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Author	Message / Information
RMMee Moderator	Coppice Colliery replied on: 1/13/2006 10:29:19 AM Welcome to the site Theoman - any contributions about Coppice Colliery, or anything else for that matter, will be great.
theoman	Coppice Colliery replied on: 1/13/2006 9:46:13 AM hi i have just found this site as an ex coppice miner it is of some interest to me i worked in both mickley and low main seams as far as i can remember the headstocks for the 3 shafts were pained green theoman
RMMee Moderator This message was updated on 11/26/2005 5:49:20 AM by RMMee	Coppice Colliery replied on: 11/25/2005 6:45:21 PM A different issue, but still on Coppice Colliery.... A correspondent has asked me whether the pit had any "corporate colours;" i.e. did the buildings, vehicles, etc., follow a set colour-scheme? And in particular, what colour were the headstocks? If anyone can help, please let me know.
Azzabuv This message was updated on 5/23/2005 8:20:08 PM by Azzabuv	Coppice Colliery replied on: 5/23/2005 8:19:30 PM Philfred. I remember underground brickies building tall, narrow brick walls, one either side the gate, for the ventilation doors supports all round the pit and also blocking abandoned roadways off from the rest of the mine. Later on, the cheaper dreaded breeze blocks took over this latter role. Azzabuv.
Azzabuv This message was updated on 4/25/2005 2:04:43 PM by Azzabuv	Coppice Colliery replied on: 4/25/2005 2:02:31 PM Ah yes, that Coppice Shonky Shaft. I believe it only had two 'ropes'? for support. What a foul smelling, damp uptake shaft that was. The Mickley seam and the shaft were permanently flooded to just below the Low Main boarding Station. Before they installed the proper full length boarding platform, when the cage stopped there to let you (thankfully) off it, there was a foot and a half of nothing between the front of the cage floor and the older wooden platform, which used to be pushed out by the Onsetter, with a fixed lever. It was a case of 'eyes front' and a very hopeful jump across that un-nerving gap. One day, an electrician/mechanic, boarded the cage at the top. The poorly defensive metal netting 'door' was dropped into place and it set off downwards. Several yards down the shaft, the cage tilted sideways and the only way the bloke stopped himself sliding under the wide gap at the bottom of the mesh door and a long, deep plunge into the waiting water below, was to insert his fingers into a couple of the round ventilation holes which covered the floor of the cage and hang on for dear life. We were assured that this could NEVER happen again, by those who never rode it. The worry of another 'tilt' lived with those who rode that cage for a great long time afterwards. Azzabuv.
philfred	Coppice Colliery replied on: 4/24/2005 12:37:33 PM Some information from a couple of web sites. 1896 W E C Wilson manager(mgr), J Hodges undermanager (umgr) 831 working underground(ug) 174 working on surface (s) 1908 A T C Savage mgr, C Simms and J A Hodges umgr, 1376 ug 294 s. 1918 R H Ferens mgr, G Thorpe and C Beedham umgr, 1064 ug 297 s. 1923 W Clayton mgr, J Brough and A Hickling umgr, 1405 ug 306 s. 1938 Alfred Grimes mgr, H Gittings umgr, 763 ug 181 s. 1945 G S Milne mgr, G Thorpe and C Beedham umgr 881 ug 347 s. In 1896 the Deep Soft and Deep Hard seams were worked. The coals mined were used for household and manufacturing purposes. In 1923 the Main Soft, Roof, Ell and Waterloo seams were worked. The output was used for gas, household, manufacturing and steam purposes. How did the coal not get mixed up ? The sytem used was to mark each tub of coal with a mark showing which stall it had come from. when the tubs came up the shaft they were moved to the appropiate place in the screens. When the coal came out of the screens it had ben sorted by grade and size. The colliers employed a check weigh man who ensured that each tub was correctly recorded by the company thus stopping fraudulent claims against the workers. This ensured that the correct payments were made. Some from the two surviving grey cells via my late father Ray (Yogi) Wyles. He started at Copppice as an underground ropeman and ended up as a blacksmith/shaftman. He must have been one of the last men to ride the shafts of Coppice, Woodside and Mapperley Pits. At the time, the shafts had to be examined at least once every 24 hours. He told me that the first face to have a power loader on it nearly gave the undermanager a heart attack. The cutters had used all their negotiating skills on the contract. They started hittting the money once they had cut half the length of the face. A full cut of the face was called a strip. The face started cutting Monday dayshift then cut again on the the afternoon shift. The nightshiift was used to get the face ready for cutting on the dayshift. The first thing the undermanager wanted to know how the face had cut on Monday. He went blue in the face when told the dayshift had cut four strips and the afternoon shift had cut three. There used to be a face known as the Golden Mile. This was the best coal at the pit and it got coal 5 days a week even in the summer. In cold weather this face would get coal on Saturdays, a very rare event. Anyone remember Best Derby Brights, household coal at its very best. Another from the old man was that he had to move a piece of machinery from Coppice to Mapperley. He was told to go to the stables and collect a pony. After collecting the pony he said he was riding the belt back and what should he do with the pony. He was told just keep hold of the reins youth and the pony will look after himself. Machinery delivered, old man jumps on belt to get back to Coppice. He travelled less than five yards and there was an almighty bump behind him. Turning round to see what had happened he was greeted by the pony sat on the belt. The biggest shaft at Coppice was always known to the old man as the Mickley Shaft. This was 20 feet in diameter and around 500 yards deep. The diameter was huge for the time,the usual diameter for a shaft was 16 to 18 feet diameter. There was an upcast shaft with a ventilating fan on the surface to pull stale air out. The fresh air going down the other shafts with the air flow being controlled by sets of ventilation doors. The small shaft was the Shonky Shaft and was used for man riding during coal and material winding periods at the other two shafts. Does anyone remember the brickworks in front of Coppice. It was adjacent to the level crossing and used for Civil Defence and rescue training. Bricks and mortar were used quite a lot underground for support purposes in the pit bottom and roadway junctions. A ton of bricks moves easier than a ton of steel underground. It is only memories know but the pit bottoms used to be like underground churches. Thirty feet high with an arched roof, whitewashed and kept clean. regards Phil

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