The Whitehaven Colliery Through Time

by Alan Routledge

  The Sinking of the Last Deep Mine in Cumbria

  In 1914, work on sinking the No. 5 shaft began on the site now known as Haig Colliery. Prior to sinking the two new shafts, two parallel horizontal drifts were driven out from Wellington Pit to intersect with what would be the pit bottoms of Shafts Nos 4 and 5 and thereby give new access to Wellington Pit. No. 5 Shaft was sunk between August 1914 and May 1916, reaching a depth of 910 feet. It was located 40 yards from No. 4 and some 720 yards south-west of Wellington. The shaft was brick-lined throughout its whole length and 21 feet in diameter. Because there were problems with water in the Six Quarters Seam at Saltom Pit the new shafts were sunk a further 40 fathoms down to 1,200 ft (No. 5) and 1,146 ft (No. 4). Although both shafts were filled in and capped when Haig closed down in 1986, No. 5 head gear and its associated winding engine house were kept and today they are under renovation by the Haig Pit Museum.

  Wellington Pit Shaft No. 4

  By the time the sinking of Shaft No. 4 was started in October 1916 and completed in 1918, work was nearing completion on No. 5 headgear, the winding engine house and the powerhouse which both shafts would share. Once again the new shaft was brick-lined throughout and was 18 feet in diameter. Winding levels were set at 1,134 feet and the shafts were designed to lift some 3,000 tons of coal per day. Both shafts were sunk by the local firm of James Johnston & Co. Today the back of the only remaining part of the shafts looks out over the Solway Firth towards Scotland. On a really clear day it is possible to see the giant Robin Rigg Wind Farm set in the middle of the firth – a very contentious topic here in West Cumbria, home of the Energy Coast and Britain’s major nuclear facility at Sellafield.

  Shaft Sinkers and New Coal?

  A rare old photograph of the local mine shaft sinkers, James Johnston & Company. ­The principal workers are dressed in oil skins and are carrying miners’ safety lamps, which shows that there was always a danger of an explosion, even in a small shaft. Any gas would come from the many seams of coal they had to pass through. With the closure of deep mining in Cumbria in 1986, it was thought that there would be no more need for such workmen again; however, as I write, an Australian-backed company, the West Cumbria Mining Co. has just announced that they have raised some £15 million to carry out preliminary exploration work over the next eighteen months to confirm their belief that between 750 million and 2 billion tons of top-grade coking coal lies offshore towards the south of Haig Pit. If their expectations prove justified, they would expect to be starting mining operations, at a rate of 2 million tons per year, as early as 2017, creating some 500 new mining jobs in the Whitehaven Colliery which could last, at the very least, 100 years or more. Time will tell.

  Entombed Miners at Haig Pit

  In terms of production, Haig remained in the development stages for some time after the construction work was completed. It took time to drive roadways out to where the coal would actually be mined. Haulage systems, ventilation, electrics and the like had all to be carefully and safely installed. While all this was being done, some coal was produced – about 250 tons per week. The pit was officially opened in 1925. Even in its early days, Haig had to deal with three major explosions. On 5 September 1922 – thirty-nine lives lost; 12 February 1928 – thirteen lives lost and 24 January1931 – twenty-seven lives lost. That of 12 February 1928 was perhaps the most difficult to deal with. On 13 December 1927 four men were killed in the pit in an explosion. Three bodies were recovered and a fourth was sealed into the pit when the decision was taken to deprive the raging fires of air. Doors were made in the seals on 9 February 1928 and after an examination had been made, management declared it was safe enough to allow a search for the missing body. Twenty-four men were gathered into two search and rescue parties, including several mines inspectors, managers, officials and rescue workers who then entered the district. After a period of safe working, three new explosions ripped through the area, killing thirteen men. After a great deal of deliberation and anguish the pit was resealed permanently, entombing fourteen bodies in all, deep under the sea. When Haig closed in 1986 a memorial to these men was erected in the pit yard. Their bodies were never recovered.

  Haig in the 1950s

  After nationalisation in 1947, Haig continued to produce good quality coal at a profit. The old image shows the back of Haig, with No. 4 and No. 5 shafts and their associated winding engine houses and the central power house. In view at the back is the pit boiler house. The railway carried coal down to the harbour via the Brake and the nearer wagons were carrying colliery waste from the screens for tipping over the cliffs into the sea. The new image, from more or less the same place, shows No. 5 headgear, the winding engine houses and a newer building inside what is now Haig Colliery Enterprise Park, created especially to employ the Haig miners who had lost their jobs. In the end only a handful of the men actually found work there. For a few months there was even a pottery making mugs for the tourist trade.

  Miners’ Recreation and Bowling Club

  Where there were miners there was usually some kind of sporting activity not too far away. Favourites included football, rugby league, whippet racing and bowling, not forgetting the indoor games of darts and dominoes. The older image is of Whitehaven Colliery Recreation Bowling Club, winners of the Whitehaven & District Bowls League in 1930. Not to be outdone, and now simply called the Whitehaven Recreation Bowling Club, they were the winners of the West Cumbria Bowling League in 2010, 2012 and 2013. Today’s bowlers are: Back row, left to right: R. Prince, J. Phillipson, J. Burns, D. Blackmore, J. Walker, A. McGuiness, J. Wilson, A. Prince Jr, D. Foster Sr, Middle Row: J. Eilbeck, A. Prince Sr, N. Christopher, B. Foster, G. Houghton, D. Clarkson, D. Foster Jr, Front Row: R. Nelson, the captain.

