Pit Pony is a 1999 CBC television series which tells the story of small-town life in Glace Bay, on the island of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in 1904. The plot line revolves around the lives of the families of the men and boys who work in the coal mines.

Production[link]

Stories in the series were written by Heather Conkie, Paul Ledoux, Edwina Follows and Lori Houzer. It is based on the award-winning 1997 Canadian TV movie inspired by Joyce Barkhouse's novel of the same name.

The series, like the movie, was produced by Cochran Entertainment. The series was directed by Mike Clattenburg,^[1] Stephen Reynolds, and Peter Rowe. 70% of the cast and crew were from Cape Breton and 20% were from other regions of Nova Scotia.

In June 1999, production began for the second season of Pit Pony.^[2] However, the series was subsequently cancelled on February 4, 2000.^[3]

Broadcast history[link]

Pit Pony debuted on Canada's CBC on February 5, 1999 and ended on February 4, 2000. It ran for two seasons with 44 episodes.^[4] The Gemini Award-winning series was telecast in the US courtesy of the Starz Encore Group digital-cable service beginning in 2003.

Plot summary[link]

Set in the small Nova Scotia mining town of Glace Bay in the early 1900s, the series revolves around the lives and work of the town's male population, virtually all of whom were employed by the local coal mine, and the trials and tribulations of the women of the town, who waited anxiously to see if their loved ones would return home safely.

In particular, the plot line focuses on the story of the MacLean family. Willie MacLean is a 12-year-old boy with a love for horses and liking to school to escape the difficult times his family has. When the series begins, Willie's father has been dead for over a year from coal consumption, and his older brother, John also died in a mine cave in. When Willie's brother was killed in a cave in and his father wounded two or three years earlier (in the Pit Pony TV movie), Willie was forced to fill his brother's shoes to support his older sister Nellie, and two younger sisters, Maggie and Sarah, until their father recovered. Willie found work at the mine lonely and unfriendly; as a result he forms a bond with a pit pony horse in order to make it though each day.

The principal characters included the members of the MacLean and Hall families: Alex Wrathell as young Willie MacLean, through whose eyes most of the stories unfolded around, Jennie Raymond as Willie's older sister Nellie MacLean Hall, Shaun Smyth as Nellie's Scott husband Ned Hall. Ellen Page played Maggie MacLean, and Anna Wedlock played Sarah MacLean, Willie's two younger sisters. Among the other major characters were Willie's surrogate father and stable owner Charley (Denny Doherty), town gossip Lorena MacTavish (Mary-Colin Chisholm) and the firm, but fair, mine owner Mr. Frawley (Jeremy Akerman).

Episode list[link]

1st Season

2nd Season

References[link]

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A pony being lowered down a mine shaft at Creuzot, France.

Stable inside a mine.

A pit pony was a type of pony commonly used underground in coal mines from the mid 18th until the mid 20th century.

History[link]

Ponies began to be used underground, often replacing child or female labour, as distances from pit head to coal face became greater. The first known recorded use in Britain was in the Durham coalfield in 1750; however, the use of ponies was never common in the United States, though ponies were used in Appalachian coal fields in the mid 20th century. The last pony mine in the United States closed in 1971.^[1]

At the peak in 1913, there were 70,000 ponies underground in Britain. In later years, mechanical haulage was quickly introduced on the main underground roads replacing the pony hauls and ponies tended to be confined to the shorter runs from coal face to main road (known in North East England as "putting") which were more difficult to mechanise. As of 1984, 55 ponies were still at use with the National Coal Board in Britain, chiefly at the modern pit in Ellington, Northumberland. Probably the last colliery horse to work underground in a British coal mine, 'Robbie', was retired from Pant y Gasseg, near Pontypool, in May 1999.^[2]

Breed and conformation[link]

Larger horses, such as varieties of Cleveland Bay, could be used on higher underground roadways, but on many duties small ponies no more than 12 hands high were needed. Shetlands were a breed commonly used because of their small size. In the Interwar period, ponies were imported into Britain from the Faroe Islands, Iceland and the United States. Geldings and stallions only were used. Donkeys were also used in the late 19th century. The ponies were low set, heavy bodied and heavy limbed with plenty of bone and substance, low-headed and sure-footed. Under the British Coal Mines Act of 1911, ponies had to be four years old before going underground; they could work until their twenties.

