Kellingley Colliery End of Deep Coal Mining in the UK

Kellingley Colliery

1958 - 2015 The End of Deep Coal Mining in the UK

Michael Rothwell

Kellingley Colliery

1958 - 2015 The End of Deep Coal Mining in the UK

Copyright Michael Rothwell First Published in: September 2016

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from Michael Rothwell.

Printed by B Designer: Michael Rothwell

Dedication This book has been written in dedication to the hard work of the men and women of Kellingley Colliery, and to mark the sad end of deep coal mining in Great Britain.

It is also written in remembrance of my Grand Farther Keith Gilbert, an ex Kellingley employee.

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Contents Introduction Kellingley The History The Last March Kellingley In The Landscape The Bath House Offices And Amenities The Lamp Room No.1 Headstock No.2 Headstock The Workshops The Fan House Coal Preparation Plant Remembrance 2

P3 P5 P6 P13 P21 P33 P51 P61 P83 P93 P101 P111 P129

Introduction Before we start our journey taking a look at the final chapter of Kellingley Collieries life, I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you.

My name's Michael Rothwell, and I've been interested in photography on an amateur level now for the past seven years. Recently I've began crafting my hobby and passion into a professional career.

As well as my passion for photography, I've always had an interest in industrial heritage. Growing up just six miles away from Kellingley in the shadow of Eggborough Power Station and the East Coast Mainline, I've managed to develop my eye as a photographer to turn what many see as every day local industrial landmarks into art.

It's important to me, and many others that something of our industrial heritage should be preserved, both for future generations, and for those of us who have experienced industry first hand to reflect upon in the future.

The events leading up to and the closure of Kellingley Colliery to me was something that simply couldn't be missed. The social and historic impact that the closure of this colliery would have, not only on the local community but nationwide really gave me the determination I needed to make this project a success and play my part in recording the colliery buildings for the future.

The closing of any colliery has a large impact on the local community. The closure of Kellingley marked the very end of the coal mining industry in Great Britain and would be the very last time that we would ever witness a colliery closure in this country, something which has been sadly all too common since the 1984/1985 strikes. The passing of Kellingley Colliery was an event I simply had to record.

This book is my way of doing my bit to preserve something of Kellingley's spirit through photography, I hope you enjoy viewing the photographs just as much as I have had the pleasure of taking them.

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Kellingley Colliery, viewed from Turvers Lane

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Kellingley the History exploratory boreholes were sunk in Kellingley in 1958 to test the sites suitability to coal mining. The need for a new modern coal mine in the area had arisen with the planned construction of Ferrybridge 'C' and Eggborough 2000MW power stations who along with Drax power station in later years became the collieries main customers.

The construction of Kellingley colliery was completed in 1965 and in April of that year the first mined coal reached the surface via the No.2 headstock marking the beginning of 50 years of production at the pit.

As mentioned the main customers of Kellingley where the Eggborough and Ferrybridge power stations who began supplying electricity to the national grid in 1967 and 1966 respectively. An MGR (Merry Go Round) coal system was soon improvised of British Rail's Knottingley (KY) depot. This was a system where coal would be delivered to Eggborough, Ferrybridge and later Drax by only Knottingley allocated crews.

The MGR arrangement lasted from 1967 to 1998 and was hauled mainly by British Rail class 47 and 56 diesel locomotives.

The 1984/85 miners strike is one of the pinnacle moments in national mining history, and Kellingley sadly, had its share of tragedy during this period. As if the general suffering of striking miners at Kellingley wasn't enough on its own, on the 15th of June 1984 miner Joe Green was sadly run down by a lorry whilst demonstrating against national pit closures.

On a lighter note Kellingley managed to break the record for the fastest mined million ton of coal in the 1980's making the colliery a record breaker.

Sadly after the strikes the UK mining industry went into decline and would never recover, the argument being that imported coal is cheaper to obtain than UK sourced coal.

In 2004 the amount of imported coal surpassed the amount of UK sourced coal for the first time in British history, and just 11 years later on the 17th of December 2015 the end of deep coal mining in Great Britain came about with the closure of Kellingley Colliery, the UK's last deep mine.

RIP King Coal...

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The Last March

On the Saturday the 18th of December 2015 one final march took place through the streets of Knottingley in memorial to the men and women of Kellingley. The parade was one final act of defiance against the pit closure and the very last march against the closure of a coal mine that we would witness in the UK. As you can imagine the march was a very emotional one which brought out everyone from ex colliery workers to members of the local community wishing to pay their respects to the miners of Kellingley.

The march and closure of the colliery itself attracted the attention of local and national media outlets and was well recorded by amateur and professional photographers participating in the march.

Although the final march was a sad chapter in mining and the local communities history, it was nice to see the community come together in celebration of the mine one last time.

