Clipstone was a 1920's pit which was virtually completley demolished and rebuilt by the NCB in the 1950's, to reach a deeper seam of coal. The colliery was equipped with the second highest headstocks in Europe, and at the time a state of the art 'keope' winder.
The colliery was the first to be bought by Richard Budge in 1998, which eventually led to him running most of the pits in the UK under RJB mining Ltd. He was eventually thrown out of his own company by the board, and went on to form 'powerfuel' which is now doing very well with Hatfield Colliery. RJB went on to become UK coal.
The colliery closed in 2002, and the bath house and welfare buildings, which were across the road from the main pit were demolished soon after. The rest of the pit sat there until this year when everything but the grade II listed winding house and stocks was demolished
For me Clipstone winding house was a big deal. I spent most of 2007 touring what little remained of the coal industry, and the winding house and second headgear always stood out from the other odds and sods left on the list.
Inside is amazingly immaculate, with both winders, winding cabins, switchgear and whatnot still firmly in place. Although quite modern compaired with the other winding houses I had seen, there was still the details to be seen... green tiling throughout, large glass walls for natural light, and huge detailed makers plates on all the machinery. A winding house built 20 or 30 years after, such as Castlebridge colliery's is not much more than a tin shed really.
Climbing the second headstock was epic, the stairs just go on and on and on!! The wheels at the top are the biggest in the country and I love just standing next to them!
As for Clipstone's future, I am very worried. The winding house has more and more broken windows every time I visit. It is positive the the structure was not damaged by th demolition of the pit buildings, but with that woman on the council adamant to see them demolished I do wonder what will become of this great relic of the coal industry...
Turk and I have been lucky enough to drive one of these, and it is harder than it looks! This lever powered the huge braking system, but the skilled winder could bring the cage to almost a dead stop by 'electrically breaking' with the other lever... Turk and I were rubbish at that!
The colliery was the first to be bought by Richard Budge in 1998, which eventually led to him running most of the pits in the UK under RJB mining Ltd. He was eventually thrown out of his own company by the board, and went on to form 'powerfuel' which is now doing very well with Hatfield Colliery. RJB went on to become UK coal.
The colliery closed in 2002, and the bath house and welfare buildings, which were across the road from the main pit were demolished soon after. The rest of the pit sat there until this year when everything but the grade II listed winding house and stocks was demolished
For me Clipstone winding house was a big deal. I spent most of 2007 touring what little remained of the coal industry, and the winding house and second headgear always stood out from the other odds and sods left on the list.
Inside is amazingly immaculate, with both winders, winding cabins, switchgear and whatnot still firmly in place. Although quite modern compaired with the other winding houses I had seen, there was still the details to be seen... green tiling throughout, large glass walls for natural light, and huge detailed makers plates on all the machinery. A winding house built 20 or 30 years after, such as Castlebridge colliery's is not much more than a tin shed really.
Climbing the second headstock was epic, the stairs just go on and on and on!! The wheels at the top are the biggest in the country and I love just standing next to them!
As for Clipstone's future, I am very worried. The winding house has more and more broken windows every time I visit. It is positive the the structure was not damaged by th demolition of the pit buildings, but with that woman on the council adamant to see them demolished I do wonder what will become of this great relic of the coal industry...
Turk and I have been lucky enough to drive one of these, and it is harder than it looks! This lever powered the huge braking system, but the skilled winder could bring the cage to almost a dead stop by 'electrically breaking' with the other lever... Turk and I were rubbish at that!
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