An interview with a former South Crofty miner

Interesting post on the Faces of Cornwall site:

Stand Up and Be Counted

"I’m a Cornishman alright – there’s not much doubt about that – and I was a miner for about 11 years. I got this tattoo of Wheal Busy Mine done a while ago, and on the other arm there’s a skull, but instead of the crossbones I’ve got a pick and shovel. The bloke in the tattoo place said, “Let’s put who you are on there.” Course I didn’t use picks and shovels all the time – we had explosives and all the things that go with modern mining. I was recovering from my first marriage break up when I started mining – I was trying to get a few quid together. You could make money mining in those days – that was mostly why people did it. Before that I was working as a mechanic, but there were miners in my family so it was sort of in my blood. The bloke who interviewed me said, “Do you know anything about mining?” and I said “No, nothing.” He said, “I see your surname is Sandow. I’ve just come from South Africa and there’s a bloke there called Sandow. We’ll give you a go.”....read more