The land that surrounds me was, up until fairly recently, a lifeline to man’s very existence. There was a time when it was a valley of black waste, tall chimneys, steam powered locomotives and the pit head winding gear. Some men worked and some men died for a meagre pittance with which to feed their families. It was a place whose narrow seams crippled the people that produced the wealth for the owners. It was somewhere I used to work, not anymore. I kept telling myself that I’d never return to this hellhole. Since its closure, I find myself once again plodding over this once industrial landscape.
My dog runs in front of me as we both head toward the large expanse of open ground. The number of times I have walked in this direction over the years, both for work and pleasure, is numerous. The colliery has gone and the ghosts of the past still haunt the area. All that remains is a large grassed area where the coal trucks once travelled. The green hides the deep scarred dirty landscape of yesteryear. Some of the coal dust remains in large swathes on the ground and my shoes and trouser bottoms sweep the damp muddy earth dying them black.
I walk unsteadily using a walking stick for support. The uneven ground makes it tricky to manoeuvre. I plod on, calling to my dog as I move ahead. He turns and runs toward me, circling around me and then disappearing into the distance once again. I move ahead cautiously, slowly prodding the damp ground for a safe route. I decide to skirt around the muddy areas. The soil moves and disappears creating a round open space. I drop suddenly into the dark, black abyss for what seems an eternity. As I look up, the circle of light that shines above me gets smaller the further I fall. I have fallen into a disused coal seam. The ground I have fallen onto is hard and I land squarely on my back. I cannot move, my leg is twisted and I feel great pain in my chest. I look upward to God and pray someone will hear my desperate cries to be rescued. The moisture from the wet floor soaks into my clothes, my whole body shivers with cold and fatigue. The musty, earthy smell creeps into my nostrils. I struggle to make any sense of what has just happened. My anxiety rises when I hear a distant rumbling noise. Stones begin falling beside me and I worry that I’ll never get out. I lay very still on my back unable to move. Time seems to stand still. I see no one. I begin fearing the worst. How am I going to get out. I shout again in a panic but nobody can hear my cries. Is this going to be my final day on Earth? There doesn’t seem to be any way out.
