The Lost Ganister and Clay Mines of Sheffield project: 2017 - to date:
Part 1: Stocksbridge, Deepcar and Wharncliffe is HERE
Part 2: Oughtibridge and Beeley Wood is HERE
Part 3: Wadsley, Worrell HERE
Part 4: Loxley Valley and Stannington HERE
Part 5: Ughill and Bradfield
This area has quite a bit in common with Loxley and Stannington covered in the last report in that the mines were used for the extraction of pot clay or fire clay rather than ganister. Secondly, the mining of fireclay continued into the 70s and 80s and the area boasted the last working fireclay mine in the area, Ughill mine, which owned by T. Wragg and Co. Ltd and closed in 1977.
A. Loftshaw’s
A mile west of Ughill, the open-cast pits at Loftshaw were owned by Dysons, as indicated by the double D gates that remain in-situ. The quarry is noteworthy as being the last site in South Yorks where pot-clay was mined as the site shut in the 1980s. After closure. it was never landscaped and now the long scar in the earth that is accessed from Sugworth Road and runs from north to south has a lake at its northern end and resembles something akin to a lunar landscape. There are references to a fireclay and pot clay mine of the same name that operated from 1948 and but was abandoned in March1949 (abandonment plan no. 14456).
The double D gates still standing proud:
And the lake at the northern end:
It’s a strange landscape left behind:
Almost volcanic in feel:
B. Wetshaw Mine
This is a small mine west of Ughill. The site shows up on a 1900 O/S map as a clay pit. The mine opened later and was initially owned by Mr H Drabble before being acquired by Dysons. A 1960 O/S map shows the main L shaped mine building with a drift entrance to the south. It was open until the early 1970s.
Today only two things remain now that the mine has been knocked down and the area extensively landscaped.
The double D gates, as at nearby Loftshaw’s:
And the former dynamite store:
(C) Ughill Mine
This mine was located south-east of the small rural hamlet of the same name on Tinker Bottom. The fireclay mine was owned by Thomas Wragg & Sons and extended northwards under the hamlet. It has the distinction of being one of the last mines in the area to close, on the 1st November, 1977. Up until then, the mine remained productive, yielding 15,000 tons of fireclay per annum. A steep ramp led into the drift entrance which was orientated along a north-west axis. The mine was a very wet one and in the 1950s, new powerful pumps were installed to pump water out of the mine out.
The mine also has the distinction as being the best documented photographically. It was first shot in 1970 and then again by a Sheffield Newspapers photographer who took a roll of film here in 1977 and captured the mine still in use, providing a fascinating visual documentation of the men that worked there, the dirty and hard work they did and what the small fireclay mine looked like both over and underground.
Sadly today very little remains as the buildings have been knocked down and the area heavily landscaped.
(D) Hall Broom mine
Just to the north of Hall Broom farm can be found the small fireclay mine of the same name. Sometimes referred to as No.2 mine, tapping into a black fireclay seam, this operation opened around the turn of the 19th century. From 1929 and the rest of its period of operation up to 1964, it was owned by T. Wragg & Sons. The date of the mine abandonment plan is stated as 30th September, 1964. The mine was entered by a single adit to the south side of the farm of the same name. The only other marked entrance was a 32ft shaft off to the west of the main adit, presumably driven for ventilation purposes.
The main drive headed south and the workings were off to the right in a south-westerly direction. The main adit is dated 1929 on the mine abandonment plan with other workings dated from the 1930’s through to the 1960’s. By September 1937, the workings had reached below Hall Broom Cote on the mine’s south-west extremities.
