Fig.1: Owen Watson (1912-80) Pitman Poet 

Owen Watson – Pitman Poet

Owen Watson (1912-1980) was a pitman poet from the Heanor district of Derbyshire. He spent 44 years working in the local coalmining industry, firstly at Shipley Woodside Colliery, then Shipley Coppice Colliery and finally at Ormonde Colliery, Loscoe. He started as a ganger lad (pony driver), followed by 20 years on the coalface, mainly as a ripper, and for the last 14 years was a Deputy. After leaving the coalmining industry he had a short spell working at Vic Hallam’s at Langley Mill before retiring through ill health in 1975.

Fig 2: Ormonde Colliery (1908-1970) at Loscoe, Derbyshire.

When Ormonde closed in September 1970, it was the last colliery in the Derbyshire corridor of Ilkeston, Heanor, Ripley, Alfreton, a region where coalmining had taken place for centuries. For the local coalmining communities, it was indeed the ‘end of an era’ and this featured strongly in Owen Watson’s poetry, notably in ‘Wheer are t’ gooin’ when Ormonde shuts’ and ‘Weep Ye Not’.

Audio 01 – Wheer are t’ gooin’ when Ormonde shuts, narrated by David Amos. 

Figs. 3a & 3b: Owens Watson’s two publications, 1975 and 1976.

His literary work featured in two publications dating from the mid 1970’s. Both vividly capture the humour, wit and culture of the local coal mining community around Heanor. ‘Strong I’ th’ Arm: The Rhymes of a Marlpool Miner’ was self-published in 1975, followed by ‘Weak I’th’ Yedd: Marlpool Memories’ in 1976.  ‘Strong I’ th’ Arm’ was enlarged and reprinted in 1977 by Scollins and Titford who produced the famous Erewash Valley local dialect books, ‘Ey Up me Duck; Parts 1 and 2’ in the mid 1970’s. Owen Watson was also a regular contributor to the Ripley and Heanor News and a cartoonist for the Coal News.

Figs 4a & 4b: Publications as part of the Coal and Dialect initiative at Nottingham Trent University.

His poetry was rescued from obscurity by Natalie Braber and David Amos as part of a Coal and Dialect initiative at Nottingham Trent University.  Several of his poems featured in the 2021 publication, ‘Coal in the Blood: An East Midlands Coal Mining Anthology’ and local singer / songwriter, Roger (Bill) Kerry put his poem, ‘Wheer Are T’ Gooin’ When Ormonde Shuts’, to music. It featured on the CD, ‘Singing the Seam’, as part of the 2018 publication, ‘Songs and Rhymes from the Mines: An East Midlands View’.  This and the other coalmining songs on the CD can be accessed on-line at https://songsrhymesfromthemines.bandcamp.com/track/where-you-goin-when-ormonde-shuts

Video 01: Roger (Bill) Kerry sings ‘Wheer are t’ gooin’ when Ormonde shuts’ at the Nottingham Writers Studio, November 2018.

Fig 5: BBC Radio 4 ‘Tongue and Talk: The Dialect Poets’ – the East Midlands. 

In 2018, BBC Radio 4 broadcast ‘Tongue and Talk: The Dialect Poets’, a series which covered dialect poetry around Britain. The second programme was about the East Midlands region and included the former local coalfields. Owen Watson’s poetry featured in the show presented by James Walker, Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at Nottingham Trent University. It was first broadcast on 20th May 2018.

Figs 6a & 6b: Shipley Woodside Colliery mining memorial & Owen Watson’s cartoon, Woodside gangers.

As a result of the BBC radio broadcast, two interesting developments took place. Owen Watson’s poetry was included in John Goodridge’s database of working class poets. The database is gradually being extended beyond its 1900 cut-off date to include working class poets of the twentieth century. For more information on Owen Watson’s inclusion see https://johngoodridgesite.wordpress.com/2018/09/

Fig 7a: Shipley Coppice colliery, Derbyshire – closed August 1966.

Fig 7b: Shipley Coppice memorial – Shipley Country Park, Derbyshire. Photo by David Amos

The radio broadcast was brought to the attention of Richard Buxton, grandson of Owen Watson, who commented that to say he was both surprised and proud was an understatement. He was only seven at the time of his Grandad’s death but credits his love of natural history to him. As James Walker stated, a love of nature is a familiar theme among miners, being epitomised by the work of D.H. Lawrence whose novels are crammed with references to nature and names of plants and flowers, many which he learned as a child on countryside walks with his father who worked at Brinsley Colliery.

Figs 8a & 8b: Coal Mining Stories at the Harley Gallery, Welbeck Estates, 2026. 

Owen Watson’s poem, ‘Big Money’, features as part of the Coal Mining Stories contemporary exhibition currently on at the Harley Gallery, Welbeck Abbey grounds, near Worksop. The exhibition is on until 3rd January 2027. More details at https://harleyfoundation.org.uk/whats-on/event/coal-mining-stories/

Blog by David Amos

Mine2Minds Education

Posted on 31st January 2026

References

Braber, N. & Amos, D. Eds. Coal in the Blood: An East Midlands Coal Mining Anthology, 2021.

Braber, N. & Amos, D. Eds. Songs and Rhymes from the Mines: An East Midlands View, 2018.

jameskwalker.co.uk – Heanor Coalmining Heritage Tour, 2018

johngoodridgesite.wordpress.com – Two new Labouring-Class poets on the Database, September, 2018

Ripley and Heanor News, Owen Watson’s obituary, 1980.

Tongue and Talk: The Dialect Poets – East Midlands – first broadcast 20th May 2018

Watson, O. Strong I’th’ Arm: The Rhymes of a Marlpool Miner, 1975

Watson, O. Strong I’th’ Arm: Dialect Poetry of the D.H. Lawrence Country, 1977

Watson, O. Weak I’th Yedd: Marlpool Memories, 1976