Bottom John

Memories of the Welsh valleys in the days of the Wyndham Colliery and the other sources of Welsh steam coal and of the mineworkers and their families. All gone? All lovingly remembered by a writer who has all the skills of bringing the past to life. He seems to have total recall and the ability to bring people and places to life in close detail - and to hold the readers attention. Never an ego trip this autobiography is a mixture of industrial history, local history, work description and family history.
An idyllic - well, coal-dusty idyllic - boyhood. First in John Street (hence Bottom John and not to be confused or even associated with Top John) in Pricetown, Nantymoel. Later in Penybryn, Blackmill. “It was so good to be a valley boy. Even an ugly one!”
Domestic hardship - ailing miner father, another child, lack of money - brings Eric’s schooling and his brief success at the County Technical School in Bridgend to an end. There follows the inevitable move to the pit. Not so bad as it might have been for he is soon back at the Tech and in 1963 emerges as a grade one electrician at the Drift.
He leaves work with the NCB and has a long term as a Hospital Engineer at a string of hospitals. The book ends as he is appointed Building and Engineering Services Manager at the dear old Beeb in Cardiff.
Everything is told in close detail, funny stories and all.
Welsh Books Council Review




* Top 3, Amazon Kindle/Ethnic, December 2015