I've always had a bit of a fascination with Headstocks, they're relics of a bygone era in Britain's industrial heritage. Collieries especially pique my interest, as each coal field generally made use of vastly different designs, so each remaining Headstock is relatively unique. The more modern affairs (not that there is any left standing I don't think) are eyesores in comparison, encased in their concrete towers.
I'm intending to try and document all the remaining ones dotted around the UK. Easier said than done I'd imagine, some of them are very difficult to locate. The vast majority are actually now in the hands of various museums, bando ones are few and very far between! I'd be willing to go out on a limb and say Penallta is the only one left.
I've decided to split this into three reports, due to its size. Will be split somewhat geographically, with The Midlands, Cornwall and Wales, and The North.
History -
Headgear, Headframes, Winding Wheels, whatever you wish to call them, were a game changer for the deep mining industry. Gone were the shallow bell pits, and shafts operated via Horse Gin. The industrial revolution brought with it the widespread adoption of steam power.
Steam engines provided significantly more power than a horse ever could, allowing the mine industry to dig significantly deeper shafts, and raise ever increasing weights of coal/ore from the ground. The versatility of the steam engine meant that it was used to power the winding gear, and also used to effectively pump water from the mines.
The first Headstocks were relatively basic affairs, made from wood. As the technology developed, these were replaced with steel or concrete, depending on the locality and application. After the 1862 mining disaster at Hartfield Colliery in Northumberland, a law was enacted that required all deep mines to have at least 2 means of escape. As a result of this, a few collieries made use of the A Frame/Tandem type of Headframe, which was able to service 2 shafts in close proximity. However, most collieries just used 2 separate Headframes, so many that remain today are in pairs.
As their size and complexity increased, new collieries were built with large engine houses alongside the winding gear, paving the way for some gorgeous architecture to develop. In most cases, engine houses that remain today retain their winding engines, as they form part of the buildings structure, so cannot be removed without total demolition.
Staffordshire
Foxfield Colliery
Foxfield was the last remaining colliery in the small Cheadle Coalfield. Work began on sinking the shafts in the early 1880s, with the first coal being mined in 1884. Work on sinking was completed in 1888, with the shafts reaching the Woodhead Seam at a depth of 725 feet. The shafts remained at this depth for the life of the mine.
The colliery was never very profitable due to its size and the costs of development work. It only received a Pit Head Bath in 1949 after nationalisation. The colliery remained open until 1965, with most miners being transferred to the nearby Florence Colliery.
The Headframes and the majority of the buildings remain in situ today, and the site is now a heritage railway, although I'm not sure whether they're actually operating or not.
Chatterley Whitfield
Coal mining occured at Chatterley as early as the C13th, with the first documented mining taking place in 1750. By 1853, Hugh Henshall Williamson had established a mine on the site, working the Ragman and Engine (150 feet) and Bellringer (237 feet) shafts.
The Ragman Pit was deepened to the Ten Feet Seam at a depth of 450 feet in 1863. The workings were very dangerous at this time, with poor ventilation allowing dangerous Methane build up. Miners were still working with candles, so definitely a lethal combination. A single Winding Engine served all three shafts, winding men and coal in 8 cwt. tubs attached by chains to the winding rope, a very dangerous practice.
In 1868, the Whitfield Colliery Company Limited was formed. They immediately undertook improvements to the mine, widening the Ragman and Engine shafts to accommodate two cages. The Engine Pit was also deepened to the same depth as the Ragman, at 450 feet. Both shafts were given their own winding engines, and the use of the Bellringer Shaft was discontinued.
This venture was short-lived, coming to an end in 1872. The Chatterley Iron Company Limited needed an adequate supply of coal for their facilities in the nearby Chatterley Valley, so they bought the mine in 1873. They decided to develop the mine further, with work beginning in 1874.
The Bellringer Shaft was widened and deepened to a depth of 1,320 feet to reach the Cockshead Seam, and was renamed Institute in honour of a visit by the North Staffordshire Institute of Mining Engineers.
Institute -
At the same time, work to deepen an old shaft from the 1850s took place, reaching a depth of 990 feet. This shaft was named the Laura Shaft, after the Managing Directors daughter. Both shafts were completed in 1876.
There was a disaster at the colliery in 1881. A fire caused by the poor relocation of an underground Smithy caused an explosion which killed 24 men and boys, and caused the collapse of the Laura Shaft, with the shaft and Pit Head having to be abandoned.