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At the time of the march itself I had no idea that I would go on to start and complete this project covering the buildings and structures of colliery after its closure. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to capture the final march as a way of putting some faces to the men of the colliery, as my experience of Kellingley is one of abandonment as opposed to one of a thriving workplace.

Most of the images taken on the day of the march where done so on 35mm film, shot using an old Nikon F3 camera (colour) and an Olympus OM1 (monochrome).

This was done for two reasons, one to create a sense of timelessness through the feel of film photography and also because I wanted to have a hard, physical record of the event in the form of negatives.

Ex miners demonstrating outside Knottingley leisure centre

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The community comes together one last time 9

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Thatcher's legacy

Kellingley Colliery banner

Last piece of Kellingley coal paraded through the streets

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Spirit of 84/85

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One last act of defiance 14

Kellingley in the Landscape Kellingley Colliery is located in quiet, rural North Yorkshire countryside near the small town of Knottingley. Although located in countryside the colliery is flanked by industry, to the east you'll find Eggborough and Drax power stations, and to the west Ferrybridge 'C' power station, all former customers of the colliery.

The terrain that's found within the colliery can differ largely depending on the season. In winter the site is usually a swamp of deep slurry and pools of mud, this is a contrast to the summer months when slurry is baked hard in the sun to a consistency that would give concrete a run for its money!

The colliery is well served by transport, to the rear of the pit you'll find the Aire and Calder Navigation canal, and the Leeds to Goole railway line. The colliery is just a short drive away from the M62 motorway too.

It's certainly going to be strange when the demolition of the site is complete, leaving a huge hole where the Big K once stood proudly...

The two bright green and white covered headstock's at Kellingley Colliery are local landmarks that can be seen from miles around. Although dwarfed by the surrounding power stations the headstocks are still an impressive site to behold, as is the maze of conveyors that surround the bottoms of them.

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A busy view of Kellingley taken from Stubbs Bridge

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A reenactment of a miners strike scene, Stubbs Bridge

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Victory to the miners!

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The main entrance to the pit

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Conveyors on the coal preparation plant by night 20

The Bath House The bath house was the miners first and last port of call during their working day at the pit. It housed a canteen, locker rooms, showers and a lock up in which to keep valuables and items that are not allowed in the mine known as contraband.

The bath house at Kellingley like all colliery bath

houses operated with a clean and a dirty side. The clean side is where miners would enter on a morning changing out of their clean clothes from home before entering the showers. Once showered the men would walk down the shower room and re-enter the locker room, this time on the dirty side. Here the miners would have a second locker where they would keep their work ware.

Upon my visit little had changed in the bath house from when it was constructed in 1959, except a change of lockers. Some of the original lockers could be found in the gymnasium downstairs but the lockers in the bath house itself where of a much more modern design. These lockers had come from the At the end of the shift the miners would then store their mines of the Selby super pit complex that had been work clothes in the dirty side lockers, shower and then commissioned in the late 1980's and closed in the early 2000's, return to get dressed for home at the clean side lockers. some of the lockers still had Riccal and Wistow pit emblems attached too them.

Another change that I noticed was the closure of the first floor baths barring a small area now used as a visitor changing room, the other parts of the downstairs baths had been converted to other uses barring a section that lay in a derelict state to the west of the first floor. The abandonment had occurred due to modernisation of the pit meaning much fewer men needed to operate the colliery than anticipated during construction in the 1950's.

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The main shower room at Kellingley Colliery 22

Gymnasium showers

The visitors shower room

Another view of the main shower room 23

Some of the original lockers still in use in the Gymnasium 24

Dirty side lockers

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Dirty side locker detail

General view of the locker room

Discarded mines rescue booklet 26

Locker tops, clean side

Original lockers, Gymnasium

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Gymnasium equipment 29

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Remains of the derelict level 1 baths 31

Valuables lock up

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Offices and Amenities Collieries are very self sustainable industries, everything that a pit needs to be able to operate can usually be found on site, and Kellingley was no exception to that rule.

Kellingley was armed with everything from a fully operational medical centre, to an up to date and modern control and communication room.

The colliery medical centre was of the utmost importance, conducting medicals for potential miners and keeping a close eye on the health of working miners, looking specifically for lung and respiratory diseases which were common place in the mining industry. A fully functioning ambulance bay was also present for the quick and efficient evacuation of the injured in the event of a colliery disaster such as a cave in or explosion.

A variety of offices exist on site, covering all activities from planning to the health and safety department, an NUM (National Union of Mineworkers) office was also present on site.

Sadly by the time of our visit to Kellingley, much of the control room had already been stripped out and removed, we did however, find one of the original telephone exchange panels still in situ.

Last but not least of course is the canteen, presumably for surface workers as miners would have taken their snap (dinner) down the mine with them.

