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Snowdown

Snowdown is a hamlet near Dover in Kent, and the site of one of the four chief collieries of the Kent coalfield. The pit was the deepest in Kent, sunk to well over 3,000 feet, and one of the hottest. It was mothballed in 1922, reopened under new ownership, and closed in 1987.

Thomas Besford and his brother Alexander went from Ashington to work there after the miners’ lock-out of 1926.

Alexander Sanderson Besford (1901–1992)

Alexander Sanderson Besford was a miner, and a member of the Salvation Army at Ashington, where he played in their brass band. He was also, like his father David Besford, a Methodist lay preacher.

Thomas Besford (1899–1994)

Thomas Besford was born at Chevington Crescent, Northumberland. He was a miner who first relocated with his family to Kent, and then in 1928 to Australia.