YORKSHIRE MAIN COLLIERY

OTHER COLLIERIES/ THE STUART TOMLINS COLLECTION

Many thanks to Stuart for sending in the following pictures which he took himself and for which he holds the copywright.

Although i have pages for some of the collieries already on the site i have decided to keep the collection together due to some of the unique images captured on film including the dismantling of many of the mines, as you will see, being in the right place at the right time does make a difference.

They include images from Grimthorpe, Hikleton, Hope, Nostell, Houghton, Kiveton, Sharlston, Thorne, Silverwood and Ollerton collieries

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Cap house colliery

Maltby colliery June 1996, record breaking drivage team, European record of 160m in five days and 230.5m in one week.

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Many thanks to Mr D McGough for sending in the following pictures and information, Mr Mc Gough worked at Rothwell colliery ( fanny pit) untill its closure.

Below are pictures of Ledston luck colliery.

Mid row second from left is Mr McGoughs dad taken ledston in the 80s, completing what looks like a stoping on an old roadway.

View of Rothwell colliery, or 'Fanny Pit'located off Bullough Lane. It was the last of the collieries owned by the firm of J. J. Charlesworth until the nationalisation of the mines in 1948. It produced coal from 1867 until its closure on 9th December 1983. It became known as the Fanny Pit in 1911, when a new shaft was sunk at the Midland pit, after a daughter of the Charlesworth family. (There was also a Rose Pit and Jane Pit.) Another new shaft was sunk in 1922 to improve ventilation. The buildings were demolished about two years after the pit closed and it is now the site of Rothwell Country Park.

Rose Pit which was known locally as 'Rodill Pit'. Sunk in 1850 on a site opposite the parish church on Wood Lane, just above Manor Farm House. The Pit was subject to flooding. It was demolished in 1947

View of the pastures with a little boy standing and Rose pit in the back ground. The pit was sunk in 1850 and winding coal ceased operation in the 1920s, althought the shaft was kept open to be used for men and supplies.

Acquired by the estate and Colliery Company in 1867 the Broom Pit stayed in their ownership until the formation of the National Coal Board. Mining declined with the exhaustion of pits under this ownership. The pit was closed in 1968 and by 1969 the decision was made that Broom Pit would become an open tipping site.

Middleton broom colliery.

1916 group picture of the staff of Broom Pit and Middleton Fireclay (bricks) companies. The engine house and winding gear of the pit are in the background. The Middleton area had been rich in coal deposits, before the mine shafts were sunk coal had been obtained from bell pits and literally taken from the surface. The Brandling family, notably Charles began commercial mining by 1808 it was said that sales of coal from Middleton amounted to around £24,000 year. The main markets were Leeds and centres in East Yorkshire which could be reached by water. In 1755 Brandling had been responsible for building the first wagonway to connect his mines to the River Aire at Thwaite Gate. The collabaration of Brandling's manager John Blenkinsop and engineer Matthew Murray led to the development of the first commercially viable steam railway in 1812. Blenkinsop designed a rack and pinion railway and Murray built the steam engines to run on it in his Round Foundry at Holbeck. The coal was then transported though to staithes on the River Aire near Leeds Bridge at a much lower cost to the customer. In 1820 there were 300 miners working underground and 80 surface workers in the Middleton pits. The Middleton Estate and Colliery company bought Broom Pit in 1867. Brandling had built cottages to house workers in the hamlet of Belle Isle, close to Broom possibly the earliest dated from 1762, most were erected 1793-4. The pit was to be owned by the National Coal Board, it was finally closed in 1968. The site of the old Belle Isle village was cleared and waste from the pit was used as fill around the area. Broom Pit became an open tip site and was later landscaped. The staff seen here are all male, in the foreground is a model steam engine perhaps the 'Salamanca', the first Murray built for the railway.

1983, miners on the afternoon shift at Rothwell Fanny Pit pose for a group photograph. Fanny Pit was the last of the collieries owned by the Fentons and Charlesworths and it produced coal from 1867 until its closure on 9th December 1983. The Charlesworth family were the owners until the coal mines were nationalised in 1948. Fanny Pit was named so after one of the Charlesworth daughters. There was also 'Rose Pit' and 'Jane Pit' named after two other daughters. Pit ponies were used for haulage and there were 160 stabled at Fanny Pit in 1922. The last one gained its freedom in 1972 and retired to live on a farm. Two years after Fanny Pit ceased production the buildings underwent demolition and the shafts were capped.

More pictures from Rothewll.

Photograph of the Broom Pit Rescue Team of Middleton Colliery, demonstrating their equipment for use in emergencies. Originally owned by the Brandling family, Broom Pit was bought by the Middleton Estate and Colliery Company in 1867. They owned it until it was taken over by the National Coal Board. It was the last of the pits of Middleton Colliery to close, in 1968.

Old view of Middleton Broom Colliery which closed in 1968 and had been a large source of employment in the area. Middleton Park now occupies the site, separating Middleton from Belle Isle. Middleton Colliery had been sinking into a decline in 1811, during the Napoleonic Wars, but its fortunes were revived by John Blenkinsop's rack and pinion system in conjunction with Matthew Murray's lightweight steam locomotive, Salamanca. These two innovations enabled heavy loads of coal etc. to be taken to and from the mine without the need for horses (the fittest of which had been seconded to the wars.) In the late 1950s the line, which had fallen into a state of disrepair, was truncated and, by 1960, the rail traffic had been diverted on to a B.R. line. Middleton Broom Colliery was owned by Middleton Estate and Colliery Co.Ltd Leeds 1918