We have visited the Big Pit Mining Museum this Saturday 31st March so we will speak about it. This is an ancient mine. We went underground, 90 metres down, with an elevator and we walked in small tunnels. Everybody wore helmets with a light on it and a guide explained to us the life of the miners. In the ancient times, men, women and children worked in horrible conditions, for example, children began to work in the mine at the age of 6. The miners worked without any light and sometimes there were explosions. The horses lived underground 50 weeks per year and went outside for only 2 weeks per year. Then the conditions improved a little, the women and children under 10 were not allowed to work in the galleries anymore. Now, the mine has been closed, it was still very dangerous.
Elza and Maelys