I found Heather Popazzi on Facebook on the South Kirkby Colliery Memories page. She was showing a miners' lamp and I wondered if I might be able to use it for my project. Then I discovered that Heather was more than 3000 miles away in Ontario, Canada. Clearly, there was a connection to South Kirkby and I was interested to find out what it was.
Heather was born in Canada, but both of her siblings were born in South Kirkby - the family having left in 1970 for pastures new. Much of the family now live in Canada, but many also remain in South Elmsall where Heather has visited many times, often spending the summers with her Aunt Bertha. The whole family had also been involved with the mines, including her late father, Derrick South.
All the men in the family would work in the pits. Heather's maternal great-grandfather started aged ten and her own father aged just twelve. They worked twelve hours a day, seven days a week - and with no sick pay if they were injured.
Despite working a 96 hour week, Heather's father Derrick was involved with the St John's Ambulance service and had been since he was eight years old. This sense of duty to the wider community is a common theme in mining towns and villages where people would look out for each other.
It was a pleasure to speak to Heather over Zoom and then to meet other members of her family on a subsequent call. Her mother, Hilary, told me a lot about growing up in Moorthorpe and her life in South Kirkby until she left aged 30.
Hilary, was born in Moorthorpe and her father was from "Kirkby" (apparently locals never include the "South" part). The family had lived there since 1892 and prior to this had been stone miners from Staffordshire. Her parents' house was as two-up-two-down with a toilet in the back yard. One of her first memories was standing with her parents looking out of the window at the pit head of Frickley Colliery and everything being red. She later learned that they were watching the Germans bombing Sheffield.
Hilary's father had an allotment and despite long hours in the mines, was able to grow food and would also keep chickens and a pig. When the pig was slaughtered, it would be hung in the back bedroom where the children slept. Whilst this did not seem to bother Hilary, a dead cockerel handing in the outside toilet was a step too far, and she used the neighbour's facilities whilst the bird was in their own. The smell of it being plucked has led to a lifetime hatred of feathers.
These outside toilets were only replaced in the 1970s. Most houses did not have a telephone and people would call a neighbour if there was an urgent message. Aunt Jenny, aged 70, and still living locally, does not have a telephone in the house. Old habits die hard.
Accidents were a frequent occurrence in the mines, with Heather's Uncle Bernard falling down the mine shaft, but living to tell the tale. Her grandfather was injured many times including being buried alive on two occasions, once emerging through a hole just 12 inches square. He would never complain, saying he had been working overtime rather than admitting to having been in an accident. Once, he counted 73 blue scars on one arm - this was hazardous work as well as being physically gruelling. Heather's own father, Derrick, was buried along with others. On two occasions, his foot was caught and he was almost dragged into the coal cutter.
On one occasion, he was injured and went to collect his sick pay from Hemsworth. He was told that he had to wait for several weeks, but when seeing new immigrants to the country being paid benefits immediately, he took a decision to leave, initially getting an offer of a job in a diamond mine in Tanzania. Another reason for moving was that he didn't want his children to work down the mines as he had.
The new job was to be 50 miles from Dar es Salaam. At this point, Derrick and Hilary had one child and were excited about the prospects of a new life in a different country. They would expect a good standard of living and would have house staff to look after them. It was when Hilary was invited to undertake some gun training that her attitude began to change and so they looked for a different destination.
Hilary's Aunt Winifred was already living in Canada - she was a war bride - and she sponsored the family to move out there. Hilary's brother, Lindsay, has also been in Canada since 1968. Tanazania's loss was Canada's gain and the family have never looked back. Derek did not work in mining again, but found work for the local municipality dealing with local utilities. He also brought his strong sense of community with him by joining the local church and becoming a volunteer fireman. Hilary began working in the local post office and stayed 33 years.
Derrick and Hilary South - Image © Heather Popazzi
Whilst Hilary still has a recognisable Yorkshire twang to her voice (Canadian people think she is Irish or Scottish) her brother Lindsay sounds much more like a born-and-bred Canadian. However, he was also born in South Elmsall, leaving school in 1964 to work on a farm in Pembrokeshire. Being laid off from work, he took the decision to move to Canada falling into hospital work quite by accident and enjoying a 35-year career as a psychiatric nurse.
I asked about the differences between where Lindsay and Hilary had spent their early years as to where they live now. They are both convinced that they have enjoyed a much higher standard of living with better education and more opportunities. They feel there is no class system in Canada and everyone is the same, describing how the local doctor would not speak to "people like them" in South Elmsall, but that this was not the case in Canada.
All that said, they feel that South Elmsall was a great place to grow up and taught them how to deal with adversity as well as having a sense of gratitude for what they do have. When Derrick passed away a couple of years ago, the local community really felt the loss with people remarking what a gentleman he was.
Whilst the pits are gone, the sense of community that tied the mining communities together is still very much in evidence. It seems that it is one of South Elmsall's less well known exports too. Sincere thanks to Heather, Lindsay and Hilary for sharing their stories.