Joan Hart, author of At the Coalface, has been invited by the National Coal Mining Museum for England (Wakefield) to become a ‘living historian’……The archive department has ex-workers talking about the jobs they did at the pit, and they haven’t yet got a pit nurse. So Joan will be recorded and the tapes kept at the museum so that visitors will be able to hear her wonderful and amusing anecdotes for ever.

Meanwhile, don’t miss…

Joan Hart and Veronica Clark speaking at both the Wakefield Literary Festival and Off The Shelf Literary Festival (Sheffield) this month.

“Join former pit nurse Joan Hart along with staff and objects from the National Coal Mining Museum, for an evening of reminiscence of her time tending the miners during a career spanning 46 years, many of which were spent as a pit nurse in Doncaster. Joan was respected by the men she cared for and often donned a boiler suit, pit boots and hard hat before going underground to treat her casualties.” – Wakefield Festival

Joan and Veronica will speak at Wakefield on 25th September. For more details, and to book tickets click here.

“This wonderfully nostalgic memoir is a moving and uplifting story of one woman’s life and work showing the real community spirit created and fostered by the miners and their families. At this illustrated talk Joan will be joined by co-author Veronica Clark and ex-miner Brian Gray.” – Off the Shelf Festival

Joan and Veronica will appear at the Off the Shelf Festival on 13th October. For more details click here

Buy the book here