In Harm's WayStaff: Ceri Thompson One of the topics of most
interest to visitors to Big Pit is the employment of children
underground. Up to the mid-19th century the British state
accepted that children as young as five were a part of the
industrial workforce. However, between 1840 and 1842, a Royal
Commission appointed inspectors to visit the coal fields. The
findings of this commission led to the banning of all females,
and boys under ten, from employment underground. However, owing
to the lack of mines inspectors, the practice continued for a
number of years after 1843. The employment underground of young
boys of up to 15 years of age lasted until the 1970s. The
research will result in a Museum publication under the
provisional title of In Harm's Way. This c.60 page, fully
illustrated book will follow on, and be in the same format, as
Harnessed: Welsh Colliery Horses.