This is as good as it gets in terms of mines in this area. Although a small operation, the remains are rich. The first thing you come to are the three hoppers used to transfer the fireclay from the mine cars to lorries for onward transportation:
The best nick one:
The worst condition one:
Next, we come to the collapsed miner’s accommodation:
Up the hill from the mine entrance is this really cute explosives store:
On to the mine itself:
Inside the small miner’s entrance hut:
And into the adit entrance. Initially it looks promising:
But then torchlight reveals that it’s been blocked and backfilled:
Part 1: Stocksbridge, Deepcar and Wharncliffe is HERE
Part 2: Oughtibridge and Beeley Wood is HERE
Part 3: Wadsley, Worrell HERE
Part 4: Loxley Valley and Stannington HERE
Part 5: Ughill and Bradfield
This area has quite a bit in common with Loxley and Stannington covered in the last report in that the mines were used for the extraction of pot clay or fire clay rather than ganister. Secondly, the mining of fireclay continued into the 70s and 80s and the area boasted the last working fireclay mine in the area, Ughill mine, which owned by T. Wragg and Co. Ltd and closed in 1977.
A. Loftshaw’s
A mile west of Ughill, the open-cast pits at Loftshaw were owned by Dysons, as indicated by the double D gates that remain in-situ. The quarry is noteworthy as being the last site in South Yorks where pot-clay was mined as the site shut in the 1980s. After closure. it was never landscaped and now the long scar in the earth that is accessed from Sugworth Road and runs from north to south has a lake at its northern end and resembles something akin to a lunar landscape. There are references to a fireclay and pot clay mine of the same name that operated from 1948 and but was abandoned in March1949 (abandonment plan no. 14456).
The double D gates still standing proud:
And the lake at the northern end:
It’s a strange landscape left behind:
Almost volcanic in feel:
B. Wetshaw Mine
This is a small mine west of Ughill. The site shows up on a 1900 O/S map as a clay pit. The mine opened later and was initially owned by Mr H Drabble before being acquired by Dysons. A 1960 O/S map shows the main L shaped mine building with a drift entrance to the south. It was open until the early 1970s.
Today only two things remain now that the mine has been knocked down and the area extensively landscaped.
The double D gates, as at nearby Loftshaw’s:
And the former dynamite store:
(C) Ughill Mine
This mine was located south-east of the small rural hamlet of the same name on Tinker Bottom. The fireclay mine was owned by Thomas Wragg & Sons and extended northwards under the hamlet. It has the distinction of being one of the last mines in the area to close, on the 1st November, 1977. Up until then, the mine remained productive, yielding 15,000 tons of fireclay per annum. A steep ramp led into the drift entrance which was orientated along a north-west axis. The mine was a very wet one and in the 1950s, new powerful pumps were installed to pump water out of the mine out.
The mine also has the distinction as being the best documented photographically. It was first shot in 1970 and then again by a Sheffield Newspapers photographer who took a roll of film here in 1977 and captured the mine still in use, providing a fascinating visual documentation of the men that worked there, the dirty and hard work they did and what the small fireclay mine looked like both over and underground.
Sadly today very little remains as the buildings have been knocked down and the area heavily landscaped.
(D) Hall Broom mine
Just to the north of Hall Broom farm can be found the small fireclay mine of the same name. Sometimes referred to as No.2 mine, tapping into a black fireclay seam, this operation opened around the turn of the 19th century. From 1929 and the rest of its period of operation up to 1964, it was owned by T. Wragg & Sons. The date of the mine abandonment plan is stated as 30th September, 1964. The mine was entered by a single adit to the south side of the farm of the same name. The only other marked entrance was a 32ft shaft off to the west of the main adit, presumably driven for ventilation purposes.
The main drive headed south and the workings were off to the right in a south-westerly direction. The main adit is dated 1929 on the mine abandonment plan with other workings dated from the 1930’s through to the 1960’s. By September 1937, the workings had reached below Hall Broom Cote on the mine’s south-west extremities.
This is as good as it gets in terms of mines in this area. Although a small operation, the remains are rich. The first thing you come to are the three hoppers used to transfer the fireclay from the mine cars to lorries for onward transportation:
The best nick one:
The worst condition one:
Next, we come to the collapsed miner’s accommodation:
Up the hill from the mine entrance is this really cute explosives store:
On to the mine itself:
Inside the small miner’s entrance hut:
And into the adit entrance. Initially it looks promising:
But then torchlight reveals that it’s been blocked and backfilled:
