"GIN PIT" appears to be an old coal mining term for a type of mine dating back to the 1700's. The windings at the pit head being powered by a horse trudging round a “gin” or vertical spindle shaft. Often called a "horse gin" winching system, these could use a single horse or be up to an "eight-horse gin". It was often not pronounced as the spirit "Gin" is - which is pronounced like "Jin", but with the G just like it is in "Give" - Gin. But with our band name we say it like the spirit!

Many of the mines in the area of Parkfields near Wolverhampton , which were shallow workings, were known locally as Gin Pits. The term appears in many places throughout the UK - such as Daykins Gin Pit Coal Mine, Nottinghamshire. Milbourn's Gin Pit and the Water Gin Pit at Newbiggin near Durham

One of the best known was the Gin Pit Colliery near Astley, Manchester. The mine closed around 1958, but a nice village of the same name still exists today, along with some interesting mining memorabilia located there - See Gin Pit Village on Facebook and the popular Astley & Tyldesley Miners Welfare Club, which also located there

Many of the very early mines had narrow shafts that then widened at the coal seam and whereknown as "bell pits"

At the Gin Pit Colliery, Maesteg, Wales on Boxing Day in 1863, eleven men and three boys died in an explosion

So whenever we feel things are tough today, we just think what maybe life was like working down a Gin Pit, or being a horse on a gin!

Beer Street and Gin Lane are two famous prints issued in 1751 by English artist William Hogarth in support of what would become the Gin Act. Designed to be viewed alongside each other, they depict the evils of the consumption of gin as a contrast to the merits of drinking beer!

Northern Allgates Brewery have a special beer called GIN PIT, inspired by both the Gin Pit coal mine in Astley and using William Hogarth's Gin Lane picture - which was after we named our band, but they have probably never heard of us! Must write to ask them about sponsorship... or testing... or comparing Gin with Beer... Its bound to be good stuff, but probably not 110% proof!

and there's a Gin Pit gin of course
- made from Pumpkin seeds!
We think it's from Kasterlee in Belgium

and more Beer! Manchester micro brewery Beer Nouveau have produced a 2016 beer called "Gin Pit" - an Imperial Russian Stout - no less - and at 8.9% proof that sounds quite a stout!