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rab your hard hat, tighten your belt and check your lamp battery: Right, you’re now ready to go down’t pit.

At Wakefield’s National Coal Mining Museum, you’ll go 140 metres underground to experience the working conditions where your guide – a real ex-miner – once made his dangerous living, right up until the 1980s.

After hearing genuine stories about life in the pits, you’ll clean up in the pithead baths, and then trot over to meet Patch, Eric and Ernie – the rescued pit ponies down at the stables. More information is on offer at the museums and exhibitions above ground, including the Hope Pit, where you can get all interactive about the science of mining.

This museum is all the more eye-opening when you consider the cost – it’s absolutely free to visit – although a little “thank you” tip in your guide’s pint glass wouldn’t go amiss.