“Trappy” Lads

Now known to be part of the workforce of the Boulby and Grinkle mines, Trappy Lads were present in all mines. This was the job you got when you left school in the pit villages of the North-East – these lads look about 14 – their job was to open and close the ventilation doors as the horses and tubs came through.  They’re possibly wearing ”miner’s heels” which were an attachment to the workers boots of the time – you knew you’d been kicked if you got a ding from these! – the lads are carrying Tinplate ”midges” by the look of them, they used candles in the earlier days, later carbide powered midges were used.  Part of a larger group image, which can be viewed later in the Archive.