A SEVENTH generation miner from Leigh has written a book inspired by his experiences down the pits.

Father-of-two Edmund Birchall, 73, called upon his 30 years' mining experience in writing Men of Coal, which pays homage to his home town's mining heritage.

Edmund, who prefers to be called Eddy, started working down the pits at just 15 years old and worked at Maypole Colliery, Albert Pit, Parsonage Colliery and Bickershaw Colliery in Leigh and at Clock Face Colliery in St Helens before moving to the National Coal Board’s method study department.

He said: “Once you are a miner it is in your blood and it felt so good to get all of my feelings about it on paper.

“My book is a work of fiction but what happens in it is heavily based on my experiences of working in mines in the 1950s.

“You got close to those you worked with. You had camaraderie and that is what I built on for the book.”

Men of Coal focuses on a fictional mine and its miners in 1950s Leigh after a visit from a Tory government minister causes trouble for the men.

Eddy, who has four grandchildren, was ‘born and bred’ in Leigh, living on Wigan Road and then Leigh Road after he got married.

He left mining in 1970, worked at Bolton Town Hall for the next 30 years and retired to Anglesey eight years ago.

So what do Eddy's grandchildren think of the idea of having to do such a difficult job as coal mining at the age of 15?

"When I told one of my grandchildren, who is 16 now, that I was sent down the mines when I was younger than he is and talked to him about what it was like he was so shocked," Eddie said.

"But at the time that’s just how it was, and it made me stronger as a person.

"Lads either went to grammar school or went in the mines and girls went to school or the factory."

You can buy the book, which is available in paperback, hardback and Kindle edition, at amzn.to/25hniFM.