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Pithead Baths
Until the 1920s, most pits in Britain had no washing facilities. The miners finished their shifts and went home in their pit muck. The Miners’ Welfare Fund, established in 1921, was financed by a levy, or tax, on coal. Initially coal owners paid one penny for every ton of coal sold and miners also contributed from their pay packets. The fund was establised to improve social well-being for miners and their families and this included building pithead baths. By the end of World War II, baths were available for around 63% of the workforce.
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