MINER'S TALLY - From Grimethorpe Colliery, South Yorkshire

In order to know how many workers were down a mine, metal discs were used, known as checks or tallies.

The arrangements were often different at each mine, but typically the miner would give the tally to the lamp room attendant at the surface in exchange for his safety lamp. At the end of his shift, the miner would return his safety lamp and retrieve his tally. In this way the attendant would know when all of the miners had returned to the surface.

A tally was often made of brass and stamped with an identification number and the name of the mine.  In the 1980s tallies were replaced with electronic methods.

Grimethorpe Colliery closed in 1993, but the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, depicted in the film 'Brassed off', continues to perform today.