Sometime in the past, Tom, Charlie and Frank, straight out of school, go straight into work in the mines. They go underground, Just as their fathers, brothers, uncles and friends have done before.

In the present time, long after the pits have closed, a school party take a trip to a mining museum. The guide is too young to have been down a mine, the children want to know all about the pit ponies, Hanna wants to know if her phone will work underground, and Julie “needs a wee”.

Then, through a strange quirk of fate, past meets present. The youngsters at the museum come face to face with Tom, Charlie and Frank to hear for themselves what it was really like down the mine.

Words by Shaun McCarthy with Music by Bob Davis, The Best of Times, The Worst of Times was commissioned by Rotherham Arts Festival in 2004 and performed by Dinnington Primary School at MAGNA.