Image ID: 24440

Extracting a seam at the pit face, Brinsley Colliery

Brinsley Colliery
Brinsley
England

A miner holing out at Brinsley Colliery. This required the miner to dig a narrow channel into the bottom of the coal seam, in order to release the coal above and was sometimes referred to as 'cutting his legs off'. Coal has been mined in the Eastwood area for nearly 700 years. Originally, the monks of Beauvale Priory held the coal mining rights and there may have been shallow workings dating further back to Roman times. By the 1870s the good quality 'top hard' coal at Brinsley had been almost exhausted and a second shaft was sunk in 1872 to a depth of 780 feet. At its peak of production the colliery produced around 500 tons of coal a day and employed 361 men, 282 of whom worked at the coal faces. By 1930, coal reserves had been exhausted but the shafts were kept open until 1970 to access neighbouring pits. The Brinsley Colliery site has now been landscaped and turned into a picnic area. This photograph was taken by the Rev. F W Cobb (1872-1938), who was Rector of Eastwood from 1907 to 1917. Many of his photographs were taken under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions and combine to make a remarkable contribution to mining history during the early part of the 20th century.

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Keywordscoalminingholingoutseamminercollierysupportspickaxecrampedindustrialindustry

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