Dominion with my common law spouse, Priscilla.
I am a boomer with roots deeply entrenched within the core of a large mining family, and for
compiled was simply just stored and kept as ,a Diary of Treasure, that I would from time to time
read and value, as elements of my life being captured in words. I have written many Storied
Poems, or as I like to refer to them as "Storetry", which chronicle many of the Events that
occurred within family life, much akin to my own family, as they struggled forward through
adversity and made the best of providing a living as best they could during the lean times of Coal
Mining in Cape Breton. With an inside view, I reflect the images of life as it happened, each day
with truth , honesty and conviction. I bring to life, once again, the history, the events, the people
and characters, and their lives, not only through my eyes, but from the men and women who were
the moms, dads, grammas, granpas,uncles, aunts, nieces, cousins, sibs and neighbours, who
made up a Coal Mining Community, along side the tracks and in and around the rows of company
houses huddled in proximity to the coal yards.These were our hoods, they were our kinfolk and
just like in my backyard, from within the backyards of thousands more are the stories that I
feel need to be told and captured in this project.
.
Each and every life changing event described, each subject offered, occurred in many ways in
multiple locations, as each neighbourhood, surrouding another coal mine, was in itself a duplicate
of perhaps dozens just like it all over the Coal Fields of Glace Bay and area. My Hood, Bridgeport
Rows, had its boundaries, as did all other commonly named Turfs, most often by way of Colliery
name, which Bridgeport once was, and then in later decades, adjacent to #1b and #26 Collieries.
There were , and still are to this day,the many districts , and or wards, recognized similarly
such as #2, #11, Caledonia, Sterling,#12 ,#14, #16 in New waterford, The Hub, Table Head,and
the list goes on. And although as the name of the Hood was unique, and so too were the people,
many of the events that shaped the history of one zone , more often than not, affected everyone
in all areas, such as a disaster in a coal mine or similar instances.
.
As well, the characters who filled the neighbourhoods, they too personified the moasic throughout
the times and eras as mining communities blended with each other.Those people, whose strength
and determination made a life for the generations that evolved, are the stories that need be
heralded. Through good times and bad, through strikes, wars, closures, explosions, and so many
other tradgedies, the courage shown and the dedication given are the epitomy of conviction to
Family first ,as seflishness was not even part of their vocabulary. Over the decades and
throughout the years, all of these elements mixed together on a daily basis, within and
throughout the neighbourhoods, and all the while , llife was changing around them.
When I began writing many years ago, I envisioned that someday, I would have the opportunity to
bring many of the stories referred to , together in a way that could capture and maintain the
treasures of growing up in a Coal Mining Commuity and ensure that they be available for
generations that will follow. Only a handful of the eldest miners who recall the earliest years still
remain,and to be able to combine their stories which span eras of the leanest times with others
who can relate to the war years and the baby boom decades,I believe my project would ensure
that recollection of these times be preserved.
To this point ,I have written a fair number of those storied poems, which I feel readers would be at
ease to identify with, no matter what Colliery their dad or granddad worked in, no matter what
ward or district they attach themselves too, and no matter where or when they walked the raillines
in their back yards.The folks who know their roots and are proud of their turf, realize the true
patriotism, each Colliery Mining Shaft,even those which darkened their shadows of life at times
are,and what makes them part of this connection to these stories.
MY collection titled, "In the Shadows of the Shafts" captures many of the real life experiences, as they happened, where they happened, when they
happened, all within a crows call and in near proximity to Rows of Coal Company Houses in
neighbourhoods all over Glace Bay and area. From early childhood, through adolescence,the
teen years and early adulthood, much of who we are and what we have become, bear greatly
upon what we have been witness too and encountered in those early years among mining
families within and around ..the "Hoods".
I define those moments in Poetic Stories, complete with, and
supplemented by first hand accounts, where possible to authenticate the truths and seperate the
fiction from folklure. My collectiont includes; introductions and descriptions of an event or
subject(About a page in lenght) and include either drawings or pictures, or both to help illustrate
the entire story from various means to assist with clarity and accuracy. The Poetic Story
follows and in its entirety, I am attempting in giving the reader all of the elements of the situation or event
to assure of the real meaning and purpose of the subject.
Some of the Subjects that I compiled in a preliminary list include;
Colliery Towns, The Pit Whistle, Miners Vacation, Pit Ponies, Tea Bottle and Can, 24th in 26, The
Miner, Down in the Ground, and Devil's Gate, The Company Store, The Company House
there are so many more relative subjects yet to be identified
.
I have a fairly long list of subjects for titles which are yet to be written as well as many which I
prefer to rewrite from the older files.
I feel confident that my approach towards this style of story telling provides for a very significant
piece of valued history in a unique model which will be easy to read, follow, and understand and
will resonate with many thousands of miners, and especially their famililies all of whom lived the
life and can relate to the times.
At this point , the project still allows me time to have more conversations with a very small number
of surviving miners and and spouses who are currently in their 80's and 90's and still have their
memories solidly intact and are more than willing to provide their stories with factual information
and allow for it to be chronicled and passed forward with good purpose.
I continue to collect more and more information regularly and write new poems based on the data
gathered.
When I inform many of the folks with whom I chat that I am preparing to compile the information
into a book, each and every one of them remind me to include the promise that I only tell the
truth, and I respond to them and say; I will only write the facts as you have provided them and I
recieve your information with all the integrity and respect that you share it with me so I will in kind
respect that information.
So there you have the best way for me to provide an analysis of what I would like to work on as a
Book Project. As indicated, I have written many Poems over the years and as I begin to select
subjects to include in a Book for this project, I do find that I must make some changes to the way
in which many of them were earlier written, and in some cases rewrite them entirely. In addition
there are many other subjects, instances, events and moments about the times and places that
require to yet be completed.
To conclude; I would just like to suggest, that with the interest I have received from the research I
have conducted ,through conversations with numerous retired miners and their families about my
Project idea, that ,Although for now with only a working Title..."In the Shadows of the Shafts"will be extremely well recieved as a finished product. Thank-you.
and
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