Dick Haszard

• Volunteer Guide/Ventilation officer Chatterley Whitfield mining museum
• Friend of Chatterley Whitfield

Dick spent all of his working life in the mining industry, principally at Littleton and Lea Hall Collieries in Cannock and at Hem Heath Colliery in North Staffordshire. For most of the time he was employed as a Ventilation/Methane Drainage Engineer.

Immediately after completing his training at Kemball Training Centre in North Staffordshire, he joined the Royal Marines where he served throughout the world for two years. On leaving the Royal Marines he rejoined the mining industry at the Valley Training centre in Hednesford before starting at Littleton colliery at Huntington near Cannock as a general underground worker. He then transferred to the newly opened Lea Hall colliery in Rugeley where he commenced working with the ventilation department.

Dick the decided to seek pastures new and spent two years working in the gold and nickel mines around Kalgoolie in Western Australia as a field assistant to the resident geologist.

On his return to England he was employed for a short time at Hem Heath Colliery before transferring to Lea colliery as a ventilation/methane drainage officer.

With the rundown of the mining industry in the 1980’s Dick became a volunteer guide/ ventilation officer at Chatterley Whitfield mining museum. His principal responsibility was to monitor the air quality measurements in the museum as well as taking air samples for onward transmission to British Coals laboratory for analysis. He was also responsible for taking the air samples and water levels in the Hesketh shaft, which, although sealed and capped remained unfilled.

With the closure of the underground section in 1986, Dick took air samples in the “New Underground” when it opened in 1987 as well as continuing to monitor the Hesketh shaft. The “New Underground” used the filled Platt shaft in which there was an area of exposed coal in the Princess Royal Drift.

Following the closure of the museum on 09/8/1993 there remained a need for air samples and the Hesketh Shaft to be monitored and Dick’s services were retained. He continued to visit the museum every week, although no longer going underground, and he continued to take air samples of the museum area from various points on the surface until the site closed completely in 2003.