Mexborough & Swinton Times, September 13
Cadeby Miners’ Trip
A Happy Day in London.
In the early hours of ‘Leger Day,’ about 2,600 travellers Cadeby Colliery workers, with their wives and families left Conisbrough station for London. Four long trains carried them. The first left at two o’clock and the last delayed a little owing to trouble with couplings about 3.5. Everyone, apparently travelled in comfort, and the journey was a good one. The first train reached Maryleborne just after 8, and the last an hour or so later. Within a very short time of the last train’s arrival, the 2,600 were scattered over London and its immediate environs.
The prevailing idea appeared to be to see some of the metropolis’s principal sights first, and to go on to the Exhibition at Wembley after dinner. Some, however, spent practically the whole day at Wembley. In any case, everybody had a very full and satisfactory day. The one complaint – and it could not directed towards the organisers of the trip – was that nowhere in the Exhibition could ‘a miner’s meal’ be obtained. The trippers, on their return, had some strong criticisms to make of the insufficiency of the food provided, and the inadequacy of the service.
But for the rest, the arrangements were splendid. The committee of the Cadeby branch of the Y.M.A., with Mr. T. J. Gregory as secretary, had done their part of the work well. As for the travelling arrangements, the committee, on behalf of the men and their families, are sending a letter of warm thanks to Major Leslie, who was primarilly responsible for this part of the organisation. We quote one of the excursionists: ‘No workpeople could have been better provided for in the matter of comfort and convenience in travelling.’
The Denaby and Cadeby Collieries, Ltd., gave £1,000 to be divided between the ex-which accrued on ‘overweight’ sent out of to Blackpool. Travelling cost the men nothing – except in the case of 40 of the party; who paid 12s. 9d. and made their free tickets into period excursion tickets for 4 or 8 days.
On the return, the trains left London between 11.13 and 12.30, and arrived back at Conisbrough between 4 and 5.30 a.m. on Thursday.
Among several incidents, mostly amusing, which are related as occurring during the outing, we find most amusing the (said to be true) story of the miner who suffered a serious disappointment on finding that the ‘criminals’ in Madame Tussard’s were in wax. He fully expected to gaze on their skeletons!
This is the first trip organised jointly be men and management of the Cadeby Colliery since 1904. It is hoped that the idea will not lapse again.