Wigan Album
Nostalgia
8 Comments
Photo: Rev David Long
Item #: 27572
We never had a dedicated coal hammer like this - which I bought in a Wigan junk shop some years ago.
I Remember my mother playing eye spy with my brother's children. The clue was. Something beginning with "O". They mentioned everything in the room beginning with "O" to no avail. They said. "We give in". She replied "Ommer". Lancashire hammer.
The coal we used to get came in relatively small pieces in hundredweight sacks - so no need of an `ommer`.
What`s the weight of your hammer and length of handle, Rev.David?
The hammer and 12" shaft weight 2lb altogether, Ernest.
For a really big lump of Arley coal - this has just appeared on Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/28709338@N04/24870107871/in/contacts/
Don't bother with that Arley coal in the Douglas David, I tried a few small pieces the other day and it's rubbish. I did a couple of years bagging coal after I left school and we would have called that stuff ' rantang '. The photo on WW belies the size of it though. It's massive. I would estimate the weight of what's above ground to be in the region of two tons.
Albert. I remember a very similar I Spy anecdote about an inlaw's brother. He stated he had seen something beginning with T. After many unsuccessful guesses, he stated that the answer was Th'ommer. Again the hammer in Wiganese or should that Wigginish.
I remember sacks of "nutty slag" being purchased! Am I right?
It was `nutty slack`, Johnny. See:-
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nutty_slack