Coal Mining

Western Pit worked coal and ironstone for the Butterley Company and later acted as a ventilation shaft for the nearby Britain Pit. Western Pit mined the Deep Soft Coal at 162 yards deep, the Deep Hard Coal at 188 yards deep, the Low Main Coal at 246 yards deep and the Black Shale Coal at 288 yards deep.

The things you find in the middle of a roundabout! Sadly only a replica at Castlefields Roundabout, Dawley.

This colliery was sunk by the Clarke's of Noblethorpe Hall in 1861-66 and was probably undertaken by James Farrar, brother of Sarah Ann Clarke. The later history of the pit is not well recorded and it was disused by 1906 although it may have been used as a pumping shaft by the National Coal Board at a later date. The site has a good range of remains including this fine stone heapstead which is in remarkably good condition.

Harworth Colliery closed in 2006 and was then been kept on care and maintenance by owners UK Coal. At one time there was talk of reopening when the reserves at Welbeck Colliery were exhausted. The two shafts which were sunk in the 1920s were 900 and 1000m deep. There are estimated to be around 40 million tonnes of reserves in the Deep Soft and Top Hard seams. It was probably a surprise to nobody that the colliery has since been abandoned and the structures demolished.

A few days ago Hatfield Colliery was precipitately shut down, with shaft filling commencing within days of the last shift being brought up. We knew that it was due to close in 2016 but this was the final insult. Nobody wanted to buy the coal they were mining at a price that was economic and so that was that. Thoresby will follow at the end of this week.:-(

Thoresby colliery will close today, two weeks early. The financial demise of UK Coal made this inevitable and now several hundred men will lose their jobs without any hope of finding an equivalent in the UK. This leaves Kellingley as the only deep mine in Britain until it too closes later this year. Best viewed large

Coal mining remains at Baslow, Derbyshire. There are a large number of old shaft mounds across this land, most dating from the 18th century. The colliery, on land owned by the Duke of Rutland, worked the Ringinglow seam in the Lower Coal Measures.

Britain's last deep mine. Kellingley this afternoon. Still coaling, but shedding men again today.

Industrial steam locomotive crossing Forge Lane to enter the yard of Bradford Colliery in 1948. The view is taken from outside the Burton's shop in Ashton New Road. The colliery closed in 1968 and today even Forge Lane has completely vanished under the surrounds to the Etihad Stadium.

The last but one deep mining colliery in Britain was Thoresby which was sunk in 1925. This was taken during its last week of production.

A coke car filled with red hot coke is under the tower and the quenching process has just begun at the Monckton Cokeworks. This view was from the top of the main coal bunker at the end of the ovens.

The Hesketh shaft at Chatterley Whitfield retains its steam winding engine but the steelwork is in terrible state after years of neglect.

The opencast coal mine at Pingzhuang was reaching the end of its life when I visited in 2008. The coal was worked from the pit in electrically hauled trains whilst maintenance trains were steam hauled. Coal production in the area continues from deep mines.

Notice outside the lamp room at Chatterley Whitfield Colliery.

Deep coal mining ends in Britain tomorrow when Kellingley Colliery closes. I find it hard to grasp the enormity of this event and certainly never expected to see this happen in my lifetime. A deeply sad and depressing moment. A peek at the back entrance to the pit. Kellingley Colliery, setting the standards for safety, but not for signage. :)

The Hesketh Pit of Chatterley Whitfield colliery forlornly awaits its fate. The shaft was sunk in 1914 although the colliery dates back to 1863. The colliery closed in 1976 and the subsequent mining museum folded in 1993. There seems little hope that funding will ever be found to conserve the structures that are rapidly decaying.

The development of the 'Limburg Meuse' colliery in Eisden, Belgium , saw the use of concrete for most of the surface structures. Production started in 1923 and closure was in 1987. Subsequently most of the site was demolished including the nearer of the two listed headframes. The developer was then required to completely rebuild the headframe as a replica!

There are records of coal mining at Clintsfield in North Lancashire from the later eighteenth century and there are extensive surface signs of earlier workings to be found nearby. The surviving buildings housed in 1839 a 5 horsepower beam pumping engine and associated boiler and equipment. After the pit finally closed around 1856 the engine house was converted to a dwelling and this ensure its survival, albeit in a decayed condition with just the stump of the chimney remaining. The coal seam worked here never exceeded 2 feet in thickness and the investment in steam pumping equipment can scarcely have been paid for by the likely level of production.