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Les Tiedeman (1904-) - Mine worker, East Greta. Recorded 1 March 1984. Part 1/2
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SummaryLES TIEDEMAN
Recorded 1 March 1984
Part 1/2
0:24
Les was born Heddon Greta on 23rd January 1904 He left Heddon Greta when he was one year old went to school in East Greta (Gillieston Heights - Gillies was the member and Mayor of Maitland and so it was called Gillies Town).
1:27
Dinghy Thomas
1:47
Lived in pit house on Thomas' property - there were three little houses
2:08
Herb Burns - a carter on the railway, lived in another of the houses
2:16
Screwy McCarney - Old Mr McCarney was a guard on the railway.
2:54
Ivor and Trevor Thomas were Dinghy's twin sons.
3:08
Attended Gillieston Public School - with the earlier school being "down at St Peters"
3:51
Kevin James was the owner of the land where the old school had been. He ploughed up the land and found some old ink wells. James was a bus driver.
4:10
Early school teachers, Gillieston. Teachers had been Mr Hodge and Mr McCoy. Les left school early and went to the pit.
4:46
Les worked before Harry Parker who worked in the office.
5:02
Jack Burrell
5:40
George Wilson was the paymaster at the railway.
5:55
Joe Reece was the manager and he came after Dinghy Thomas. Joe told Les to "go home and put some manure on his boots so he could grow a bit" when he went for a job aged 14.
6:35
Location of original Gillieston P.O.
6:42
Mrs Boots was the original owner of the P.O. Baden Boots, George Boots - went to Paxton to work after they left Gillieston.
7:56
Recalls locomotives, East Greta Junction - one that only had 6 wheels and Les called it The Kangaroo. They were was always black.
9:53
South Maitland Railways formed in 1918.
10:22
McInerney's Crossing named after a fellow who was killed there.
11:03
Jim Manning recalls 5 years of drought in the area. Jim came in 1927 and they had 4 floods in 5 years.
11:15
Jim began working at East Greta in 1918.
11:37
He married an East Greta girl in 1931 and they electric lights then. In 1928 the power was connected. The pit shut in that year just after Christmas - East Greta had shut before the Lock Out.
13:57
"The Fan", East Greta Colliery -
14:07
Stan Digby, Ted Hickey and Ted Darcy - were the stokers and caretakers for the generators. There were three generators and the pit had its own electricity.
14:36
The generators were steam driven. They were Lancashire boilers.
15:12
Baden Boots and Mr Burns were the firemen.
16:35
Steepness of No.1 and No.2 shafts
17:03
Recalls No.1 shaft catching alight in 1912
17:19
Recalls father extinguishing blaze on Sunday morning, smothering it from a horse and dray. It was never worked again.
18:50
Father worked as ostler on top
18:56
Bill Tiedeman was his uncle who worked as an ostler before Les' father came to
the mine. Bill won the lottery and bought a few houses.
19:19
Les' dad had about 30 horses to groom and look after at East Greta Colliery. Les never worked underground.
19:38
Les describes driving "jig" which was a compartment holding a miner and a wheeler. There were 6 of them. On top there was a winding windlass driven by counterweights. A full skip would go downhill - it had brakes on it. The skip was heavier than the dummy. When the brake was released the heavier skip would go down and the dummy would go to the top.
25:01
At No 2 Colliery, Andrew Pitcairn was the driver of the hydraulic winch.
26:48
Les started working at Ayrfield in 1918. He worked on the cutting before the mine opened.
27:08
Harry Swan had two horses - Harry drove Dolly and Les drove Diamond - they worked on the cutting coming into Ayrfield off the Stanford branch.
27:40
Recalls 2 roads running to Ayrfield from Testers Hollow.
29:50
Recalls "endless rope" at Ayrfield pulled by a small horse.
30:05
Steepness of Ayrfield No.1 tunnel - 62 deg slope which was very steep.
30:24
Ayrfield No.2 opened before the Lock Out. Les finished in 1931.
31:04
Les worked 2 years for the contractor Arthur McGlashen who was putting in the railway. Don McGlashen.
31:25
Peter Peterson erected the wooden pit top.
32:10
Jim Henry and Joe Henry - were bush carpenters. Les cut the 60ft Iron bark timber posts in between Cessnock mine and the Kurri line near Deep Creek. They were cut with a saw and an axe. The big logs went on top of concrete for the foundations. A block and tackle was used to raise them.
34:45
Recalls Peter Peterson erecting of chimney stack for the boilers for the steam winder. Power came from Maitland later.
36:06
Two 7ft high x 30ft Carmichael boilers were used at Ayrfield. Feeding the boilers was always by hand.
37:05
Recollection of flooding at Ayrfield in 1929 and 1931.
37:19
Description of "alligator" used to bail out the floodwaters.
39:09
Description of working both tunnels
40:30
Depth of Ayrfield tunnel - 16 boards which were 10ft wide.
41:16
Description of "breast system".
43:00
Alec Saddler
43:08
Monty Spencer
43:15
Recalls driving bellows to create air at Ayrfield for four hours before he had a break for 8 hours day.
Tape duration: 44:06
Tiedeman, Leslie Lotham, 1904-PersonJack DelaneyDepicts or Relates ToHarry Parker (1905-1997) - Clerk, Stanford Main Colliery. Recorded 11 November 1991. Part 1/1.CollectionVoices of the HunterLocation[1] East Greta No. 1 Colliery, NSWIdentifier286A
Recorded 1 March 1984
Part 1/2
0:24
Les was born Heddon Greta on 23rd January 1904 He left Heddon Greta when he was one year old went to school in East Greta (Gillieston Heights - Gillies was the member and Mayor of Maitland and so it was called Gillies Town).
