Work in progress
Previous | Contents | Next As a kid I don’t recall Mum ever losing her aura of motherly capability, even though I did eventually come to suspect that Dad wasn’t quite Superman — when he took off his glasses, for example, and his eyes seemed to shrink into his head. ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next In early 1936 Cliff started attending Bible classes, mainly because some of his friends were. Working on farms had meant few opportunities for socialising, and there were boys and girls in Bible class. The fact they were getting home from church as late as 11pm ... Read more
Contents When I visited him and Mum, and saw that he was still doing this I’d repeat my lecture about computer memory, and saving your work, and he’d say, “But surely it must be full up by now.” It reminds me of myself now — not bothering to comprehend or ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next From Cliff’s notes ~ Ian. There was a large winch to haul skips of coal up the long underground drive — the tunnel that led to the coal face. A heavy, endless wire rope was used, which at the top and bottom of the drive ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next After Cliff was fired by the miserable WH on January 7th 1936 he moved back home to his parents and started his second stint at the mine. Once again this is partly in his words, partly in mine from his notes. ~ Ian Cliff was ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next These pages, which cover Cliff’s coal mining stories, are partly written by him, and partly by me, in the third person, based on his notes. His first job was at the Ackers mine, where he worked on at least three separate occasions, he said, as ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next Notes to give context to Cliff’s coal mining stories ~Ian. Coal was discovered in Waro (North of Hikurangi) and Kamo (North of Whangarei) in the 1860s, and commercial mining began in the ’70s. Cliff’s father John, or Jack, was just one of several miners and ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next My birthplace and residence was 11 Seddon Street, Westhoughton in Lancashire, England, a short street of adjoining houses with two rooms up and two down. Typical “Coronation Street”. From the front door you stepped onto the footpath. From the back door you stepped into an ... Read more
Contents Some of the following is in the first person, written by him, some in the third person, written by me and based on two separate sets of his notes. I’ve summarised a bit in the interests of a clearer narrative. His original scanned notes fill in the (occasionally conflicting) ... Read more