The downcast shaft (Institute) was covered to starve the fire of oxygen, but this had the effect of stopping all ventilation of the mine, allowing gas to build up. This resulted in two more explosions, one of which blew the cover off the downcast. It was clear that nobody could be alive in the workings, so the Institute Shaft was partially infilled in order to extinguish the fire. This also failed, so the workings had to be flooded to extinguish the fire.
To recover lost output, the Middle Pit shaft (formerly Ragman) was deepened to the Hardmine Seam at a depth of 780 feet, and work to sink a new upcast shaft to replace the Laura began. This shaft was completed in 1883, and was named the Platt Pit after one of the company's directors. It was sunk to a depth of 1,284 feet.
Platt -
There was another non-fatal explosion in 1912, which proved the need for greater ventilation. Consequently, work on sinking the Winstanley Shaft started in April 1913, finishing at a depth of 747ft, with it being named after the companies mining engineer. The Heapstead and Engine House were built entirely of brick to a German design, and is unique in British Coal Mining. Upon it's completion in 1914, the Prince Albert (depth unknown) and Engine shafts were infilled, as they were no longer needed.
Winstanley -
Plans were drawn up to sink a new deep shaft in 1914 to service the Cockshead Seam . It was decided to site it to the east of the Platt Shaft, with preparatory work taking place in 1914, and sinking commencing in June 1915. It was finished by May 1917, with the 21 foot diameter shaft sunk to a depth of 1,959 feet. This was done to increase productivity, as the coalface was nearly 2km away from the Institute Pit Bottom by this time. The new shaft was called Hesketh Pit after the chairman of the board of directors.
Hesketh -
The colliery survived into nationalisation, with production ceasing on the 25th March 1977. An underground roadway was driven to Wolstanton Colliery in 1976, to work the remainder of the Chatterley Seams.
A museum was quickly opened in 1979, but underground tours in the Winstanley Shaft were short-lived, due to the closure of Wolstanton in 1981. After salvage operations, pumping stopped in 1984. This also allowed Methane to build up, levels of which were monitored via the Hesketh Shaft. The gas soon reached dangerous levels, so all the shafts were capped off to prevent the gas escaping.
A new underground experience was built by the NCB, but it did little to help the museum's fortunes, with it closing for good in 1993.
Derbyshire
Britain Colliery
Britain Pit was one of three collieries around Butterley Park. Named after Gabriel Britain who worked shallow shafts (375 feet deep) from 1827, the Butterley Company took over and deepened the shafts to 750 feet in 1845-48. It was worked through to closure in 1946.
Western Pit and Brands Pit were the others which both closed in 1906, with their shafts being retained for ventilation of the Britain Workings. The Swanwick Railway museum is now situated on the site, and the only remains are the Headstock tower over the Britain Shaft, which is unique as the Headframe is housed in a brick built tower.
Long Rake Spar Company
The mine at Long Rake was opened in 1867, focused on extracting Calcite, Flourspar and Lead. The mine was fully open by 1872, being run by W.G. Cooke and Co. . The mine was purchased by Thomas Shimwell in 1882, who renamed the company the Long Rake Spar Mining Company.
By 1899 extraction was taking place underground in a shaft that was 300 feet deep. The mine went on to have three levels, one at 300 feet, one at 325 feet, and one at 420 feet, the latter levels being accessed via underground inclines.
The mine continued operating until the ore reserves were pretty much exhausted, with the Works Manager remarking that the stopes between the tunnels were "big enough to put a cathedral in" in 1964. Underground working at the site ended in 1981, but the processing plant on site remains active. The Headgear remains in situ over the shaft.
Magpie Lead Mine
There are many mine shafts dotted around the Magpie site. The earliest workings date from 1740. For many years, there were disputes over ownership of the Great Redsoil Vein, which both Magpie and Maypitt Mines were working.
These disputes regularly turned violent, with a fire set to smoke out Maypitt miners ending up with 3 fatalities in 1833. The wives of the dead supposedly put a curse on the mine, and it subsequently closed in 1835, although this was due to the effects of the constant disputes, unless you're superstitious.
The mine was reopened with major improvements by the renowned Cornish engineer John Taylor in 1839. He deepened the main shaft to 728 feet, and installed a 40 inch Cornish pumping engine. This proved inadequate, and a 70 inch replacement was proposed, but the mine proprietors didn't agree to this. Instead a Sough was driven 2km to the River Wye, but work on this didn't start until 1873 due to indecision.
The mine continued producing on and off in the C20th, stopping in 1924 until after WW2. Waihi Investment and Development Ltd installed a new winder and the steel Headframe that remains in situ today, but no new large ore reserves were found, so the mine closed for the last time in 1954.
Glory Lead Mine
Many shafts were dug into Crich Hill in the early 1800s, with many being independent of one another. The Glory Mine shaft was sunk in 1831 to an eventual depth of 810 feet, which was where the lead vein it exploited ran out. Can't find a closure date, but I'd expect it was before the turn of the century, as most lead mines closed due to being worked out, and cheaper imports.
Pleasley Colliery
Sinking of the shafts began in 1872, but soon ran into water issues at a depth of 450 feet. Work on shaft No.2 was abandoned. Four 18" pumps were installed, and cast iron tubbing was installed through 345 feet of the shaft to hold back the water, which was a slow and expensive process. No further issues were encountered below this, and the pumps were removed, with the shaft reaching the Top Hard Seam at a depth of 1,560 feet in February 1877. The pumps were installed in shaft No.2 and work recommenced on sinking, with it also reaching the Top Hard Seam in February 1879.
In 1890, a 60HP rope haulage system was installed to haul coal up the 1 in 12 incline from the face to the downcast pit bottom, as output had made the use of pit ponies unsustainable. This was the first of it's kind in the world. By 1899, the original wooden Headframes had reached their winding capacity, and were in a poor state of repair, so both were replaced, with work on the upcast shaft being carried out in 1900, and the downcast shaft in 1901, both of which remain in situ today.
The upcast shaft was deepened in 1919, reaching the Black Shale Seam at a depth of 2,709 feet. It was deemed uneconomical to work however, so efforts were focused on the Deep Hard Seam at a depth of 2,307 feet.
The downcast shaft was deepened by driving up from below after nationalisation in 1947, and received extensive modernisation under the NCB.
The colliery closed in 1983, with demolition occuring soon after. The downcast shaft was infilled, but the upcast was used as ventilation for the nearby Shirebrook Colliery, so survived completely intact. The local authority managed to step in and preserve what remained in 1986, the result of which is the museum today.
They weren't running tours on my visit, but the tour exit in the upcast shaft was left wide open, so I did poke my head in, there's some decent memorabilia on the walls, looks original too. I also appreciated the wall of various named bricks.
Nottinghamshire
Bestwood Colliery
Was able to have a tour with one of the volunteers here, the winding engine is in running condition, albeit via electric instead of the original steam boilers. This Headframe in particular wound miners down the shaft at 25mph, and wound coal at 45mph.
Work on sinking the shafts began in 1872, reaching the Barnsley Seam at a depth of 1,237 feet. They were later deepened to a depth of 1,821 feet to reach the 2nd Piper Seam. The headstock is situated over the No.2 Shaft, which was the downcast shaft. It's infilled to about 5 metres from the surface.
The colliery opened in 1874 and closed in 1967, with miners being offered a choice of a generous redundancy package, or being moved to other nearby Collieries. The Headframe was kept in an operational condition until 1971.
Clipstone Colliery
A colliery was established in the village of Clipstone by the Bolsover Colliery Co. Ltd in 1912. Work on sinking the shafts stopped for the duration of the war, and didn't resume until 1920. The shafts were sunk as far as the Top Hard Seam, with the colliery opening in 1922.
The colliery was very successful, and the shafts were deepened to 3,019 feet in the 1950s to exploit other seams. British Coal closed the mine in 1993, and it was reopened by RJB Mining in April 1994, working the Yard Seam at a depth of 2,871 feet until final closure in April 2003.
The Headframes here are the tallest coal mining Headframes in Europe.
Number 1 shaft - Service
Number 2 shaft - Coal Winding
Brinsley Headstocks
Brinsley Colliery opened in 1842, working a single shaft at a depth of 450 feet. The original shaft was deepened, and a second shaft was sunk in 1872, to a depth of 780 feet, with the wooden Tandem Headstock being erected to serve both shafts. The Colliery ceased production in 1934, but was retained to serve as access to Moorgreen and Pye Hill Collieries until 1970, being demolished soon after.
The Headframe was saved and taken to a mining museum, but it was brought back home to Brinsley in 1991 and re-erected nearby to the original shafts.
I'm intending to try and document all the remaining ones dotted around the UK. Easier said than done I'd imagine, some of them are very difficult to locate. The vast majority are actually now in the hands of various museums, bando ones are few and very far between! I'd be willing to go out on a limb and say Penallta is the only one left.
I've decided to split this into three reports, due to its size. Will be split somewhat geographically, with The Midlands, Cornwall and Wales, and The North.
History -
Headgear, Headframes, Winding Wheels, whatever you wish to call them, were a game changer for the deep mining industry. Gone were the shallow bell pits, and shafts operated via Horse Gin. The industrial revolution brought with it the widespread adoption of steam power.
Steam engines provided significantly more power than a horse ever could, allowing the mine industry to dig significantly deeper shafts, and raise ever increasing weights of coal/ore from the ground. The versatility of the steam engine meant that it was used to power the winding gear, and also used to effectively pump water from the mines.
The first Headstocks were relatively basic affairs, made from wood. As the technology developed, these were replaced with steel or concrete, depending on the locality and application. After the 1862 mining disaster at Hartfield Colliery in Northumberland, a law was enacted that required all deep mines to have at least 2 means of escape. As a result of this, a few collieries made use of the A Frame/Tandem type of Headframe, which was able to service 2 shafts in close proximity. However, most collieries just used 2 separate Headframes, so many that remain today are in pairs.
As their size and complexity increased, new collieries were built with large engine houses alongside the winding gear, paving the way for some gorgeous architecture to develop. In most cases, engine houses that remain today retain their winding engines, as they form part of the buildings structure, so cannot be removed without total demolition.
Staffordshire
Foxfield Colliery
Foxfield was the last remaining colliery in the small Cheadle Coalfield. Work began on sinking the shafts in the early 1880s, with the first coal being mined in 1884. Work on sinking was completed in 1888, with the shafts reaching the Woodhead Seam at a depth of 725 feet. The shafts remained at this depth for the life of the mine.
The colliery was never very profitable due to its size and the costs of development work. It only received a Pit Head Bath in 1949 after nationalisation. The colliery remained open until 1965, with most miners being transferred to the nearby Florence Colliery.
The Headframes and the majority of the buildings remain in situ today, and the site is now a heritage railway, although I'm not sure whether they're actually operating or not.
Chatterley Whitfield
Coal mining occured at Chatterley as early as the C13th, with the first documented mining taking place in 1750. By 1853, Hugh Henshall Williamson had established a mine on the site, working the Ragman and Engine (150 feet) and Bellringer (237 feet) shafts.
The Ragman Pit was deepened to the Ten Feet Seam at a depth of 450 feet in 1863. The workings were very dangerous at this time, with poor ventilation allowing dangerous Methane build up. Miners were still working with candles, so definitely a lethal combination. A single Winding Engine served all three shafts, winding men and coal in 8 cwt. tubs attached by chains to the winding rope, a very dangerous practice.
In 1868, the Whitfield Colliery Company Limited was formed. They immediately undertook improvements to the mine, widening the Ragman and Engine shafts to accommodate two cages. The Engine Pit was also deepened to the same depth as the Ragman, at 450 feet. Both shafts were given their own winding engines, and the use of the Bellringer Shaft was discontinued.
This venture was short-lived, coming to an end in 1872. The Chatterley Iron Company Limited needed an adequate supply of coal for their facilities in the nearby Chatterley Valley, so they bought the mine in 1873. They decided to develop the mine further, with work beginning in 1874.
The Bellringer Shaft was widened and deepened to a depth of 1,320 feet to reach the Cockshead Seam, and was renamed Institute in honour of a visit by the North Staffordshire Institute of Mining Engineers.
Institute -
At the same time, work to deepen an old shaft from the 1850s took place, reaching a depth of 990 feet. This shaft was named the Laura Shaft, after the Managing Directors daughter. Both shafts were completed in 1876.
There was a disaster at the colliery in 1881. A fire caused by the poor relocation of an underground Smithy caused an explosion which killed 24 men and boys, and caused the collapse of the Laura Shaft, with the shaft and Pit Head having to be abandoned.
The downcast shaft (Institute) was covered to starve the fire of oxygen, but this had the effect of stopping all ventilation of the mine, allowing gas to build up. This resulted in two more explosions, one of which blew the cover off the downcast. It was clear that nobody could be alive in the workings, so the Institute Shaft was partially infilled in order to extinguish the fire. This also failed, so the workings had to be flooded to extinguish the fire.
