Free learning resources from arts, cultural and heritage organisations.

Previous section
Mining and Quarrying

Underground Workers

Black and white photograph of a man in a narrow shaft. He is reaching up to grab a wooden strut
Man Climbing Out of a Mine

The images in this resource reveal a little of what it would have been like to work underground. They are taken in Derbyshire mines, just after the Victorian period.

 

Discussion and Activity Ideas

  • How do you think it would feel to work in mines like the ones you see? Imagine what the sights, sounds and smells would be.
  • Do you notice that the miners are using any safety equipment?
  • Write a poem describing what it might have been like to work in the mines, using the pictures you've seen of the conditions inside the mine.
  • Find out more about what it was like to work in the mines in Victorian times. Can you find out what age people were sent to the mines? And what kind of work they did? You can use the 'Related' section to find clues in other areas of this website.