In 1838 a disaster struck in a small corner of Yorkshire which eventually lead to one of the biggest changes in women's work in Britain.
Twenty six children were killed when a coal mine at Silkstone near Barnsley flooded; aged just 7 to 17 their deaths appalled the nation, who for the first time realised that children - and women - worked underground. An inquiry followed and four years later women and children under ten were banned from the pits. Alan Gallop, the author of a new book about these events, Children of the Dark and Angela John, Professor of History at the University of Greenwich join Jenni to women and mining. Children of the Dark: Life and Death Underground in Victoria's England by Alan Gallop, published by Sutton Publishing; ISBN: 0750930942 By the Sweat of Their Brow: Women Workers at Victorian Coal Mines by Angela John, published by Croom Helm; ISBN: 0856647489