A mock-up of the underground and a series of class rooms could be found too for the training of new employees, apprentices and for conducting in-house refresher courses.

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Works Canteen

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Recreation area 35

Kitchens

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The Big K 37

Main entrance

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Examining chair

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Morphine

Gone, but not forgot Ear treatments 40

Ambulance bay Vitals 41

Medical room overview

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Projector lens

Office lock up

Planning Department 44

Award winning staff

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Control room phone exchange

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Mock up of the underground 47

Air conditioning, plant room

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To the baths!

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The Lamp Room The lamp room would have been the miners very last call before he made the journey over the bridge and to the No.1 Headstock to go underground and begin his shift.

The lamp room is obviously the place where miners would be issued with their lamps for the days work, each miner is allocated a lamp which he is responsible for. The miner would also be allocated a space on the lamp rack in which he would store his lamp between shifts, the rack would also charge his lamp in preparation for the next days shift.

It's the job of the lamp room attendant to ensure that the equipment of each miner is in good working condition and to repair or replace any equipment when it does become defective.

The lamp room attendants work consists of the testing and repairing of self rescuers, lamps and 4gas detectors.

He was also responsible for keeping a check of the books in the lamp room by recording which equipment was allocated, under repair or spare.

As well as his lamp the miner would collect his 4 gas detector, self rescuer and dust mask, he may also pick up a traditional Eccles oil lamp up from the lamp room attendant too if he has one.

Although the miner is responsible for his lamp and equipment on shift, should any equipment become defected of damaged he should report this to the lamp room attendant.

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Lamp room attendant's office

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Equipment for testing lamp brightness

Self rescuer records

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Lamp room charging racks 55

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Job cards

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No.1 Headstock The No.1 headstock at Kellingley Colliery was responsible for the movement of men and equipment to and from the pit bottom.

The steel for the No.1 tower was provided by British Steel's Shelton Steel Works, another site that is now consigned to the history books.

Shaft sinking for the No.1 shaft began in June 1958 with the construction of the No.1 tower itself underway by December 1958. In February 1959 water was hit during shaft sinking at a depth of just 200 yards, this water was frozen into a wall of ice to seal off running water whilst the shafts were lined to allow work to continue.

By early 1965 the permanent winding cages had been fitted to the British Thompson Houston winders and the roadways at the pit bottom completed. No.1 headstock was now operational and ready to send workers and equipment to the bottom of the 875 yard deep shaft.

By July 1959 the structure of No.1 tower had been completed.

The tower was fitted out with a pair of British Thompson Houston electric winding motors and control cabins making up the No.1 tower east and west side winders.

As you can see in the image on the opposite page to the right the No.1 headstock was directly linked to the bath house via a bridge, which allowed miners to cross straight from the bath house to the headstock under cover.

During the sinking of the No.1 shaft a record of 330 feet of depth was recorded in just one month, the first of many records and achievements to be made by the men of the Big K. The shaft sinking itself was undertaken by method of shot firing and clearance, the shaft lined by concrete behind shuttering rather than brick.

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Connecting corridor

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No.1 Headstock man cage

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West side winding cabin 65

East side winder controls 66

Depth gauge indicator

British Thompson Houston display 67

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The last wind 69

'What? No winders!'

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Interior winding wheels

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Winding house snap area

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Winding tower drawings

Live readout, black box 74

No.1 engine house

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British Thompson Houston works plate

East side winder

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Eggborough and Drax power stations viewed from the top of No.1 headstock

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No.1 headstock materials cages

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Pony battery (underground locomotive)

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Underground rolling stock

Shovels

No.1 bank control panel 81

East and West side banksmens cabins

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No.2 Headstock The No.2 headstock at Kellingley was the second headstock to be constructed, its purpose was to raise mined coal from the pit bottom to the surface where it would be taken directly to the coal preparation plant via the conveyor system.

The No.2 headstock was fitted out with the same British Thompson Houston motors and control cabinets as the No.1 headstock. The east side control cabinet in No.2 tower was set up differently to those of the west side and the two in No.1 tower for control of the coal hoist winding engine.

The No.2 tower could wind coal from the Beeston seem at a rate of 900 tonnes an hour, from the 870 yard deep shaft.

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Coal hoist

Air lock door

John Booths & Sons air lock 85

Conveyors from No.2 headstock to the coal preparation plant

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Coal preparation plant from a night time assent of No.2 Headstock

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Fan house from No.2 Headstock

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Winding engine controls East side No.2 Headstock

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West side control cabin, No.2 Headstock

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No.1 Headstock, Eggborough and Drax power stations seen from No.2 Headstock

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The Workshops The main colliery workshops are located to the east side of No. 1 Headstock, but other smaller workshops can be found dotted around the site, including another fairly large workshop located in the coal preparation plant.

