Last updated at 11:24, Thursday, 02 August 2012

ANNIE Ferguson, one of Whitehaven’s last few remaining screen lasses, has died, aged 89.

diamond wedding: Steve and Annie Ferguson

One of a redoubtable breed, Annie, of Ashness Close, Mirehouse, had begun work on the Haig pit coal screens when she was just 16, having given up a farm job at Patterdale.

She was amazed to find herself in the spotlight in recent years when the role of the screen lass in the Cumberland coalfields was celebrated in a book, a play, a film and even a statue. She was interviewed on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour alongside other Whitehaven women who had all spent their early working life doing physically hard work in a harsh and dirty environment. Annie wondered what all the fuss was about.

Born in 1923, Annie Sharp lived with her Scottish parents and four brothers and four sisters in Queen Street, Whitehaven. Her mother had been a screen lass at Ladysmith and Lowca pits before she had her family (which included two sets of twins) and her father was a miner at Ladysmith and Haig.

She attended Quay Street School and St Begh’s and left school at 14.

Working on the screens was a dirty job but Annie had a clean pinny on every day and well polished clogs. She was required to stand at the conveyor belts of passing coal and pick out all the slate and stone from it and was expected to use a large heavy shovel to move tons of waste down into a chute.

Annie’s skill with a shovel grew and well into her 80s she was still well able to wield a spade and do her own gardening.

Annie worked for about seven years on the coal screens until she married Stephen Ferguson.

They were married for 64 years and in 2003 celebrated their diamond wedding with a family party. Sadly, two years later, in 2005, they were to lose their only daughter, Pamela, to cancer. Steve, who had survived two mining disasters and a world war, died in 2008, aged 88.

Annie knew tragedy. Her brother, Charles Sharp, a talented local boxer, was killed in the mines and two of her sisters had died in childhood, one from measles and another after being badly burned when her nightdress caught fire.

Annie’s involvement in the ‘living history’ project organised by former miner Gerald McGlennon meant she rediscovered old friendships. She was happy to recount her memories of past times. “It was hard working on the screens, but I loved it,’’ she’d said. She recalled the harshness of their work environment, the cold conditions, with sacking for windows providing a poor barrier against the chilling winds at Kells blowing straight off the sea. There was dirt and dust to contend with, using Vaseline to try and remove the black from their faces, wearing turban scarves to cover their hair, coarse aprons, chilblains and scoggers (thick socks) and clogs to protect their feet. But there were fond memories too, of the friendliness, the singing, the humour and sense of sisterhood.

Annie was recently interviewed by writer Eve Richings for a book about women in mining.

She said: “I feel proud and privileged to have known Annie. She and the women like her are true living legends in this country.

“Annie was an intelligent, modest and humorous lady who enjoyed a joke and when we first started the workshops she had much to contribute to help keep mining history alive. It is very sad to lose people like her that made this town what it is.’’

Pamela Telford, of Haig Colliery Mining Museum, said: “Everyone at Haig is saddened to hear of Annie’s passing. She was a unique lady.’’

A funeral service will be held tomorrow at 9.15am at St Benedict’s Church, Mirehouse, followed by cremation at Distington Hall. Donations if desired can be made to the Copeland Unit, West Cumberland Hospital, c/o Eaves Funeral Service.

First published at 11:05, Thursday, 02 August 2012
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk