Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE MINER'S LIFE
While many mine-owners grew fabulously rich on the proceeds of their investments, the miners' lot was an alto-
gether different story. Most tinners worked for between eight and 12 hours a day, descending hundreds of metres
underground via metal ladders or rickety gigs into a network of pitch-black tunnels and cramped shafts, where the
temperature routinely exceeded 40˚C (little wonder that many miners preferred to work naked in an effort to stave
off the heat). Explosions and rockfalls were routine hazards, and many of the mineral ores were contaminated
with poisonous chemicals such as arsenic and 'mica dust', which penetrated the miners' lungs. As a result, few
miners lived much longer than their early 30s.
For this, most miners received a weekly wage of around 4s, or £10 a year - barely enough to keep a family
above starvation level. Consequently the miners' wives and children were often put to work at the mines as well;
women known as 'bal maidens' did most of the sorting or 'dressing' of the ore above ground, while children were
often employed below ground to squeeze into narrow shafts the burly miners couldn't reach. By 1839 it's thought
that about 7000 children were hard at work down Cornwall's mines.
