Underground Collection (#8)

Early 19th century coal miner working a narrow seam, c1868. The miner, stripped to the waist, is lying on his side and, with a pickaxe, is holing out or scuffling coal

The Bottom of the Shaft, 1862. Wagons of coal are being wheeled to the pit shaft, placed in a cage and hauled to the surface. From The Popular Encyclopaedia. (Glasgow and London, 1862)

Inside a Cheshire salt mine, 1889. Miners are gathering loose rock salt after blasting, and loading it into a horse-drawn tub for hoisting to the surface

Mining for rock salt, c1890. Miners being lowered down a shaft on rope slings to begin their shift in the salt mine at Wieliczka, Galicia, Poland

Woman and boy drawing a corve containing 3-4 cwt of coal, Bolton, Lancashire, 1848. The woman wears a harness around her waist, passing between her legs and attached to a sledge by a chain

Boy putter drawing a truck containing coal along a 24 inch high seam, Halifax, Yorkshire, 1848
Boy putter drawing a truck containing 2 1/4 cwt of coal along a 24 inch high seam, Halifax, Yorkshire, 1848. This illustrates the hardship of conditions underground in the British coal industry in

Boy putters moving coal in a narrow seam, Lancashire, England, 1848. From A Treatise on the Winning and Working of Collieries by Matthias Dunn. (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1848)

Coal mining: sending baskets (corves) of coal to the surface of a mine, 1852. From The Wonders of Home by Grandfather Grey. (London, 1852)

Woman putter dragging a sledge of coal along a narrow seam, South Wales, c1848

Boy pushing a truck loaded with coal from the coal face to the bottom of the pit shaft, c1848. On the right of the picture squats a smaller boy, the trapper

Rail mounted coal cutting machine, 1864. This was powered by compressed air produced by a steam engine at the pithead

Elevated Railway in New York, from The Picture Magazine, c19th century
Elevated Railway in New York, an illustration taken from The Picture Magazine, c19th century

Rock Salt: Miners at work in salt mine, Wieliczka, Galicia, Poland, 20th century. Cigarette card c1920

The Cathedral, Marston Salt Mine, Northwich, Cheshire, England, 19th century
The Cathedral, Marston Salt Mine, Northwich, Cheshire, England, showing the pillars of salt that have been left to support the ceiling of the cavern which has been left after the excavation of rock

Particle accelerator tunnel, Cern, Geneva, 20th century
Particle accelerator tunnel, Cern, Geneva

Particle accelerator, Cern, Geneva, 20th century
Particle accelerator tunnel, Cern, Geneva, 20th century

Dream Lead Mine, near Wirksworth, Derbyshire, 1881. Sectional view showing the workings and the position in which a skeleton of a rhinoceros was discovered

Discovery of iguanodon fossils, Bernissart, Belgium, 1878 (c1880). 39 skeletons of the herbivorous dinosaur were discovered in a coal mine by Jules Creteur and his workmates

Coal miners trapped underground by a roof fall, Courrieres Mines, Pas-de-Calais, France, 1906. The miners survived by eating carrots and oats they found in the pit pony stables

Ventilation shaft in Kilsby Tunnel, Northamptonshire, London & Birmingham Railway, 1839. Artist: John Cooke Bourne
Ventilation shaft in Kilsby Tunnel, Northamptonshire, London & Birmingham Railway, 1839. Robert Stephenson (1803-1859) was appointed chief engineer of the London & Birmingham Railway (LBR)

Thames Tunnel, c1830. The Thames Tunnel from Rotherhithe to Wapping was the most remarkable undertaking by the engineer and inventor Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (1769-1849)

Circulation of water between sea and mountains, 1665. Blue-tinted flows are from mountains to the sea, while black represents flows taking water from whirlpools in the sea back to the mountains via

Miners blasting, 1879. The men are sheltering behind rocks as the dynamite charge they have set is detonated. (Paris, 1879)

Blowing up Flood Rock, 1885. Workers in underground galleries putting cartridges of dynamite into position in preparation for the blowing up Flood Rock

