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Report - - Chatterley Whitfield Colliery - Stoke - July 2011 | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Chatterley Whitfield Colliery - Stoke - July 2011

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m9

big in japan
Regular User
Visited with Tweek, Xan Asmodi and ex0

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Me and tweak were umming and arring about a trip out somewhere the following day, when on cue, up popped Xan mentioning he'd be in Stafford with ex0 the very next, with a list of possible sites as long as your arm obtained from dhl (cheers mate). After our early rise and jaunt down the M6, we met up with the guys and devised our plan of attack. As we were in the pottery capital of England, we figured the first place on the list should be something in that vein, but despite best efforts etc we were met with fail, so headed on off to our plan B - the massive Chatterly Whitfield colliery.

History
Much more info at http://www.chatwhitfriends.org.uk/

Coal has been mined from the seams of Chatterley Whitfield as early as the 13th century. Starting with monks of Hulton Abbey in the 14th and 15th century, a small but substantial mining operation built up around the seams at Chatterly Whitfield until the early 1800s, and as the pottery industry rapidly grew around the area, the need for a more substantial operation became apparent. More and more shafts were sunk into the seams from the mine, which were progressively widened and added to to quench the insatiable need for coal in England at the height of the industrial revolution.
Throughout the next 100 years of mining at Chatterly Whitfield, there were many ups and downs, as the mine changed hands from owner to owner, with the colliery being the first in Britain to produce a million tons of coal in a year in 1938.

With the Nationalisation of the mines in 1947, a process of modernisation was brought in, with many new additions including a new mine car system for haulage both under and over ground. By 1974 however, it was decided that the seam could be more easily mined from Wolstanton and the mine was shut down. A museum on the site was opened, but closed in 1991 due to constant flooding.


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Well, It would have rude not to...
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NickUK and HiddenShadow definitely had better weather than us on this one. The wind and sideways rain at the top of that headstock was nothing short of ridiculous.

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After we'd clambered down, soaking wet, we unanimously decided food was order. A hasty trip to a McD's was the next stop, which was then followed by a quick trip to the countryside to check out some old trains. More on that story later :)
 
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