Rescue!

Are you brave? Are you strong? Are you sympathetic? Can you fit in tight spaces? Would you join a team of ordinary men and women, working in extraordinary conditions to save lives? See how mine operators continued to learn from mining disasters to create a robust Mines Rescue service with state-of-the-art equipment that is still in operation today.

Coal mining has always been a dangerous industry. Despite improvements in technology and equipment, the risk to human life was very real. In 1923 alone, 1,297 men and boys in were killed ​in UK coal mines and 212,256 seriously injured.​

This exhibition looks at the story of the mines rescue men. In the early days they were untrained volunteers but went on to become a team of highly skilled men, who were able to work in extremely harsh conditions both underground and in confined spaces. The levels of fitness required was so high, that the age of retirement was 45 years old.

Despite the decline of the mining industry, mines rescue has adapted and still exists today, offering training and advice. A group of ordinary men and women, working in extraordinary conditions, this exhibition celebrates the work of mines rescue teams and their legacy.