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Please Login or Register. Before its closure in 1981, Lofthouse Colliery was not only a nationally known pit it was the lifeblood of the local community.Using this GPS-triggered app you can now explore the former colliery site and hear the tales of the ex-miners – the Lofthouse Family - and view their photographs. Some of the transferred miners moved to live nearer the new mines in the villages in and around Selby. These men were released from individual collieries before they closed and were experienced in shot firing, used during the sinking process. Lofthouse Colliery, 1981. Below is a film made around the time the first miners were transferred to the Selby Complex to work at Wistow Mine. Lofthouse Colliery started producing coal on 31st December 1877 then multitude of rail sidings were built initially by the Great Northern Railway to access the Colliery to aid the speedy export of coal and distribute it round the country. Mining contracting companies were initially used for shaft sinking and development drivages with supervision provided by officials at the pit sites and management from the N.C.B. ... the disaster at Lofthouse colliery in 1973 when an inrush of water from old workings killed seven miners. Watch Queue Queue Neither owner were underground,nor at the Colliery the day of the incident. Just after and before the drift at Gomersal was filled in,they tried a new boring rig that was ment too cope with all the mud and fillings that they would have to deal with if there was another in rush of water like the one at Lofthouse. This resulted in a huge mix of men, from different areas as diverse as Scotland, North East, Wales and the Kent Coalfield, all working in the Selby Mines. This documentary film was made in 1982, two years before the Great Miners Strike in 1984 / 1985 and contains interviews with two miners and their wives talking about the difficulties of the transfer and living in the new area, in a village near to Selby. www.stanleyhistoryonline.com/Lofthouse-Colliery-Disaster.html. The collieries chosen to staff the Selby Superpit were very old collieries and were virtually worked out. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account.

Didnt the owner survive?

Peckfield Colliery, 1980. The colliery closures progressed and miners from many parts of the country transferred to the Selby Mines. He also helped the mines inspector recover the body of Mr Cotton. It is a valuable local amenity, giving the surrounding community easy access to … North Yorkshire Area Headquarters, based at Allerton Bywater. The colliery closure that started the strike was at Cortonwood in South Yorkshire. Old Collieries On Western Edge of The Notts Coalfield. Has he been charged over it or is it still being investigated? In 1973 a further attempt at mechanisation was overtaken by the colliery’s closure as a result of the Lofthouse inrush.

Before its closure in 1981, Lofthouse Colliery was not only a nationally known pit it was the lifeblood of the local community It comprises a mixture of habitats, including lowland heathland, and supports a rich variety of wildlife. 122 likes. ( Log Out /  The list below is not exhaustive but contains the main pits used to staff all the Selby Mines with closure year. Listen to the miners recall the exploits of their daily lives and their first hand experiences of that fateful day in 1973 when disaster struck. ( Log Out / 

Manor Colliery, 1981/82. Examples of this type of mass transfer were Lofthouse and Manor Colliery men went to Wistow Mine and Newmarket and Park Hill Colliery men went to Riccall Mine. A Funny Thing Happened on The Way To The Face. Were they illegally removing a barrier pillar, if so then advanced boring wouldnt have been carried out anyway or was it just a case of extreme bad luck being in the wrong place at the wrong time? When the men were transferred, transport was made available for the men by using coaches. Glyn Edwards at work underground at Lofthouse in the aftermath of the disaster in 1973. He I believe was incharge of the piggy bag tunnel that was made to aid the rescue. What was the cause of Gleision? ... he helped research and write “The Last Pit in Leeds” which was published to mark the pit’s closure in 1992. In the early development of the complex and subsequent need for staff, entire groups of miners from closing collieries were transferred to the newly opened mines at Selby. They were driving an heading up through the coal,bore and fire,fill out on a connie. Newmarket Colliery, 1983. Rothwell Colliery, 1983. The same day as the disaster we stopped cutting coal at Gomersal and are team were put on stand by if needed,also we started to drill holes in some of the gates to see if we had gone under or over any old workings. He was asked to go help at Lofthouse. These staff were called green labour with no experience of mining. The miners from these pits were often working with equipment from a previous era of thin seam mining so the transition to very heavy duty mining equipment was to be overcome. Other men would use their own vehicles, often sharing the driving due to large amounts of overtime being worked. Very interesting link; the site of the pit is close to where i work, so of interest to me. The N.C.B. The Selby Complex of mines was a huge project involving many aspects. I've got the report, the reason I was wanting some photos is that my late father was connected with the accident. After the Great Miners Strike, collieries closed at a very fast pace. And while six men still remain in the mine, the memory of … A phased closure of the older collieries in the North Yorkshire Area was planned alongside  a recruitment plan of local people. if I remember rightly there is a propper name given to the method.named after the bloke who devised it,,,i'll be chomping at the bit now till i can remember it. Clifton Colliery, No6 Area, Notts Division. The strike's aim to preserve miners' jobs was not met as colliery closures continued. The list below is not exhaustive but contains the main pits used to staff all the Selby Mines with closure year. Change ). Books and Papers, Reviewed or For Sale, Items For Sale. Watch Queue Queue. Saville Colliery, 1985. For proper use of this site, you need to enable javascript in your browser! Cotgrave Colliery, No6 Area, Notts Division. Stillingfleet, Riccall and Whitemoor Mines were staffed in that order with North Selby Mine being the last to be staffed. Before its closure in 1981, Lofthouse Colliery was not only a nationally known pit it was the lifeblood of the local community. When i worhed in south africa, if you where driving in virgin ground pilot holes were driven 20m in advance of the heading. All rights reserved. This video is unavailable. Before its closure in 1981, Lofthouse Colliery was not only a nationally known pit it was the lifeblood of the local community.Using this GPS-triggered app you The Lancashire Collieries Discussion Groups. With the referance to Small Mines And Advanced boreing.In the 80s I was at Coed Talon Colliery a small mine in North Wales. Dont know if this is in the correct thread but does anyone know where I would be able to get any photos of the rescue operations at Lofthouse in 1973? As places became available at Selby, miners transferred from the Barnsley area. Click here to remove banner ads from this forum. Copyright 2020 AppAdvice LLC. needed to to provide the staff, from existing collieries, to ensure the pits had experienced supervisors, miners, craftsmen and management to run the new mines. The meek shall inherit the earth but not the mineral rights! When collieries closed and staff were needed for  staffing later in the development they were held on secondment at other collieries until positions became available at their chosen mine. I cant remember the angle but i think it was 20 degrees up and out at the top of the drivage and 20 degrees out and down at the bottom of the drivage. The old colliery workings at Low Laithes came to national prominence in March 1973 when it was found that a build-up of water in the old workings at the abandoned 19th century pits caused the terrible disaster at Lofthouse Colliery when seven men lost their lives from a huge inrush of water and sludge. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. The first men to be transferred were the Deputies / Shotfirers to supervise the contractors during the shaft sinking operations. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. The North Yorkshire Area colliery closure program started in 1979 and continued through the 1980s until all the staff were needed for full production to commence at the new Selby Complex. Having worked at Riccall Mine and having one of the Deputies, on my shift, who supervised the shaft sinking contractors, I acquired some information about the shaft sinking supervisors deployed at Riccall Mine, who all transferred from Walton Colliery,  in 1978 when sinking commenced. The first mines to be staffed were Wistow Mine and Gascoigne Wood Drift Mine. Walton Colliery, 1979. A coal plough was tried on a face in the Blocking seam in the early 1970s, but it quickly proved unequal to the task. Park Hill Colliery, 1982/83. Ive got a couple of photos, just wondered if there were anymore about. Advance boring would have saved 4 lives in South Wales last year,coming up this weekend. Lofthouse Colliery Action Group. ( Log Out /  Ackton Hall Colliery, 1985. As the Gascoigne Wood Spine Tunnels progressed and shafts were sunk at the five individual sites men were needed to staff the mines. the ncb came up with a system to be used when working in areas where there were old workings suspected..i cant remember the exact lengths and angles but a couple of holes had to be bored straight ahead of the heading and a couple of holes from each side of the heading at varying angles..this practice came about as a direct result of the lofthouse disaster.. ( Log Out /  Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. the ncb came up with a system to be used when working in areas where there were old workings suspected..i cant remember the exact lengths and angles but a couple of holes had to be bored straight ahead of the heading and a couple of holes from each side of the heading at varying angles..this practice came about as a direct result of the lofthouse disaster.. The lofthouse disaster was on bbc yesterday on a programme narrated by Jeremy vine,they were re-uniting men and widows from the time and there was quite a bit of footage on.

LCAG are a group of people who have joined together for a common purpose - to support Lofthouse Colliery Nature Park. Lofthouse Colliery Nature Park is a large area of natural green space managed for wildlife and informal recreation. Deputies, for the shaft sinking, were the first staff to be transferred to the sites.

My father was a undermanager at Kellingley at the time of the accident. The individual mines were  developed over a prolonged period of time and staff were required as the project progressed. The colleries to be closed were all from Wakefield, Leeds and the Castleford area initially. When seven men died in the Lofthouse Colliery disaster 40 years ago only one body was recovered.