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Published in September 2006 Australian Longwall Magazine
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In the early 1900s, underground coal mines were dark, damp and dangerous places and the relationship between man and animal was a complex one.
Miners were forced to work their pit ponies hard to transport the coal from pit to surface but together they experienced the same harsh conditions and were exposed to the same dangers.
Pit ponies were commonly used underground in Australian mines until they were replaced with mechanised systems in the 1950s.
Photo courtesy Wollongong City Galleryâs Voices from the Coal Face exhibition, Wollongong City Library and the Illawarra Historical Society.
