Former miner digs deep to tell his story of working down the pit

A former miner has told his story of working in a district pit and the way the strikes affected the community.
By James Carney
Published 6th Mar 2020, 11:06 BST
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Pete McGowan’s novel ‘Dirty Days’ chronicles his time as a young miner at Sharlston Colliery.

He said:“I left school without any qualifications, it was my only option. I’ve had a crazy life and I wanted to tell my story.

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“I don’t really mind about how many books I sell, I just wrote this one to document the history of an industry of bygone age.”

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Pete McGowan has released a book called Dirty Days on his time at Sharlston Colliery and the strikes.Pete McGowan has released a book called Dirty Days on his time at Sharlston Colliery and the strikes.
Pete McGowan has released a book called Dirty Days on his time at Sharlston Colliery and the strikes.

He said it can be easy to forget how gruelling mining work was.

And he remembers that collieries were central to their communities which were put at risk when they closed.

He said that was a central reason to why miners went on strike in 1984.

“We were on strike for our communities, not for a pay deal,” he added.