To recover lost output, the Middle Pit shaft (formerly Ragman) was deepened to the Hardmine Seam at a depth of 780 feet, and work to sink a new upcast shaft to replace the Laura began. This shaft was completed in 1883, and was named the Platt Pit after one of the company's directors. It was sunk to a depth of 1,284 feet.
Platt -
There was another non-fatal explosion in 1912, which proved the need for greater ventilation. Consequently, work on sinking the Winstanley Shaft started in April 1913, finishing at a depth of 747ft, with it being named after the companies mining engineer. The Heapstead and Engine House were built entirely of brick to a German design, and is unique in British Coal Mining. Upon it's completion in 1914, the Prince Albert (depth unknown) and Engine shafts were infilled, as they were no longer needed.
Winstanley -
Plans were drawn up to sink a new deep shaft in 1914 to service the Cockshead Seam . It was decided to site it to the east of the Platt Shaft, with preparatory work taking place in 1914, and sinking commencing in June 1915. It was finished by May 1917, with the 21 foot diameter shaft sunk to a depth of 1,959 feet. This was done to increase productivity, as the coalface was nearly 2km away from the Institute Pit Bottom by this time. The new shaft was called Hesketh Pit after the chairman of the board of directors.
Hesketh -
The colliery survived into nationalisation, with production ceasing on the 25th March 1977. An underground roadway was driven to Wolstanton Colliery in 1976, to work the remainder of the Chatterley Seams.
A museum was quickly opened in 1979, but underground tours in the Winstanley Shaft were short-lived, due to the closure of Wolstanton in 1981. After salvage operations, pumping stopped in 1984. This also allowed Methane to build up, levels of which were monitored via the Hesketh Shaft. The gas soon reached dangerous levels, so all the shafts were capped off to prevent the gas escaping.
A new underground experience was built by the NCB, but it did little to help the museum's fortunes, with it closing for good in 1993.
Derbyshire
Britain Colliery
Britain Pit was one of three collieries around Butterley Park. Named after Gabriel Britain who worked shallow shafts (375 feet deep) from 1827, the Butterley Company took over and deepened the shafts to 750 feet in 1845-48. It was worked through to closure in 1946.
Western Pit and Brands Pit were the others which both closed in 1906, with their shafts being retained for ventilation of the Britain Workings. The Swanwick Railway museum is now situated on the site, and the only remains are the Headstock tower over the Britain Shaft, which is unique as the Headframe is housed in a brick built tower.
Long Rake Spar Company
The mine at Long Rake was opened in 1867, focused on extracting Calcite, Flourspar and Lead. The mine was fully open by 1872, being run by W.G. Cooke and Co. . The mine was purchased by Thomas Shimwell in 1882, who renamed the company the Long Rake Spar Mining Company.
By 1899 extraction was taking place underground in a shaft that was 300 feet deep. The mine went on to have three levels, one at 300 feet, one at 325 feet, and one at 420 feet, the latter levels being accessed via underground inclines.
The mine continued operating until the ore reserves were pretty much exhausted, with the Works Manager remarking that the stopes between the tunnels were "big enough to put a cathedral in" in 1964. Underground working at the site ended in 1981, but the processing plant on site remains active. The Headgear remains in situ over the shaft.
Magpie Lead Mine
There are many mine shafts dotted around the Magpie site. The earliest workings date from 1740. For many years, there were disputes over ownership of the Great Redsoil Vein, which both Magpie and Maypitt Mines were working.
These disputes regularly turned violent, with a fire set to smoke out Maypitt miners ending up with 3 fatalities in 1833. The wives of the dead supposedly put a curse on the mine, and it subsequently closed in 1835, although this was due to the effects of the constant disputes, unless you're superstitious.
The mine was reopened with major improvements by the renowned Cornish engineer John Taylor in 1839. He deepened the main shaft to 728 feet, and installed a 40 inch Cornish pumping engine. This proved inadequate, and a 70 inch replacement was proposed, but the mine proprietors didn't agree to this. Instead a Sough was driven 2km to the River Wye, but work on this didn't start until 1873 due to indecision.
The mine continued producing on and off in the C20th, stopping in 1924 until after WW2. Waihi Investment and Development Ltd installed a new winder and the steel Headframe that remains in situ today, but no new large ore reserves were found, so the mine closed for the last time in 1954.
