It was heavy going for competitors at the traditional Caphouse Colliery Coal Race.
Men, women and children tested their strength and stamina by taking part in the coal-carrying challenge at the National Coal Mining Museum near Flockton.
The competition was inspired by the Gawthorpe World Coal Carrying Championships, which take place every year on Easter Monday – and held as part of the museum’s year-long commemoration of the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947. The event also recalled the days of the coalman delivering fuel to the door.
There were races for men, women, youths aged 15 to 17 and children aged 11 to 14 – with the adults running 800m from Caphouse Colliery to Hope Pit. The children’s and youths’ races were along a 100-metre course.
The 21 competitors in the men’s race had to carry a 30kg sack of coal with women competitors carrying 15kg bags, youths carrying 10kg and 11 to 14-year-olds lifting 5kg.
Museum spokesman Shaun McLoughlin said: “Part of our commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the coal industry has been to put on a special event each month that transports visitors back to the late 1940s and early 1950s.
“The coalmen would have been a part of daily life back then and we thought it would be great for the museum to stage its very own coal carrying race against the backdrop of the pit.”