The workshops were dedicated to the maintenance, repair and overhauling of machinery and equipment on the colliery site. To accomplish this task the workshops where setup with all manners of equipment and personnel, everything from a black smiths foundry to electrical and mechanical work spaces could be found within the main workshop area. It's a sad and rather sobering thought when you consider once common trades such as blacksmithing are dying alongside our industry.

The workshops at Kellingley where amongst the very first buildings to be constructed on site being completed in 1959.

The workshops actually held a celebratory meal in April 1959 in recognition of the laying of the colliery foundation stone.

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Coal preparation plant workshop

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Workshop snap area

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Main workshop area

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Blacksmiths forge

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The Fan House The fan house is one of the most important buildings on the colliery site, its purpose is to circulate clean, fresh air throughout the colliery workings. Without an air drift oxygen in the mine would soon run out causing the suffocation of the miners below ground.

The motors for the fans were supplied by GEC and the gearboxes by David Brown. The fans themselves were provided by a company called Aerex who provided the fans for many colliery fan houses throughout the United Kingdom.

The air drift works by sucking in air from the outside and then blowing it down a drift into the No.2 shaft where the air is then forced into the workings. Once the air is in the mine workings it is directed to where the miners are working through a system of air doors. Certain air doors can be opened or close to direct the flow of air to where it needs to be, if an air door is incorrectly left open or closed it could block the flow of air or direct it to the wrong working which could prove fatal, so it's imperative that miners keep a close eye on which doors are open and closed in the mine.

The waste air is blown out of the No.1 headstock by fresh air been forced down the No.2 creating a flowing circuit of clean breathable air.

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David Brown gearbox

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Overview of the fan house building

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GEC motor and David Brown gear box system

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David Brown makers mark

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Fan house diagram

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Aerex fan

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Inside the air drift itself 110

Coal Preparation Plant Once the coal has left the mine via the No.2 Headstock it is carried by conveyor to the coal preparation plant.

The coal preparation plant contains a washery which removes dirt from the coal in order to make it burn better, cleaner and to provide the customer with the best quality coal. Once washed the coal then heads down a series of conveyors to its destination.

The destination of the coal depends on demand and the buyer, if demand is low the coal can be sent to bunkers for storage or it can be sent straight out of the washery and onto transport.

Kellingley produced mainly coal for consumption in the local Aire Valley power stations, Drax, Eggborough and the Ferrybridge stations A,B and C. Coal destined for Drax and Eggborough would be sent from the washery plant up to the rail rapid loader. Merry go round coal trains usually hauled by a British Rail class 47 or 56 locomotive and later class 66 engines would pass through the loader usually without stopping at a speed of 5mph whilst each of the wagons is filled as the train passes through the loader

Coal for the Ferrybridge power stations also had the option of passing through the rapid loader and arriving by train, as well as the option of arriving by barge via the Aire and Calder Navigation and the River Aire. A second loader was constructed at the canal side for loading up barges with coal specifically for this service.

A third loader was available for filling up trucks with coal too, this loader was used mainly for distributing coal to households for domestic use.

In Kellingley's final years coal from UK Coal's open cast mines was received to be processed through the washery, Thoresby Colliery in Nottinghamshire also received coal in need of processing through their washery.

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Coal preparation plant seen from No.2 headstock

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No.1 headstock, coal preparation plant

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No.2 headstock seen from the prep plant

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Looking back on the maze of conveyors from the fan house

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Inside the washery

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Climbing through the conveyor system

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A ray of light seeps through the washery onto a conveyor 120

Washery mixer

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Another view of the coal preparation plants washery

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Archimedes screws found within the washery

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Fire precautions

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View of No.2 headstock from the coal prep office 126

Top of the bulk rail loader 127

A class 56 locomotive seen entering the pit with coal to be processed in the washery from a UK coal open cast mine

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Remembrance Finally I'd like to dedicate this page as a thank you to all of the men and women of Kellingley, with a special thought going out to those 17 miners who sadly never returned home.

M. Steffans 27th of June 1960 A. Gomolczak 24th of January 1961 J. Frew 22nd of July 1964 M. Cyitan 17th of October 1964 J. W. Hirst 20th of October 1967 R. Byers 31st of January 1971 T. Fallows 3rd of April 1971 G. Walker 24th of September 1971 K. Stones 28th of July 1977 J. A. Isherwood 27th of August 1981 G. Jepson 26th of July 1982 S. Edwards 6th of June 1988 R. C. Ambler 5th of December 1991 D. Allot 4th of November 1995 D. Cook 30th of September 2008 I. Cameron 18th of October 2009 G. Gibson 27th of September 2011 RIP

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Kellingley Colliery miners memorial seen at the National Coal Mining Museum Wakefield

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