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Maybe this should be posted under “things you don’t see any more”. A coal man, and a lorry piled up with sacks. On Clifton in the early 60s, almost every house still had a coal f

A lot of people don't realise that the coal doesn't find it's way into the sacks on it's own ! It has to be shovelled in & weighed as well. Trading standards were always hot on coal men, by law sc

I got a temp job as a teenager delivering coal, I stuck it one morning only ! Sod that !

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On 12/29/2018 at 3:39 PM, jonab said:

he was entitled to a coal allowance of one ton a month

Jonab: The allowance was clled a ton a month but was in fact 19cwt every 5 weeks. If you didn't want it you could "surrender" it and have £5/-/- in your wages as a surrender value. I am now talking about the late 1960s and I don't know what period you are referring to so the stated surrender value might not be accurate.

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On 4/21/2016 at 5:19 PM, LizzieM said:

Anyone know (or knew) Georgie Johnson? His dad was a coal merchant in Arnold when I knew him in 60s/70s. Seem to think he was a Funeral Director too .....

 

Were they on High Street near Wharton's Dairy, Lizzie?

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The period I'm referring to was late 60's - early 70's. I remember that (he said) he was not allowed to surrender more than one ton a year - no idea of the value, he kept that to himself!

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We still have "The Coalman" up here in the far north, although bags are now a lot smaller than the old 1cwt each. We are not yet restricted by clean air acts but it is looking like the SNP in their infantile wisdom are going to crack down on multi-fuel stoves, Agas and open fires very soon now; which is very sad because I get free wood as long as I am able to cut it myself.  The Highlands, with an area 1½ times greater than that of Wales has a popluation density of 8 persons per square kilometre as compared to 4,073 in Nottingham so we really don't need more legislation to keep our air clean.

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19 minutes ago, Compo said:

We still have "The Coalman" up here in the far north, although bags are now a lot smaller than the old 1cwt each. We are not yet restricted by clean air acts but it is looking like the SNP in their infantile wisdom are going to crack down on multi-fuel stoves, Agas and open fires very soon now; which is very sad because I get free wood as long as I am able to cut it myself.  The Highlands, with an area 1½ times greater than that of Wales has a popluation density of 8 persons per square kilometre as compared to 4,073 in Nottingham so we really don't need more legislation to keep our air clean.

25 kg is the recommended weight for a man to lift. 16 kg for a woman. Health and Safety! Quite sensible really. I can barely lift 25 kg now but my wife is used to stacking bales of hay with no problems!

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47 minutes ago, philmayfield said:

25 kg is the recommended weight for a man to lift. 16 kg for a woman. Health and Safety! Quite sensible really. I can barely lift 25 kg now but my wife is used to stacking bales of hay with no problems!

That’s alright then, I used to collect 15 kg bags of sheep food and stagger with them from the car, at least I wasn’t lifting over the recommended limit ....... not sure I could do it now though and I won’t even try. 

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1 hour ago, Compo said:

 

Were they on High Street near Wharton's Dairy, Lizzie?

Probably Compo, will check with a friend who lived off High Street in those days.  

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I handle 50lb chicken feed bags about every two weeks, about 23kgs, I used to handle 80lb bags of dry concrete mix, a bit heavy for me now, but still struggle with them when I have a pet project going outside.

Been cutting a couple of large tree trunks up, I estimate the "rounds" weigh in at 200lbs plus, so have to divide them into manageable pieces to load onto the trailer.

I can struggle with 100lbs, but don't risk it often!!

A sack of coal used to be 1cwt = 110lbs, those coal men used to make it look easy!

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11 minutes ago, Ayupmeducks said:

I handle 50lb chicken feed bags about every two weeks, about 23kgs, I used to handle 80lb bags of dry concrete mix, a bit heavy for me now, but still struggle with them when I have a pet project going outside.

Been cutting a couple of large tree trunks up, I estimate the "rounds" weigh in at 200lbs plus, so have to divide them into manageable pieces to load onto the trailer.

I can struggle with 100lbs, but don't risk it often!!

A sack of coal used to be 1cwt = 110lbs, those coal men used to make it look easy!

112 lbs in an imperial cwt.

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The knack is getting the swing of the bag correct, and using its weight to your advantage. 

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1 hour ago, LizzieM said:

Probably Compo, will check with a friend who lived off High Street in those days.  

Compo, my pal says Johnson’s Coal Merchants was on Cross Street, just up on the right from the end of High Street.  They had big stable doors.  That was my memory anyway but wanted to make sure my memory wasn’t playing up.  She mentioned Archie Andrews Ice Cream Shop too but I don’t remember that place.  

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My smokeless fuel is delivered in 25kg bags. The last delivery was before Christmas at around 6am. The gates were not unlocked...never known them deliver that early...and I had to move the lot. I'm tougher than I look!

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Correct Phil, my mistake, no idea why I typed 110 instead of 112.

 

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18 hours ago, philmayfield said:

25 kg is the recommended weight for a man to lift

 

So just about half of what the men used to lift and carry in the "Old days". No wonder folk died young!

 

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16 hours ago, LizzieM said:

Compo, my pal says Johnson’s Coal Merchants was on Cross Street, just up on the right from the end of High Street.

Yep, I remember it. My grandmothr moved in to the warden aided flats that were built just opposite, when she downsized froom her house in High Street. you could walk through to Redhill by a track alongside tehir yard if I remember correctly. It was on the left as you went along Cross Street towards Front Street, just before crossinng High Street. 

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16 hours ago, LizzieM said:

She mentioned Archie Andrews Ice Cream Shop

 

Where did she say Andews ice cream shop was, Lizzie? Oh! Just remembered - ther ewere a couple of three stirey houses across the road from the coal yard. I knew a girl that lived in one of them She was called Shirley Leddy. Did you know her?

 

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2 hours ago, Compo said:

 

Where did she say Andews ice cream shop was, Lizzie? Oh! Just remembered - ther ewere a couple of three stirey houses across the road from the coal yard. I knew a girl that lived in one of them She was called Shirley Leddy. Did you know her?

 

I don’t remember the name Compo but to be honest I didn’t spend any time ‘down Arnold’, I lived up the other side near Arnold High, went to Kingswell and then Carlton-Le-Willows. The only time I went down into Arnold was to the swimming baths and library.   However I did know quite a few people from there, mostly those who went to High Street Infants before C-Le-W.  Graeme Smith, whose Dad was the barber Len Smith on High Street, Alec Cookson, Brenda Cupit .......   I used to swim with Edwina Cook and her brother Robin, they were both fantastic swimmers, think they lived down that way.  

Am checking on exact location of Andrews ice cream shop.

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Sorry folks to have hi-jacked ‘Coalmen’ thread and turned it into ‘memories of Arnold’.  

Compo, neither my friend nor I remember Shirley Leddy.

Archie Andrews Ice Cream Shop was up a lane between High Street Infants and High Street Juniors.  

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Thanks for the gen, Lizzie and I also apologise for the hi-jack :)  funny how one subject can lead to another and so on.....the phenomenon used to be called "Thread Drift"; I wonder what it is called these days? 

 

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