Penalta Colliery - 28\08\06

[dweeb]

Wanted to see this place for years now. It is probably one of the most complete disused collierys in the UK. Penalta was sunk in 1901, reaching full production in 1909. In the late 1930's penallta held the record for the most coal produced by a mine in a week. In the 1980's there was a terrible fire at the coal face which halted production, and the strikes of the 80's spelled the end for the pit. We hit the bath house first. It has been very badly damaged, as all the shower partitions, whit their iconic enamal hooks have been knocked over. It is still a very atmospheric place, with lots of nice features. It is typical of an NCB building of the 1930's.

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[dweeb]

Next on to the workshops, and then to the winding house. The winding house took some thought and involved me having to climb down Turkey's legs, which was nice...! The winding house interior is stunning, with tiled walls and plaster arches. No expense spared making it a beautiful building. One can only imagine how it looked in it's heyday! The winding gear is on a huge scale, as the last pic demonstrates. Although it has been messed with, it was great to see winding gear in situ, as it is a rarity. Be warned, there are deep machine pits evreywhere... you could die in here.

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[dweeb]

We tackled one of the headstocks before we left. It was no easy feat, as the first 15 steps were missing. That was a bonus, as on the other the first 30 were gone! The top of the stock was amazing, as they have all been. There is something so iconic about that wheel! Really good views from the top but the wheel does it for me every time. These were also quite dangerous!!

Really top explore so much history... Write up on my site tomorrow...

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