The McCarten family of Seaton has produced some outstanding sportsmen over the years, including a top sprinter, an Irish international and a leading cyclist.
Head of the family was Jim, a footballer and gymnast in his younger days, who set about putting down his experiences as a coal miner shortly before he died.
Now his surviving son, Gerard, has had those reminiscences published in a book which will be going on sale shortly.
Gerard, from Whitehaven now, had always promised himself his father’s work should be published to give the modern generation an insight into what coal mining was like in the area.
“I’ve called it The Accidental Coal Miner because that’s how it all started. He had left school at 15 and used to walk from his home on Victoria Road, Workington to the steelworks, then the harbour and then Siddick pit seeking work.
“That went on for two years until finally he was given a start at the pit and he was a working miner all his life.
“When he became seriously ill after retiring my niece suggested he should write about his life and exploits at the pit. He wrote it all down in longhand and now, after all these years I have had it published as a tribute to him and his way of life in the pits.
“It will be on sale at £9, really to cover the costs of printing, but I will be sending £1 from each book sold to West Cumbria Society for the Blind and West Cumbria Hospice at Home,” he said.
You can hear Gerard’s views on the book and also on his own cycling career in a chat with Cumbria Crack’s John Walsh below:
