

Whereas many hauliers would hope one day to become colliers themselves and thereby earn more money, this would not be so true of our second example-repairers. These men were highly skilled, took great pride in their work and would earn nearly as much as colliers. Here is a description of their work from a study of coalminers in South Wales made by a doctor in 1933:-

...Their work consists in repairing and timbering the main roads and the roads leading immediately from the stalls. They keep the roads fit for haulage and the airways in good condition. They are usually the older men and they are skilled workers.