Retired farrier Graham Batholomew. Photo: Michele Tydd.
With Australia on the brink of an energy overhaul, it seems timely to reflect on an earlier shift involving thousands of ‘pit ponies’ who helped power Australia for more than a century,
In NSW, their arduous work ended in 1988 when a “well-mannered” black horse named Tom plodded out of the now defunct Nebo Colliery mine at Mt Kembla after 10 years of loyal service.
And who better to tell his story than retired master farrier, Graham Batholomew, better known as Bart, now 88, who was there at the beginning and end of Tom’s accidental career.
“Tom was the horse who outsmarted me to get the job with his charm and impeccable good manners,” admits Bart with a sheepish grin.
‘Pit pony’ is a broad term for horses, ponies and mules who worked in coal mines from the mid-18th century to the late 20th century in the UK and Australia, often under gruelling conditions, particularly in the early years.
They worked with what was known as a ‘wheeler’ to lug the coal from the pit face to the mine surface.
In the late 70s, Bart worked closely with Nebo Colliery’s Ken Mason who looked after the pit pony team.
“Ken was a marvellous horseman, who guided me through an informal apprenticeship and taught me everything I know,” recalls Bart.
“At that time, Ken needed a third horse to complement his pit pony team and asked me to keep an eye out for a suitable horse.”
Days later on his rounds, Bart noticed a lone horse in a paddock at Calderwood quietly munching on grass, unfazed by the presence of the lanky stranger.
“A bundle of horses I’d seen earlier had been sold off and this one had been left behind, probably for reasons we discovered months later,” says Bart.
“The primary aim was to find a horse with strength and the right temperament and this horse, which Ken later named Tom after the Mount Kembla Hotel publican, had both.
“Ken trialled him by getting Tom to drag around a sleeper on flat land at Windy Gully for a while before testing him underground, and Tom passed the test.
“He proved to be a good worker and always made my job easy. When I directed him to, say, lift his leg, he’d place it in exactly the right spot.”
Months after Tom started work, he caused a stir when Bruce McIntosh, the then pound keeper for Wollongong Council, who picked up stray dogs and wandering horses, dropped in for a chat while Bart was shoeing Tom at Windy Gully.
“Bruce knew a lot about horses and when he checked Tom, he was surprised we’d bought a stallion – but not as surprised as Ken and I!,” says Bart, bursting into laughter.
“Stallions were rarely allowed into mines because of their attitude.
“In the end, it was a blessing we didn’t look closely at his testicles because we would have put Tom straight back in the paddock and he would have ended up in the knackery, for sure,” he adds.
Bart shod Tom and the other two horses every six weeks but about 10 years on he noticed Tom was getting old and unwell so he recommended that Tom be retired.
“I don’t know how old he was by then because we didn’t have much history on him,” says Bart.
When Tom walked from the mine for the last time on 15 May 1988, Bart was there to remove his shoes.
He donated the set to the Mount Kembla Primary School Museum along with his docket for $30.
“Tom had lost one shoe so there were only three in the set,” recalls Bart.
Tom spent his last days in a paddock not far from the mine owned by Pieter Teunissen, who replaced Ken Mason after his death in 1977, according to an entry on Mount Kembla Jottings website.
It went on to say Tom died that winter and was buried on the property.
Pieter’s daughter-in-law, Jennie, remembered Tom as “a gentle horse with a moustache”.
Bart, who retired only five years ago, says Tom will always hold a special place in his heart.
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