Nandos challenge

Victorian children at work

Victorian children were forced to work under terrible conditions. They used to 12-16 hours a day non-stop apart from a mid-day break for 1 hour.
Hours were long and there were no holidays.Children were forced to start work at the age of 5 years old. Many children got 5 shillings(25 p)
a week or even less.

Chimney sweeps
Children worked as chimney sweeps from the age of five and would shuffle up a chimney brushing away any soot that would then fall down the
chimney and land in a pile at the bottom.The children would then slide down the chimney and then had the job of putting all the soot in a
bag and carrying it to the master sweeps cart or yard as he would often be to big to fit up the chimney.

Coal miners
The children usually got up and sunrise and walked to the mines. The would often work in complete darkness as candles cost precious pennies.
Horses also worked underground pulling along the wagons of coal along the tunnels. Children took their dinner down the mines too. It was
usually bread and cheese or bread and a piece of cold bacon. Any child that stole another miners food was beaten with a stick.

By Laura Webb