Digging My Story

This story belongs to Jack and Daddy John.

It's a tiny tale about Daddy John's life

and the things he used to do.

Jack and Daddy John are visiting the family

of swans who live in their garden pond.

Tell me this one - what do you call a baby swan?

-Er...cygnet.

-A cygnet, yeah. That's it, yeah.

I wonder how many cygnets there are?

One, two, three,

-four, five, six.

-Six.

Six baby swans. How lovely.

And now it's time for Daddy John to share his memories

and take Jack on a journey of discovery.

Jack and Daddy John are sitting in front of their house,

which is built from stone.

Jack, can you see around us where we're sitting any uses for stone?

-Yeah.

-Where? Can you show me?

-There.

-Yeah.

That's stone for the driveway

and this is gritstone from the quarry.

Jack's family have owned a quarry for a very long time.

A quarry is a place where stone is dug out of the ground.

The stone is then used to make things, like buildings,

bridges and roads.

And we've used gritstone for our driveway

and to build our house many years ago.

And look - this is granite

and it comes from the Mountains of Mourne over there.

That's a different type of stone.

Granite is a type of stone that is found in the ground

here in Northern Ireland, and in other parts of the country, too.

This is a granite quarry.

Granite is a very hard stone that lasts for a very long time,

so lots of buildings and statues like these

are made out of granite stone.

There are lots of different types of stone found in different places.

This is limestone.

It was used to build lots of really famous buildings in London.

And this is a slate quarry.

Slate is a type of stone that can be used to make roofs for houses

to keep us warm and dry.

Jack and Daddy John are having fun on a tennis court,

which is also made out of stone.

OK, let's play some tennis.

Wow! Good one!

Wow! You're getting good at this.

Good.

Now...tell me...

-The tennis court - what is made from?

-Stone.

Stone, and it's a gritstone. Where's the gritstone from?

-Your quarry.

-Our quarry, yes. Gritstone's very useful.

It can be used for all sorts of purposes.

Roads and buildings and things.

-Would you like to go and see some gritstone?

-Yeah!

-Yeah! OK. Let's go.

I wonder where they might go to find some gritstone?

Look!

OK, Jack, what do you think this massive hole is?

-It's a quarry!

-Yes, it's a quarry.

Remember, you must only visit a quarry with an adult

and if you have special permission, just like Jack.

Over the years, this hole has got bigger and bigger. Do you know why?

To make all the stone and rock for the roads,

for the houses and for the driveways.

Your Uncle Will and your Grandad Jack,

they started this big, big, big hole.

Back then, it was only a little hole.

That was years ago. Way before Daddy was born, way before you were born.

Here's a picture of Jack's Great Uncle Will,

and Grandad Jack who started the quarry.

And this is Grandad Jack and Daddy John when he was a baby.

This is an old picture of the quarry, taken a long time ago

when it was a much smaller hole in the ground.

I remember my daddy, your Grandad Jack,

used to bring me to the quarry when I was young.

I used to love pretending to be a quarryman,

moving the gritstone about with my spade and my wheelbarrow.

The men in this old film are using the sorts of hand tools

that Great Uncle Will and Grandad Jack had to use

before they had machines to help them.

Quarry workers must have been very tired by the end of the day.

Machines can do the work of hundreds of men in much less time.

Daddy John is going to show Jack some old and new machines

that have been used at the quarry over the years.

Five, six, seven, eight,

-nine, ten, 11.

-11. 11 big steps.

-What do you think this machine is?

-A dozer.

A dozer is the short name for a bulldozer.

Bulldozers like this were used

to push rocks and other heavy things around.

It's a pretty small dozer, isn't it?

That's one of the first machines Grandad Jack and Uncle Will had.

I remember I was so excited because it seemed so big and new,

but of course it's very small

compared with the big bulldozers we have today.

-What about this machine? What's it?

-A bulldozer.

That's a bulldozer, and it's a big bulldozer.

And it has a ripper in the back to rip the rock.

Remember, you must never play on big machines like these

as you could be hurt.

It's just like a big dinosaur claw.

Oh, look at those giant wheels!

-What do you think this machine is?

