Life in the quarries could be very hard, according to Eleanor. "I’m happy I don’t have anyone in the slate quarries anymore. We were brought up to get your bed made, your dishes done and your floor swept, in case somebody gets hurt and we bring them home from the quarry. That was the way you were brought up. My father was hurt badly. He was gone for nine years after it. A block came out of the chain and hit him in the head. My father got 59.011 a week in compensation. I don’t know how they made ends meet, if they did." There were always injuries, says Eleanor, who tells of broken arms and broken legs. "Somebody was always getting killed, it was terrible. The huge dumps of waste slate around the quarries were also hazardous, according to Eleanor. "The man that was boarding with us, ten days after my father was hurt, this guy made him go and work in the same spot my father and another new roof contractor was in.
| August 19th, 2010 | Posted in Home Improvement |