1. The History
The story starts with a mining boom in north-west Sheffield and the mining and the production of refractory bricks, which began in the late 1800s. Some joked that it resembled the Wild West as people rushed to cash in from the ganister that lay below their land. Ganister clay was a good quality clay used for making the crucibles for smelting steel. Most of Earth's coal originated as trees. Ganister is the fossilised earth that these trees grew in. It’s also known as laminated clay as, unlike normal clay, it is almost resin-like. As hard as rock, it became a very sought-after material in South Yorkshire. With the advent of the iron and steel industry, it was used to make these furnaces so they could withstand the heat. The ganister was pulverised and then moulded into bricks. These “fire bricks” were then used to line the furnaces.
Thus, during the industrial revolution in 1800s, the Loxley Valley became an important producer of refractory bricks for the Sheffield’s steel industry along with fireclay from Stannington’s pot clay mines. Pot clay was an ‘impure’ form of ganister. The ganister and fireclay mines supplied the local firms such as Siddons Brothers, Thomas Wragg and Sons and Thomas Marshall and Co.
In the 1930s there were a total of three firms in the Loxley Valley, the aforementioned Thomas Marshall’s and Thomas Wragg and Sons along with Dysons, producing hollow refractories. Between them, they supplied 95% of all the hollow refractories produced in Great Britain. When war broke out in 1939, the industry became vital to the war effort. If the Germans had bombed the Loxley Valley successfully, many believe that the war would have been over very quickly. As a consequence, there was a gun site on Wood Lane, Stannington, which shot down several Luftwaffe planes during the Sheffield Blitz. Post the war, all three plants closed following a collapse in demand for casting pit refractories, down to the introduction of continuous casting of steel worldwide and the general demise of the British steel industry.
Latterly and most recently Hepworths were the big producers of refractory bricks in the valley. Production ceased here in the 1990s and the ganister and pot clay mines closed.
2. The Explore
“The main manway behind the breeze block wall may be better if anyone has a sledgehammer.” @waveydave
Just to stress, this was done before lockdown. Me and @tarkovsky were going to have one Grand pre-lockdown explore but ultimately it came down to the (razor) wire, and we bailed and headed off to look at something a lot more local.
So, anyway, back to this nice little mine. Didn’t think I’d be doing a revisit report. But the other week was passing with my mate and we popped in and lo-and-behold, someone had smashed a hole in the breezeblock wall into the main manway entrance. Was a bit pushed for time plus wasn’t really geared up so didn’t make the squeeze through the small hole.
So, a week later here we were. I’m not a massive fan of night-time explores but in a mine it’s neither here nor there. It was quick exhilarating walking through the woods in the dark with the bird’s wings flapping in the trees above us. We soon managed to squeeze into the mine. Man was it muddy. A really iron-oxide clayey which we duly got caked in. At the end of the first section was a really rusty padlocked gate. Ahead in the mine it looked very sketchy and even muddier so that kind of made our mind up for us. Well worth the effort though as it was really quite photogenic.
3. The Pictures
The daytime visit. The place takes on a completely different feel in the Autumn:
Nice fading bit of Colorquix to the left:
In we go:
For a quick look down the wagon tunnel first:
Once the brickwork finished and the wooden props start, it all gets a bit sketchy. Time to turn around:
So. A few day's later and back to the main entrance. Squeezing through:
Look just how coloured the mud is:
P is for…
The mine had full electrics. Look at how rusty this light housing is:
The gate was even rustier still:
There appears to have been some sort of pulley system for the wagons:
And looking into the depths of the mine:
Time to head back out:
Bonus mine the end of the former Dyson Refractories site. This clay pot mine was well sealed:
The story starts with a mining boom in north-west Sheffield and the mining and the production of refractory bricks, which began in the late 1800s. Some joked that it resembled the Wild West as people rushed to cash in from the ganister that lay below their land. Ganister clay was a good quality clay used for making the crucibles for smelting steel. Most of Earth's coal originated as trees. Ganister is the fossilised earth that these trees grew in. It’s also known as laminated clay as, unlike normal clay, it is almost resin-like. As hard as rock, it became a very sought-after material in South Yorkshire. With the advent of the iron and steel industry, it was used to make these furnaces so they could withstand the heat. The ganister was pulverised and then moulded into bricks. These “fire bricks” were then used to line the furnaces.
Thus, during the industrial revolution in 1800s, the Loxley Valley became an important producer of refractory bricks for the Sheffield’s steel industry along with fireclay from Stannington’s pot clay mines. Pot clay was an ‘impure’ form of ganister. The ganister and fireclay mines supplied the local firms such as Siddons Brothers, Thomas Wragg and Sons and Thomas Marshall and Co.
In the 1930s there were a total of three firms in the Loxley Valley, the aforementioned Thomas Marshall’s and Thomas Wragg and Sons along with Dysons, producing hollow refractories. Between them, they supplied 95% of all the hollow refractories produced in Great Britain. When war broke out in 1939, the industry became vital to the war effort. If the Germans had bombed the Loxley Valley successfully, many believe that the war would have been over very quickly. As a consequence, there was a gun site on Wood Lane, Stannington, which shot down several Luftwaffe planes during the Sheffield Blitz. Post the war, all three plants closed following a collapse in demand for casting pit refractories, down to the introduction of continuous casting of steel worldwide and the general demise of the British steel industry.
Latterly and most recently Hepworths were the big producers of refractory bricks in the valley. Production ceased here in the 1990s and the ganister and pot clay mines closed.
2. The Explore
“The main manway behind the breeze block wall may be better if anyone has a sledgehammer.” @waveydave
Just to stress, this was done before lockdown. Me and @tarkovsky were going to have one Grand pre-lockdown explore but ultimately it came down to the (razor) wire, and we bailed and headed off to look at something a lot more local.
So, anyway, back to this nice little mine. Didn’t think I’d be doing a revisit report. But the other week was passing with my mate and we popped in and lo-and-behold, someone had smashed a hole in the breezeblock wall into the main manway entrance. Was a bit pushed for time plus wasn’t really geared up so didn’t make the squeeze through the small hole.
So, a week later here we were. I’m not a massive fan of night-time explores but in a mine it’s neither here nor there. It was quick exhilarating walking through the woods in the dark with the bird’s wings flapping in the trees above us. We soon managed to squeeze into the mine. Man was it muddy. A really iron-oxide clayey which we duly got caked in. At the end of the first section was a really rusty padlocked gate. Ahead in the mine it looked very sketchy and even muddier so that kind of made our mind up for us. Well worth the effort though as it was really quite photogenic.
3. The Pictures
The daytime visit. The place takes on a completely different feel in the Autumn:
Nice fading bit of Colorquix to the left:
In we go:
For a quick look down the wagon tunnel first:
Once the brickwork finished and the wooden props start, it all gets a bit sketchy. Time to turn around:
So. A few day's later and back to the main entrance. Squeezing through:
Look just how coloured the mud is:
P is for…
The mine had full electrics. Look at how rusty this light housing is:
The gate was even rustier still:
There appears to have been some sort of pulley system for the wagons:
And looking into the depths of the mine:
Time to head back out:
Bonus mine the end of the former Dyson Refractories site. This clay pot mine was well sealed:
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