Section of a Coal Mine, 1860. Artist: Thomas Dick
Section of a Coal Mine, 1860. A general pit head scene showing an engine house for a steam engine, the pit head winding gear and the underground areas of the mine in cross section

Underground scene in a coal mine, 1860. Full baskets (corves) of coal being loaded on a tram wagon using a crane. Pit ponies were used to haul coal underground

Bottom of a pit shaft in a coal mine with a train of loaded wagons, 1860
Bottom of a pit shaft in a coal mine with a train of loaded wagons waiting to be hoisted to the surface, 1860. The coal wagons have flanged wheels

Underground Railway, Leningrad, 1970s. Artist: CM Dixon
Underground Railway, Leningrad, 1970s. Saint Petersburg Metro has been open since 15 November 1955 and is one of the deepest metro systems in the world

Underground Railway, Leningrad, c1970s. Artist: CM Dixon
Underground Railway, Leningrad, c1970s. Saint Petersburg Metro has been open since 15 November 1955 and is one of the deepest metro systems in the world

Pity Deputy tests for gas using Davy Safety Lamp before shotfiring

Pit Pony pulling truck
Pit Pony pulling a truck with pit props

Coal miner collecting his lamp in the lamp room before going on his shift

The Pit Deputy prepares for shot firing, stemming the charge in a Yorkshire coal mine

Below ground house in the Roman city of Bulla Regia, 2nd century
Below ground house in the Roman city of Bulla Regia. It was built below ground level for protection from summer sun and winter winds, 2nd century

Roman house built below ground level, 2nd century BC
Roman house built below ground level at Bulla Regia in Tunisia, 2nd century BC

Underground to the healing centre of the Asklepion in Pergamum, 2nd century
Underground to the healing centre of the Asklepion, dedicated to Asklepios, in Pergamum, 2nd century

Grave of a Zulu chief, 1888. The body is in a sitting position in a stone-lined underground chamber. From History of Mankind by Friedrich Ratzel. (Leipzig, 1888)

Catacomb of the Capuchin (Franciscan) convent, Palermo, Sicily, 1833
Catacomb of the Capuchin (Franciscan) convent, Palermo, Sicily, with remains of departed Friars, 1833

Boy putter dragging a sledge of coal along a narrow seam, South Wales, 1848. From A Treatise on the Winning and Working of Collieries by Matthias Dunn. (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1848)

A firedamp explosion, France, 1892. Artist: F Meaulle
A firedamp explosion in a French coal mine, France, 1892. A print from a supplement to the Le Petit Journal, 2nd April 1892

The Workmens Train, 1872. This picture shows steam trains at Gower Street station on the Metropolitan (underground) railway which opened in 1863. Workers hurry to catch their morning train to work

Front cover of Le Pays de France, 9 September 1915. French sappers placing a mine under a German trench. The placing of huge explosive mines in tunnels beneath enemy trenches became a common tactic

Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza being used as an astronomical observatory. Illustration demonstrating Piazzi Smyths theory that a passage from the lower of the two subterranean chambers (A)

Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza as an astronomical observatory. Diagram showing how the passage to the subterranean chamber (not shown) acted as an observing tube

Flooding during the excavation of the Thames Tunnel, London, 1828 (1836). Tom, Jerry and Logic having a narrow escape as water breaks through during a visit to the Thames Tunnel workings

The Thames Tunnel, London, 1832. Cross-section of Marc Isambard Brunels double-arched masonry tunnel beneath the Thames. The Thames Tunnel, connecting Wapping and Rotherhithe

Flooding during the excavation of the Thames Tunnel, London, 1828 (1836). On 12 January 1828, water flooded into the workings of Marc Isambard Brunels tunnel beneath the River Thames

Tunneling shield used in the construction of the Thames Tunnel, London, 1842
Tunneling shield used in the construction of the Thames Tunnel, London, 1825-1843. Men at work in the tunneling shield, patented in 1818 by the tunnels designer, Marc Isambard Brunel

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