Like so many other lads in North Staffordshire, George Shufflebotham followed his father down the pit, so he knew what to expect when he rolled up for his first day at Berry Hill Colliery. Between 1996 and 2003 he wrote a series of popular articles that were featured in the Sentinel newspaper in the series "the way we were" and "all your yesterday's". This selection of those articles recall the experiences of working underground and reflect on the many human aspects of a working life down the pit.