1:27
Dinghy Thomas
1:47
Lived in pit house on Thomas' property - there were three little houses
2:08
Herb Burns - a carter on the railway, lived in another of the houses
2:16
Screwy McCarney - Old Mr McCarney was a guard on the railway.
2:54
Ivor and Trevor Thomas were Dinghy's twin sons.
3:08
Attended Gillieston Public School - with the earlier school being "down at St Peters"
3:51
Kevin James was the owner of the land where the old school had been. He ploughed up the land and found some old ink wells. James was a bus driver.
4:10
Early school teachers, Gillieston. Teachers had been Mr Hodge and Mr McCoy. Les left school early and went to the pit.
4:46
Les worked before Harry Parker who worked in the office.
5:02
Jack Burrell
5:40
George Wilson was the paymaster at the railway.
5:55
Joe Reece was the manager and he came after Dinghy Thomas. Joe told Les to "go home and put some manure on his boots so he could grow a bit" when he went for a job aged 14.
6:35
Location of original Gillieston P.O.
6:42
Mrs Boots was the original owner of the P.O. Baden Boots, George Boots - went to Paxton to work after they left Gillieston.
7:56
Recalls locomotives, East Greta Junction - one that only had 6 wheels and Les called it The Kangaroo. They were was always black.
9:53
South Maitland Railways formed in 1918.
10:22
McInerney's Crossing named after a fellow who was killed there.
11:03
Jim Manning recalls 5 years of drought in the area. Jim came in 1927 and they had 4 floods in 5 years.
11:15
Jim began working at East Greta in 1918.
11:37
He married an East Greta girl in 1931 and they electric lights then. In 1928 the power was connected. The pit shut in that year just after Christmas - East Greta had shut before the Lock Out.
13:57
"The Fan", East Greta Colliery -
14:07
Stan Digby, Ted Hickey and Ted Darcy - were the stokers and caretakers for the generators. There were three generators and the pit had its own electricity.
14:36
The generators were steam driven. They were Lancashire boilers.
15:12
Baden Boots and Mr Burns were the firemen.
16:35
Steepness of No.1 and No.2 shafts
17:03
Recalls No.1 shaft catching alight in 1912
17:19
Recalls father extinguishing blaze on Sunday morning, smothering it from a horse and dray. It was never worked again.
18:50
Father worked as ostler on top
18:56
Bill Tiedeman was his uncle who worked as an ostler before Les' father came to
the mine. Bill won the lottery and bought a few houses.
19:19
Les' dad had about 30 horses to groom and look after at East Greta Colliery. Les never worked underground.
19:38
Les describes driving "jig" which was a compartment holding a miner and a wheeler. There were 6 of them. On top there was a winding windlass driven by counterweights. A full skip would go downhill - it had brakes on it. The skip was heavier than the dummy. When the brake was released the heavier skip would go down and the dummy would go to the top.
25:01
At No 2 Colliery, Andrew Pitcairn was the driver of the hydraulic winch.
26:48
Les started working at Ayrfield in 1918. He worked on the cutting before the mine opened.
27:08
Harry Swan had two horses - Harry drove Dolly and Les drove Diamond - they worked on the cutting coming into Ayrfield off the Stanford branch.
27:40
Recalls 2 roads running to Ayrfield from Testers Hollow.
29:50
Recalls "endless rope" at Ayrfield pulled by a small horse.
30:05
Steepness of Ayrfield No.1 tunnel - 62 deg slope which was very steep.
30:24
Ayrfield No.2 opened before the Lock Out. Les finished in 1931.
31:04
Les worked 2 years for the contractor Arthur McGlashen who was putting in the railway. Don McGlashen.
31:25
Peter Peterson erected the wooden pit top.
32:10
Jim Henry and Joe Henry - were bush carpenters. Les cut the 60ft Iron bark timber posts in between Cessnock mine and the Kurri line near Deep Creek. They were cut with a saw and an axe. The big logs went on top of concrete for the foundations. A block and tackle was used to raise them.
34:45
Recalls Peter Peterson erecting of chimney stack for the boilers for the steam winder. Power came from Maitland later.
36:06
Two 7ft high x 30ft Carmichael boilers were used at Ayrfield. Feeding the boilers was always by hand.
37:05
Recollection of flooding at Ayrfield in 1929 and 1931.
37:19
Description of "alligator" used to bail out the floodwaters.
39:09
Description of working both tunnels
40:30
Depth of Ayrfield tunnel - 16 boards which were 10ft wide.
41:16
Description of "breast system".
43:00
Alec Saddler
43:08
Monty Spencer
43:15
Recalls driving bellows to create air at Ayrfield for four hours before he had a break for 8 hours day.
Tape duration: 44:06
Tiedeman, Leslie Lotham, 1904-PersonJack DelaneyDepicts or Relates ToHarry Parker (1905-1997) - Clerk, Stanford Main Colliery. Recorded 11 November 1991. Part 1/1.CollectionVoices of the HunterLocation[1] East Greta No. 1 Colliery, NSWIdentifier286Aloading google map....
Delaney, Jack, 1919-2010, Les Tiedeman (1904-) - Mine worker, East Greta. Recorded 1 March 1984. Part 1/2, [286A]. Living Histories, accessed 01/12/2023, https://livinghistories.newcastle.edu.au/nodes/view/55960