Image ID: 24580

Unidentified Colliery

Brinsley Colliery
Brinsley
England

Dr David Amos has provided information to show that the image does not represent Brinsley Colliery as originally identified because the headstocks are not of the distinctive tandem style. The tandem headstocks date from a major reorganisation of their pits by Barber Walker and Co in the early 1870's. The pit closed for production purposes in 1950, men accessed the Brinsley shafts c1947-1949 to get to the Low Main seam at Moorgreen Colliery. Technically, it merged with nearby Selston Colliery at Underwood. The headstocks remained on site for mine water pumping and ventilation purposes until 1970. They then went to the short lived Lound Hall mining museum near Retford which closed in 1989 and returned to the Brinsley site in 1991. Two good references for information on Brinsley Colliery are Whitelock's '250 Years in Coal: The History of the Barber Walker Co Ltd 1680-1946' published in 1956 and Ron Storer's 'Aspects of Brinsley Colliery and the Lawrence Connection', published in 1985. The original description stated: Pit ponies and colliery workers in the yard at Brinsley Colliery, showing the twin headstocks in the background. 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. The 'tandem' headstocks, seen in this picture, were erected at this time. Each cage was suspended from a steel cable and held six men. 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. The headstocks were restored, and returned to their original site. 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.

Date: 1913

Organisation Reference: NCCC000666

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