As remote and wild as Saltom was to work in, people also lived there.  Four cottages at the pit head were occupied until the Second World War. The foundations of two can still be seen – the others are buried beneath the Fairy Rock landslip.

This is what we’ve found out from Whitehaven’s census returns: In 1841, the heads of households, all younger than 35, were as follows:

Francis Flood (Joiner)
William Moore (Engineer)
Bernard Nulty (Engineer)
Richard Tubman (Coal miner)

By 1851, the same families were still living there but William Moore was then a slater and plasterer.  Saltom pit had stopped drawing coal in 1848 but was still important as a pumping station draining South Whitehaven’s mine-workings of water.  Ten years later, Bernard Nulty was no longer there and Isaac Tyson (Engine worker) and his family had moved in.

By the 1920s - 30s, three cottages were occupied by the Crawford, the Dickinson and the Cross families.  The fourth cottage was occupied by William and Sarah Skelly. This photograph of Sarah Skelly has survived from 1925 and is held in the Beacon archives.

Local people still recall stories about Black Bob (Bob Graham) who lived in an apparently derelict cottage overlooking the Saltom Pit site. The nick-name referred to his long black coat rather than a lack of personal hygiene. He is known to have taken a regular bath in the house of a friend! Black Bob ended his days living at Greenbank.