Work[link]

In shaft mines, ponies were normally stabled underground^[3] and fed on a diet with a high proportion of chopped hay and maize, coming to the surface only during the colliery’s annual holiday. In slope and drift mines, the stables were usually on the surface near the mine entrance.^[4]

Typically, they would work an eight-hour shift each day, during which they might haul 30 tons of coal in tubs on the underground narrow gauge railway. One 1911 writer estimated that the average working life of coal mining mules was only 3 1/2 years, where 20-year working lives were common on the surface.^[3] Recollections differ on how well the ponies were cared for in earlier years, but they represented a capital asset to the mine, and that the best work could be obtained from animals that were in good condition.

See also[link]

• The Stars Look Down

References[link]

• Bright, John (1986). Pit Ponies. London: Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-5226-9. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pit ponies

• Pit Pony - 1997 film
• In a digital story, an ex-mine worker from the North East of England describes the life and work of his pit pony.
• Fforest Uchaf Horse & Pony Centre Website of the Pit Pony Sanctuary, a small UK Charity (no 1002933) that cares for several ex Pit Ponies gathered from the small private coal mines in Wales during the 1990s

Ellen Page
Ellen Page at the premiere for Inception, July 2010
Born	Ellen Philpotts-Page (1987-02-21) February 21, 1987 (age 25) Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1997–present

Ellen Philpotts-Page (born February 21, 1987), known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno. She won back-to-back Austin Film Critics Association Awards for Best Actress for her roles in Juno and Hard Candy.

She is also known for her starring roles in Inception, Super, Smart People, Whip It, and as Katherine "Kitty" Pryde in X-Men: The Last Stand. In addition, Page received attention in Canada for award-winning roles in Pit Pony and Marion Bridge, as well as television shows Trailer Park Boys and ReGenesis.

In 2008, Page was nominated for Time's 100 Most Influential People list^[1] and placed #86 on FHM's Sexiest Women in the World list,^[2] and moved up to #70 for 2010.^[3] In June 2008, Page was named on Entertainment Weekly's future A-List stars list.^[4]

Early life[link]

Page was born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, the daughter of Martha Philpotts, a teacher, and Dennis Page, a graphic designer.^[5] She attended the Halifax Grammar School until grade 10, spent some time at Queen Elizabeth High School, and graduated from the Shambhala School in 2005. She also spent two years in Toronto, Ontario studying in the Interact Program at Vaughan Road Academy, along with close friend and fellow Canadian actor Mark Rendall.^[6][7] Growing up, Page enjoyed playing with action figures and climbing trees.^[8]

Career[link]

Page in 2007

Page began acting at age 4, appearing in numerous school plays. She first acted in front of the camera in 1997 at age 10 in the CBC television movie Pit Pony, which later spun off into a television series. This led to more roles in a number of small Canadian films and television series, notably playing Treena Lahey in Season 2 of Trailer Park Boys. At 16, she was cast in Mouth to Mouth, an independent film shot in Europe. Page starred in the 2005 movie Hard Candy and gained praise for "one of the most complex, disturbing and haunting performances of the year".^[9] She also appeared in X-Men: The Last Stand as Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat), a girl who can walk through walls. In the previous X-Men movies, the part had been used in brief cameos played by other actresses, but never as a main character. As the title character in Juno, Page garnered substantial praise; A. O. Scott of the New York Times noted her as being "frighteningly talented"^[10] and Roger Ebert said, "Has there been a better performance this year than Ellen Page's creation of Juno? I do not think so".^[11] Page was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Juno, but lost to Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose. The role, however, did win her several other awards, including a Canadian Comedy Award, Independent Spirit Award, and Satellite Award. Page also has starred in Smart People, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Although released after Juno, Smart People was shot earlier.^[12] Her other film credits include An American Crime, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival; The Tracey Fragments, which was released in November 2007 in Canada and May 2008 in the U.S.; and The Stone Angel.

In 2007, she was attached to play the title character in an adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre^[13][14] and had planned to work on an as-yet unmade film entitled Jack and Diane opposite Olivia Thirlby, with whom she co-starred in Juno^[15] but it was announced in August 2009 that her role in Jack and Diane would now be played by the actress Alison Pill. Before his death in January 2008, Heath Ledger had discussed with Page the idea of starring in his directorial debut, The Queen's Gambit.^[16]

Page hosted Saturday Night Live on March 1, 2008^[17] and on May 3, 2009, she guest starred in the episode "Waverly Hills 9-0-2-1-D'oh" of the animated series The Simpsons as a character named Alaska Nebraska, a parody of Hannah Montana.^[18] She also starred in Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, Whip It, alongside Juliette Lewis, Marcia Gay Harden, Drew Barrymore and Kristen Wiig.^[19] The film premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival and had its wide release on October 2, 2009.^[20]