-A loading shovel.

Yes, and it's a very old loading shovel,

and it's quite small because it's very old.

-This is the new type we have now. Would you like to look?

-Yeah.

Yeah! Let's go!

The new machine is much bigger, isn't it?

Let's get up inside.

-I can do it myself.

-I'll hold tight.

You must never climb into machines like this, as they can be dangerous.

Wow!

HORN BEEPS

Workers have to get special lessons

to teach them how to drive machines like this.

This old film shows people learning to drive bulldozers.

It's not an easy thing to do. This worker is trying

to drive the bulldozer up the steep slope, but...

Oops!

I think he needs a bit more practice.

Will he make it this time?

Yes! Brilliant work!

Let's meet someone else who knows about quarries.

-This is my Auntie Dorrie!

-Hello, Jack!

Auntie Dorrie works at the family's quarry, too.

She's going with Jack and Daddy John

to see something very exciting called a quarry blast.

Quarry blasts are very dangerous, so the family are standing

a long way away, where they're safe.

-TOGETHER:

-Five, four,

three, two, one.

Look! Wow!

LOUD BLAST

-Wow! Look at that!

-Wow!

-Look at all that rock!

Wow. That was really loud. Look at all that dust!

The big bang was caused by something called an explosive.

Explosives are used to blast the rock apart -

because the rock is too hard to break up easily,

even with a machine.

Years and years ago when Grandad and Uncle Will started quarrying,

they drilled the holes themselves by hand and put the explosives down.

That wouldn't be allowed now. It has to be done

by a specialised person called a shotfirer.

That's because explosives are very dangerous.

Daddy John is going to show Jack what happens to the rock

after it's blasted from the rock face.

The machine behind us, Jack, is a crusher,

and it crushes big stones down to wee stones.

ENGINE REVS

Look at all these different machines.

Jack and Daddy John are standing a safe distance from them.

Daddy John's big machine can crush lots and lots of rocks at once.

But a long time ago, people used smaller rock crushers, like this,

which had to be loaded by hand.

It took a lot longer to get the job done.

The digger is loading the rock from the floor into the jaw crusher.

The jaw crusher makes the rocks really small.

After, that it goes on to the screen

which splits the material into three different sizes.

Big size, medium size, and a small size.

-Wow.

-Wow!

Jack loved watching those big machines.

Now it's time to have even more fun with some little machines.

This is my cousin Jamie and we're going to play in the sand.

Jack and cousin Jamie are playing in the sand with their toy digger

and dumper truck.

Eight, nine, ten.

I think ten's good, Jack. Oh, one more for luck.

Another big load of Lough Neagh sand heading for the pit.

Here we go. We're just going to make it.

Up we go, and a bit of a jiggle.

A bit of a jiggle. Good lad.

Jack and Daddy John are going for a walk.

This is a birch.

Daddy John takes stone out of the ground at the quarry,

but he likes to put things into the ground, too.

He planted all these lovely trees on his land

so that wild birds and animals would want to come and live here.

And there is a hazel, and I see some hazelnuts.

-And who takes the hazelnuts?

-Mr Squirrel.

The squirrels love the hazelnut trees that we planted

because in the summertime they can take the nuts,

bury them in a special place,

and in the wintertime dig them back up to eat.

The berries are turning red for the wintertime.

Would you like to run down to the lake?

Duh, duh-duh!

I'm running. I'm running.

Here I come. Here I come!

Here I come!

Here I come!

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh! Here I come!

So, Jack, what did you most enjoy

-about seeing Daddy's construction business?

-Everything.

We looked at different stones.

We went to the quarry.

We looked at old and new machines.

We watched a quarry blast.

We played in the sandpit.

We looked at the trees what Daddy planted.

But what did Jack like best?

I especially enjoyed the blast.

You especially enjoyed the quarry blast?

I've enjoyed spending time with you. Any chance of a hug?

What a fabulous heap of fun!

That was Jack and Daddy John's tiny tale

about the things Daddy John used to do.

Now Daddy John has shared his story with Jack,

it's time for Jack to start his own story.

Do you know someone who has a story to share?