IF I might respond to the outraged letter from our unique free miner, Elaine Morman, could I first of all emphasise that I am no misogynist, but believe that there are places where women should not be, just as there are places where men should not be, in spite of recent stupid laws stating in effect that we are not male and female but that we are all persons.
I would like to thank my 'ol mate John Belcher for reproducing the relevant Act of 1838, as it makes nonsense of the lady's assertion that 'neither the Deputy Gaveller nor Mark Harper have disregarded or changed any rules.' That these worthies are respectively a career forester – not Forester – and a politician weakens her case further. As for 'the best legal brains,' I spent 30 years in the construction industry and know full well how naive and inappropriate some legal opinions can be. In this very context, we have had adequate proof!
When laws and Acts of?Parliament need to be broken or bent, the plaintiff always resorts to Blairite-type lawyers to produce the required effect. Whilst these satisfy the letter of the law, they do not accord with the spirit of the law. Such is this case.
No, Mrs Morman, I did not complain about Mike Jones's situation as I do not like repeating myself. I took up this very subject in a 'discussion' in this and another local newspaper in 2003, correspondence which also involved Bruce Hogan and Trevor Payne (now living in France, lucky beggar). I am sure, Mr Editor, that you will permit this lady to trawl through your archives if she wants confirmation.
I myself am not a free miner but my mother's family were and still are. Thus I write from experience, having seen for myself the ravages to health and body, the conditions and wear and tear in which they arrived home after shift and have been down a mine myself, seeing the terrible state of the workplace. I can trace my maternal ancestors as far back as the Act of 1838, and my memory recalls events well before Mrs Morman's parents moved into this area.
I thank her kind invitation to visit Clearwell Caves, but I must decline, having already been around with friends who saw the advertisement in one of the vintage magazines. Also, many years ago the Folk Club did a concert there and I sang in this. I agree that the acoustics are excellent.
However I did not see any free mining on either occasion, everything looked so nice and clean. But having seen the hardship, the squalor, the collapse of sturdy frames from inhaling fetid air and the struggle to make a decent honest living that my family and other real free miners had to endure, I get rather incensed when a pretty little girl announces that 'I am a free miner,' relying on a stupid law devised to promote the socialist Utopia, to verify her status. I emphasise again the spirit of the law. – Cy Roberts, Forsdene Walk, Coalway.