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Try looking through these, as there are no dates i am not sure! But possibly you will come across what you seek??
Cheers
gravesend sea school class photo 1950 - Search Images

does anyone know where i can get class photo from 1950 Gravesend sea school the one i had seems to have disappeared

Indeed so James it was the Heyday of the great British Merchant Fleet
And we as older Folk that were there at the time can really be proud. Cheers

Great footage on those vid clips, a bygone era when we could actually build ships and still had a merchant navy to be proud off.
James

And here is another old Hotel that will be recalled by quite a few i guess. it was in Cape Town and gave many happy times to those that visited it.
Cheers

Originally Posted by Doc Vernon

And we lived in a Place called Peacehaven Place in Durban JS!…
How about that mate!
Cheers

Better than the Playhouse anyway Cheers JS

Originally Posted by Doc Vernon

And we lived in a Place called Peacehaven Place in Durban JS!
How about that mate!
Cheers

Better than the Playhouse anyway Cheers JS

And we lived in a Place called Peacehaven Place in Durban JS!
How about that mate!
Cheers

Harmony is such a comprehensive word , my last Address was Harmony Parade , but when coupled with Peace is even better. Today the world would be a much better place if people could learn to live by those principles. JS

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My Blasting Certificate Harmony Gold Mine. Usable at any Mine within South and Central Africa.

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My Mining Diploma , i was elated!
Cheers

https://imgbox.com/y1Q0Kz1C

Our Team just come up from our Shifts, after
accheiving the 1,000,000 Fatality Free Shifts at Harmony Gold Mine OFS South Africa

How proud we were. Me Marked on Left of Pic.

Sorry tried to add Picture but will have to try again another way
Cheers

Hi James
Well i was not really all that Young, but not old either at 24 when i joined the Mines in Harmony! 18 Months underground Course to get the full experience, and to obtain my Miners Blasting Certificate. The Training involved doing all the Jobs , as then you knew exactly what it was like for your forthcoming Worker Compliment. Hard it was but necessary.

Not a good experience for you too that time James, and yes the Red Sea is at times very Hot! Been through there .

Thanks for reply, good to see at least there are some who are now slowly catching on to this new Blogging!
Cheers

Doc, what age would you have been then? No way could I have been a miner, closest thing I would compare that to was down a duct keel. No problems until one day we blacked out and I dropped my torch while trying to get it to work could not find it. Total silence as the ventilation fans had stopped. Always happens when you are in a Radio Blind spot. The lad with me seemed to find God down there. Thankfully I was familiar with the ship by the time we made it to the exit ladder we were gasping for breath. Not due to the lack of Oxygen but the Red Sea is a warm place in August. We got out and just lay on the deck drenched in sweat.

Originally Posted by Kenneth Kenny

Very Brave Man.Doc.All them Men, that worked down the Mines.R634898.

Thanks Kenneth, but Brave ?? Some times i think it was more Stupid than Brave mate!
But yes i guess it did take a wee bit of what we called Guts! LOL
cHEERS

Very Brave Man.Doc.All them Men, that worked down the Mines.R634898.

It was in Dec. of 1965 , i had done my Initial Training as an Underground Gold Miner, passed with good marks and received my Mining Diploma.

Now jumping a bit, after this we as what we were called then "Jam Tarries" were given various Jobs underground at first, but all very important and risky!

I was one of the Lucky ones (if you can call any underground Job lucky LOL)
I was given my own Stope (A work place ) and a compliment of Workers , in Total 32.
These Guys were big and strong , and could work hard!

Anyway i managed to get the hang of things pretty fast, and soon was Blasting the Stope each Day for Gold!

Very Hot ( At some 34 to 38 Degrees ) and hard work, with one on you knees all day down there , as all the Stopes were only at a height of some 4 feet, so had to wear Madolas (Knee Pads) all day.

All this went well for many Months , and my production Extractions , were high, so at least for all my Work, and that of my Workers, managed to get some really good Pay Packets!

As we were very deep down at some 14000 feet, it was some ride each day going down and getting up again ,the Cage, with the Wind gushing at you in that Cage (They were not fully concealed) was some experience! And the Speed that those Winch Drivers used Wow! When coming to a Stop, the Steel Cable actually Stretched and the Cage bounced a good few times before we were able to get out!

Anyway getting on , this particular day, as per usual, down we all went for yet another shift. All went well, and as usual all the Holes were drilled, and all secured for the day, Holes Tamped ready for the Electric Blast once the Mine was cleared.

We had about half an Hour that day still left, and most all the Workers were in the Deep end of the Stope, i was at the Shallow end awaiting my (Pikinin) the Lad who carried my Bag etc, and did most all little chores .

Then it happened!
The dreaded thing that all Miners never want to happen.
There was a massive what we called Bump!
That caused a terrible Rockfall in the Stope, this entails the Rock from above in the Stope to come crashing down. With the sheer weight of some of these Slabs of Rock, there is little or no chance of anyone surviving!

So very sadly i lost 12 of my Workers that day, and it took some 56 hrs for the rescue Teams to reach and take out who were still alive , some very badly injured. Because of that fall, there was of course an Enquiry .

It was a sad day for the Mine and me, and the Stope had to be closed for a long time after that, so i was then left with no Stope, no Crew and a short Bleak period .

But thankfully after some 2 Weeks , i was again, given another Job, this time joining a Crew of Men who were on High Speed Blasting, a much better Paid Job, although the risks a lot higher!

And there ends this short chapter of part of my Life!
And of course "A True Story"
Cheers

PS: On a good note however many Months after this incident, we as Miners of Harmony Gold Mine , achieved a record for 1000,000 Fatality free Shifts , which was some feat , so we were all very Proud Miners.

Ye Brian , that is what i thought would be best, just leave it and we will see how things go, perhaps as you say there may be some interest in it later ! Who Knows!
Cheers

No Vernon, I think I'll leave it as it did take a while for Nick to find a blog and then to install it, seems a shame to just dump it.
B.