Stephen Pratt, amember of the Heritage group,has been good enough to contribute a selection of his poems and photographs, which show and tell with poignancy his time at Cadeby Main. 
Don’t go down the mine Dad
Don’t go down the mine dad
don’t go down the pit,
It’s like you’re doing time dad
and you hate it every bit.
Your wage is pretty poor dad
your wage is pretty bad
For the job you have to do dad
I bet it makes you mad
I’ve heard it’s like a rat hole dad
and for more money you have to strike
Soon it will be my birthday dad
I don’t really want that bike.
Don’t make dad go down the pit mum,
please make him stay at home.
You know you hate the night shifts mum
when he has to leave us all alone.
What did that man say about dad – mom,
the man who knocked at our door.
What did that man say about dad – mum
our dad, we don’t see any more
Cadeby Main colliery
A memory of my time.
I walked across Conisbrough´s hillycrag
and lookedover the land and wood.
I could see the modern Earth Centre
where Cadeby colliery once stiood.
My thoughts were of all those mining years
and all the colliers that worked down the pit
the underground gasses and pit explosions
and those men who died within it.
Miners striking for a living wage
and for coal not dole was true.
Supporting the NUM against pit closures
miners did what they had to do.
I sigh and breathe in clean fresh air,
gone are years of swallowing coal dust
from that pit that stood there
I walked back along the pathway
I know I’m one of the remaining few
who knows the curses you get from mining
and just what they can do to you.
With my hand on my chest
I know I did my best
mining was in the family blood
but now I leave you in verse
for better or worse
this memory of my time, for good
Memories of mine
Down in the Dearne Valley
where the pit wheels used to turn
is when I worked hard as a miner
where every penny I did earn
It´s as a Yorkshire miner
that I worked down Cadeby pit
In the dark and dusty hole
cutting the coal to bits
Tiny mice from the pony days
Lots were running around,
but after the last big pit strike
no more were there to be found
Modern day and power change
the government have passed a bill,
to close mines or impose fines
and my valley´s pits stood still.
Never again will I go underground
in the dark recesses of the pit
With coal dust heavy on my lungs and chest
I swore to my god `that’s it´
I seen young men age before their time
I seen friends hurt or die
these men worked for a living wage
and I´ve heard their loved ones cry
No more is there a Cadeby colliery
and no more a Denaby pit
But there was a magnificent Earth Centre
a replacement, a monument, to visit
King Coal´s Lost Crown
The miners of Britain in 1984
worked a hundred and seventy pits
thousands of miners were to lose their jobs
through the government’s pit closure hits
Thatcher turned miner against miner
their union was caused to split
showing a weakness in their power
the government began to hit
Maggie sent police to beat strikers
miners were beaten black and blue
why do they do this to peaceful pickets ?
but that’s what they would do
Sorting things this way was brutal
and it was clear
it was costing the miners dearly
throughout this striking year
Alas the strike was over
in 1985 miners return to work
there were no real winners or losers
and the danger in mies still lurk
Onward went Scargill’s army of miners
They had fought and done their bit
they marched proudly with their banners
and had picketed every pit
The heart was torn from a great industry
built on Britain’s island of coal
Thatcher had broken the might of union and miners
then she put them on the dolel
Most pit wheels have stop turning
many collieries were pulled down
this really was the end of an era
King coal had lost his crown
Many years on from those pit closures
King coal head´s back with passion
it’s thanks to vast energy energy prices
that coal mining is back in fashion
Make coal power stations keep on burning
keep King coal at the top
It´s better for Britain’s economic future
And more for us to spend in the shop
This has been a lesson of learning
on both sides mistakes were made
so spare a kind thought for the miners
it was a terrible price they paid
From the centre of the Earth to the Earth centre
From the centre of the Earth to the Earth Centre
with its solar canopy and park
is a long way from my mining days
when I worked hard down Cadeby pit in the dark
Regenerating the old mining land
the slag heap had been taken away
we have hope at the eco-friendlier centre
for a brighter greener day
From the centre of the Earth to the the Earth Centre
is where the eco warriors bio diversity
where the pondlife rise in harmony with the dragonfly
it was the site of a disaster that saw miners die
but now a greener valley lives on
From the centre of the Earth to the Earth Centre
throughout the year are festivals and fun
with a new way of learning
that´s here for everyone
To be the adventure and climb the heights
Or just abseil down a rope
it’s a brighter place for England
and one that also gives us hope
From the centre of the Earth the Earth Centre
where those willows weep but do not cry
as the Aberdeen Angus passes on by
I wipe a falling tear from my eye
Happy memories of mine now live on
and on
Happy memories of mine now live on
Pit security versus theCoal Pickers
Security guards patrol the coal heaps
with dogs by their side
when coal pickers see them coming
some stop, some stay, somehide
Coal pickers riddle their black nuggets
from slippery, sliding heaps.
They risk their lives and everything
For a bag of coals to keep
Coal pickers don’t want their families to suffer
From the winter gales that blow
no one wants to see them killing themselves
that’s why the guards tell them to go
Go now, be gone, be off with you
But like a jumping Jack
when coal pickers see guards leaving
they all start coming back