[Thomas Jordan worked at Usworth colliery, County Durham, from the age of fourteen to twenty, leaving after the 1912 National Miners Strike and then joining the army. His father Billy Jordan was a miner, from the age of nine and 1896-1926, and served in the British army, 1876-1889]

With the passing of the years I became indifferent to many dangers in the mine: when someone was killed I might become apprehensive for a day or two then the incident was completely forgotten. This training was valuable to me during the first world war when men were yielding their lives on a larger scale. The year 1910 was set in a shorter working day for lads in the mine, the eight hour shift became law instead of ten hours—donating to us time for the pursuits under the blue skies: football, cricket, quoits, whippet racing, etcetera […] My dad took me into all the things he was interested in. He played the violin and we both used these instruments in the village string band entertaining people and starved of any culture for a long time but now emerging fast to the surface. Some of the musicians in that band got opportunities in the silent pictures era.