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philfred

Shipley Colliery from Bulmer's 1895 Derbyshire replied on: 3/5/2005 12:30:42 PM Hello all, I am posting an extract with details of what I suspect is Woodside Colliery. The Two pits referred to are possibly the upcast and downcast shafts. "Shipley is rich in coal and iron. The former has been worked since 1775, but its presence, it is said, was known three centuries prior to that time, and as early as the year 1800 there were bloomaries or charcoal furnaces here for smelting the iron ore. ( I can remember there being a large area of willow, possibly grown to provide the raw material for charcoal or for making corves for carrying coal underground. This was between the cricket club and the reservior. I bet that as long gone now.) The collieries are the property of Mr. Mundy, There are two pits in operation, both fitted with the most improved machinery. About 1800 men and boys are employed, who turn out about 2,000 tons per day. One pit is 204 yards deep, the other 216 yards, and the following are the names of the several coal strata met with in descending :- Soft coal 1ft 6in Soft coal and smut 2ft 10in Soft coal 2ft 0in Light-coloured clay 0ft 6in Soft coal 1ft 10in Light-coloured clod 0ft 4in Soft coal 1ft 2in Top Hard coal 6ft 2in Old Greaves 3ft 0in Soft coal 1ft 6in Soft coal 0ft 9in Waterloo coal 3ft 3in Soft coal 1ft 6in Soft coal 2ft 0in Soft coal 1ft 4in Cannal 2ft 0in Soft coal 1ft 4in Coal and shale 3ft 0in Deep Soft coal 4ft 3in Black clod (clay) 4ft 9in Soft coal 0ft 9in Deep Hard coal 5ft 6in The seams worked are the Deep Hard coal and the Deep Soft coal, the former possessing a high reputation as a steam coal. Both the Great Northern and Midlands railways pass through the parish, and have stations convenient for it." The men employed hewing coal would be expected to fill off betweem 10 to 20 tons of coal per shift. This depends on the height of the coal, its hardness and the need to set supports and other factors. From the output of 2,000 tons per day around 100 to 150 men would have been hewing coal. The rest of the work force would have been carrying out work in support of the hewers. On the first edition Ordnance Survey of Shipley, a colliery,which probably worked the Top Hard seam is shown near Shipley Hall. I would suspect that this was a drift mine because of it being situated on a hill side. It is sited at at about grid ref SK440438 on the South East slope. This is not shown on later maps and may be the reason for the subsidence that resulted in Shipley Hall being demolished. I understand that the hall was demolished because of subsidence but it seems strange that other buildings in the area were not damaged by subsidence. The occupants of Shipley Hall would have been aware of the colliery location. I have found on the net information that the drift at Woodside Colliey, near the dirt hill, was down to the Top Hard seam. This was found to have been worked out using the pillar and stall method thus unable to be worked by the longwall method. Clothing and implements were found dating back to the 16th century. The implements included several fire poles which consisted of a long pole with a candle stub on one end. These were used to ignite accumulations of explosive gas (Firedamp, a mixture of methane and other gases given off from coal whilst it is being worked. The ammount given off varied from seam to seam and location,),prior to start of the coal hewing shift. Some one would light the candle stub and put the lit candle into area where gas was suspected. This person was usuall protected by wearing as much clothing as possible and it would be well wetted to minimise burning, Pillar and stall working left squares of coal behind to support the roof, size of the square being dictated by condition of the roof and experience of the workers. The longwall method is to work the coal between two or three roadways. Hand got longwall faces usually had three roadways, the central one being known as the mothergate. The oher two roadways were at either end of the face and known as tailgates. The tailgate was used for return air and supplying the face with material. The coal would come down the mothergate to the main roadway to get to the pit bottom. The air used to ventilate the face came along the mothergate. On the advance the road ways follow the faceline but on the retreat the roadways are driven out then the coal is taken by working back to the main roadway. Retreat working is the usual practice in what is left of the remaing deep coal mines. I appear to have got a little bit carried away with my ramblings but I trust they will be of interest. regards to all, Phil.

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