You wouldn't want to be a Victorian miner! - John Malam

As a man brought up a British coal-mining village in the 1860s, you have to endure the dangers and difficulties of working underground in a Victorian mine. Learn how to get by with a succession of 'Handy hints' such as not forgetting to take a canary down the mine with you. Find out how pit ponies are used, how the coal is mined, and how to survive deep underground. You'll soon learn that you really wouldn't want to be a Victorian miner!

John Malam studied Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Birmingham, after which he worked as an archaeologist at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum in Shropshire. He is now an author specialising in information books for children and is a National Literacy Trust Reading Champion. He lives in Cheshire with his wife, a teacher, and has two grown-up children.