YORKSHIRE MAIN COLLIERY

The following pictures are of the former Markham main at Armthorpe. The pictures were taken in 1996. Sinking of the colliery began in 1916. Between 1920 and 1996 when the colliery closed 87 miners were killed at the mine.

The enclosed head gear was used for man riding at Markham, this was the shaft in which used air was drawn out of the mine by a large fan.

The colliery was used as a training pit for many years and alot of the miners at theYorkshire pits including Yorkshire Main would have done their three months training there.  There was also an excellent mock coal face on the surface where you could learn the trade without the dangers of being underground.

The next picture is of the pit bottom at the return shaft, this landing or level is below where the men would normally have got off the cage and is at the very bottom of the shaft.

Once down the mine the day for mining trainees was spent learning and perfecting many  a mining job that would never be used again once training was over and you returned to your mine of employment, such as lashing on, a method of connecting tubes to an endless moving rope and unconnecting it without stopping the rope, this was a very outdated method during my time of training but we still had to learn it.  Many a finger has been lost while trying to lash a chain around a moving rope, the next picture shows a haulage engine in a roadway at Markham Main in the pit bottom area, this engine drove the rope on which tubs or paddy trains were attached.

 

Another job which I remember fearing was the process of stopping mine cars with a metal pin (locker) which was put through a hole in the back wheel of the mine car to stop it, as it travelled towards you at great speed .As trainees we would start off with the cars travelling towards us very steadily,but on the day of the test two miners would have to take it in turns to push the tub towards you as fast as possible whilst you trembled with fear at missing the approaching tub, hopefully you would put the locker in the back wheel and stop the tub, otherwise it would crash into the stops at the end of the track and you had the job of putting it back on again.

The next picture shows the paddy train in one of the markham main roadways, this was pulled along by  the bogey cars that were fastened on to the endless rope and the rope returned down the side of the roadway as can be seen in the picture.The white dust on the floor is stone dust which was spread on the floor and the rings to put out a fire if there was an explosion, the dust would be thrown into the air which would stop a fire by removing the oxeygen.

The next picture shows another roadway underneath armthorpe in the pit bottom area, the picture was taken  during salvage operations as the mine was due to close.

Another picture underneath the village of Armthorpe shows a road junction leading to different districts of the mine. The florescent lighting was typical in the pit bottom areas of most mines.

Markham Main closed in 1996 after 80 years of coal production and the loss of 87 lives.

NEW. Looking up the return shaft.

Cage at old pit bottom.

New picture below of the No1 and No2 head gears with the settling ponds in the foreground.

The next picture shows the bottom of a drift (hill), the gate at the bottom was to stop any runaway mine cars. The mine cars where fastened to the metal rope running along the floor.

The next two pictures show heavy lifting work going on some where in the mine.

The following picture shows miners inspecting a road way with severe crush, the floor can be seen lifting to meet the roof.

Again another road way with floor lift, this time being dinted(dug out) with a electric Eimco dinter.

The next picture shows a road heading machine in operation,(making a new tunnel), note the seam of coal meeting the rock in the centre of the picture.