Image ID: 24441

Brinsley Colliery

Brinsley Colliery
Brinsley
England

Ramming powder charge at Brinsley Colliery. 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. Ronald Storer, mining engineer and historian, has cast doubts on whether this is actually Brinsley Colliery. He thought that the height of the seam was too high and that this mining was not carried out at Brinsley. It could have been taken at 'Thick Seam', shown in NCCC000657. The title given to the photograph was provided with the original lantern slide.

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Keywordscoalminingpowderchargeblastminersseamindustrialindustryminerscollieryladder

Eastwood Library