Glory Lead Mine
Many shafts were dug into Crich Hill in the early 1800s, with many being independent of one another. The Glory Mine shaft was sunk in 1831 to an eventual depth of 810 feet, which was where the lead vein it exploited ran out. Can't find a closure date, but I'd expect it was before the turn of the century, as most lead mines closed due to being worked out, and cheaper imports.
Pleasley Colliery
Sinking of the shafts began in 1872, but soon ran into water issues at a depth of 450 feet. Work on shaft No.2 was abandoned. Four 18" pumps were installed, and cast iron tubbing was installed through 345 feet of the shaft to hold back the water, which was a slow and expensive process. No further issues were encountered below this, and the pumps were removed, with the shaft reaching the Top Hard Seam at a depth of 1,560 feet in February 1877. The pumps were installed in shaft No.2 and work recommenced on sinking, with it also reaching the Top Hard Seam in February 1879.
In 1890, a 60HP rope haulage system was installed to haul coal up the 1 in 12 incline from the face to the downcast pit bottom, as output had made the use of pit ponies unsustainable. This was the first of it's kind in the world. By 1899, the original wooden Headframes had reached their winding capacity, and were in a poor state of repair, so both were replaced, with work on the upcast shaft being carried out in 1900, and the downcast shaft in 1901, both of which remain in situ today.
The upcast shaft was deepened in 1919, reaching the Black Shale Seam at a depth of 2,709 feet. It was deemed uneconomical to work however, so efforts were focused on the Deep Hard Seam at a depth of 2,307 feet.
The downcast shaft was deepened by driving up from below after nationalisation in 1947, and received extensive modernisation under the NCB.
The colliery closed in 1983, with demolition occuring soon after. The downcast shaft was infilled, but the upcast was used as ventilation for the nearby Shirebrook Colliery, so survived completely intact. The local authority managed to step in and preserve what remained in 1986, the result of which is the museum today.
They weren't running tours on my visit, but the tour exit in the upcast shaft was left wide open, so I did poke my head in, there's some decent memorabilia on the walls, looks original too. I also appreciated the wall of various named bricks.
Nottinghamshire
Bestwood Colliery
Was able to have a tour with one of the volunteers here, the winding engine is in running condition, albeit via electric instead of the original steam boilers. This Headframe in particular wound miners down the shaft at 25mph, and wound coal at 45mph.
Work on sinking the shafts began in 1872, reaching the Barnsley Seam at a depth of 1,237 feet. They were later deepened to a depth of 1,821 feet to reach the 2nd Piper Seam. The headstock is situated over the No.2 Shaft, which was the downcast shaft. It's infilled to about 5 metres from the surface.
The colliery opened in 1874 and closed in 1967, with miners being offered a choice of a generous redundancy package, or being moved to other nearby Collieries. The Headframe was kept in an operational condition until 1971.
Clipstone Colliery
A colliery was established in the village of Clipstone by the Bolsover Colliery Co. Ltd in 1912. Work on sinking the shafts stopped for the duration of the war, and didn't resume until 1920. The shafts were sunk as far as the Top Hard Seam, with the colliery opening in 1922.
The colliery was very successful, and the shafts were deepened to 3,019 feet in the 1950s to exploit other seams. British Coal closed the mine in 1993, and it was reopened by RJB Mining in April 1994, working the Yard Seam at a depth of 2,871 feet until final closure in April 2003.
The Headframes here are the tallest coal mining Headframes in Europe.
Number 1 shaft - Service
Number 2 shaft - Coal Winding
Brinsley Headstocks
Brinsley Colliery opened in 1842, working a single shaft at a depth of 450 feet. The original shaft was deepened, and a second shaft was sunk in 1872, to a depth of 780 feet, with the wooden Tandem Headstock being erected to serve both shafts. The Colliery ceased production in 1934, but was retained to serve as access to Moorgreen and Pye Hill Collieries until 1970, being demolished soon after.
The Headframe was saved and taken to a mining museum, but it was brought back home to Brinsley in 1991 and re-erected nearby to the original shafts.
Last edited:
yeah man, it's crazy how there are so few left. Most that remain are well looked after now at least, although there are some exceptions. Just hope I haven't missed any 
Wales and Cornwall was supposed to be first, but I forgot about Parys Mountain.
Snibston looked very doable, but plastered in cameras and a lot of people about, and I was there at 7am. Hopefully Groverake is still doable! 
