A Two Way Climb

Did any retired Sleetburn miners, without transport and suffering from advanced emphysema, ever walk to the Flass to have a pint with  friends and then walk all the way home? Educated money says maybe not.

For that matter how many obese Sleetburn women [without transport] patronized Broughs for weekly shopping when accompanied by their baby triplets in a specially designed pram?   Educated money likes a punt and might have dabbled with that set of circumstances.

Although emphysema was prevalent in mining villages female obesity was not. Women had too much to do in too short a time whether they had triplets or not. Pit wives did a host of things including scrubbing, dusting, shopping and baking; on top of that they were often prisoners of the pit shift system, which meant staying awake to provide for  husband and sons on differently timed shifts. Much energy was used up which probably helped to keep weight down.

So plenty of lung infections for the older men but little fat on most women. That is how I remember it.

WB