Monday quiz: these men's job title was 'Pig Lifter' but what did they do for a living? The clue is behind them! - ThreadSky

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nlheritage.bsky.social • 62 days ago

Monday quiz: these men's job title was 'Pig Lifter' but what did they do for a living?

The clue is behind them!

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nlheritage.bsky.social•62 days ago

You were all correct!

These men lifted freshly cast pig iron from the sand moulds beside a blast furnace. You can see a stack of pigs behind them

Here they are at Coltness Iron Works: one man is dropping pigs to break them & the other is loading them https://www.culturenlmuseums.co.uk/SIModes/Detail/26750/

df57.bsky.social•62 days ago

Lifting pig iron ingots away from the “sow” or runner in a foundry, and stacking them for onward transportation. Great photograph. Our forebears had some terrible jobs, it must have been hot, noisy, back breaking work in a fume filled environment but there was a purposefulness about their labours.

cjnmcg.bsky.social•62 days ago

I'd like to know what the kneck attachments were used for.

m1ke-a.bsky.social•62 days ago

My guess is a lifting hook for the ingots 🤔

nlheritage.bsky.social•62 days ago

That's right. We have examples that were found when Summerlee Iron Works (now part of Summerlee Museum) was excavated in the 1980s. Maybe they are even the same ones we see in the photo!
https://www.culturenlmuseums.co.uk/SIModes/Detail/26454/

m1ke-a.bsky.social•62 days ago

Excellent. Do you know if they posed like this as a one off or whether this was a regular pose?

justparkes.bsky.social•62 days ago

I’m sure I have seen this in other photos. Suspect it was a convenient way to carry the hook when they needed both hands free

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