Albert Meek (1898 -1984) was born in Cinderford the son of a miner who died at the age of 50 from silicosis. On leaving school at 13 years of age he went to work as a hodder at Crump Meadow colliery. He worked his way up to be a picker-up and then a filler and finally as a hewer working on an 18-inch seam. In 1921 he was working as a colliery timber cutter on the surface at Waterloo and then returned to work at Crump Meadow.
He married Rose Elton in February 1922. In 1924, he joined the Miners Minority Movement. He was joint secretary, with Jesse Hodges, of the Cinderford Strike Committee during the 1926 lockout. After the lockout, he was backlisted for seventeen months before returning to work at Waterloo. He then returned to work at Crump Meadow and when it closed in 1929, he went to work at Foxes Bridge which was also coming to the end of its life. Within a year or two he was laid off again and decided to give up pit work. He then took up work as a civil servant in the department of employment.[1]
[1] Interview with Albert Meek by Elsie Olivey on 6 April 1983, Gage library.