  William Pit Disaster 15 August 1947

  Described as the ‘Most Dangerous Pit in the Kingdom’, William Pit suffered no fewer than fifteen explosions, fires or other serious accidents between 28 April 1810 and 15 August 1947, in which a total of 209 men and boys gave up their lives in the fight to win coal. The worst was the explosion in August 1947. The photograph from that time shows the general scene at the pit after the alarms had sounded and the work of the rescue men had begun. Many families gathered on the Bransty cliff tops that fateful day, the author being one of the many youngsters who went there after school had closed. In the pit yard were several rescue vehicles and ambulances. It is impossible to repeat that scene again; the buildings have gone and the Henry and William shafts have been marked by a couple of pyramid-shaped memorials.

  William Pit Widows

  On 3 June 1941 twelve men lost their lives in a water gas explosion and fire in the Main Band at William. The fire was so bad that it led to a permanent closure of all work in the Main Band at William Pit. The image used by the local newspapers at the time shows widows and mothers gathered together for the funerals. The ladies all seem to be wearing almost identical black clothing, with only the baby breaking the sombre mood and perhaps offering some hope for the future. It must be remembered that Britain was near its darkest point in the Second World War at the time and in common with many other of life’s necessities, clothing was on a tight ration with a very limited choice indeed. The men are today remembered in the memorial to all who lost their lives working at the pit between 1804 and 1955.

  Rescue Worker and His Bird in a Cage

  Despite the more sophisticated methods of testing for gas in a pit, the canary in a cage was still used extensively, particularly after an explosion or fire, because of its ultra sensitivity to gas. Even a small amount could affect the bird, which quickly collapsed in the presence of carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide. The bird usually recovered after it was removed from the area of contamination. Some rescue teams used red polls instead of canaries. With the end of the mining of coal and the demolition of the pits, the chances of seeing a similar scene today are very limited. The newer image is looking south from the place where the canary was pictured at William Pit. The path shown was the route all the miners used
to make their way to Henry and William to earn their difficult and dangerous livelihood.

  Families, Friends and Onlookers Waiting for News at William

  The vigil on the cliffs overlooking William Pit on 15 of August 1947 continued throughout the day until well after sunset. Well known for its Solway sunsets, with long periods of golden twilight, the area lends itself to photogenic silhouettes such as this which, in its own way, spells out hope. There are many memorials to the mining industry to be seen around the town today, including this mosaic, in King Street, by Maggie Howarth of very early coal miners descending the pit shaft by precarious means in baskets. It, too, is a work of art that makes use of the silhouette to tell a story. The practice of descending the pit by clinging on to the rope while balanced on the rim of the basket was a common one, often by the children, to leave room for adults to stand in the basket or bucket. Many lives were lost through needless bravado – falling to their death was a common occurrence.

  The End of Chemicals Manufacture in Whitehaven

  Coal, in one way or another, was often involved in local industry. In the seventeenth century pyrite, an impurity from coal mining, was used to make ‘copras’ (iron sulphate), used in the dying of fabrics. The process of digesting the pyrite in oil of vitriol (sulphuric acid) led to the finished product. This first Whitehaven chemical works was in the Ginns but was succeeded by the Ginns glass works in around 1735. The older image is of the phosphate works at Marchon shortly after closing down. The company had set up their chemical works on the Ladysmith Pit site in 1943. They started in a small way, making firelighters from naphthalene, sawdust and waste fat. Naphthalene, of course, was among several chemicals which had been made in the Ladysmith Pit’s tar by-products plant until it closed in 1932. Marchon closed in 2005 after sixty-five years in Whitehaven. Today there is virtually nothing left on the site to suggest any kind of industry ever took place there in the past.

  The Shot Firer at Solway

  Unbeknown to Marchon, they were sitting on a major deposit of anhydrite, an important ingredient in the production of sulphuric acid. The method chosen to make this vital chemical was to roast anhydrite in large rotary kilns at very high temperature to give sulphur dioxide and by-product cement. The gas was converted to sulphur trioxide and dissolved in water to give sulphuric acid. The anhydrite was mined in conditions far different than were the norm in coal mining. With no methane to worry about and very little chance of a roof fall, the use of explosives to extract the rock was more extensive and the older image shows a deputy/shot firer priming his explosives, ready to charge the pre-drilled rock face before firing. The sulphuric acid was largely used to manufacture phosphoric acid from imported, mined phosphate rock. The phosphoric acid was produced in two grades: green (industrial grade) and white (a very pure food grade). Phosphates have many uses: in agriculture as a fertiliser, in detergents as a cleansing aid and in food as a preservative and to modify the size of water crystals in deep frozen foods. The newer image shows the phosphate driers going full tilt.

  The Mining of Anhydrite

  The method of working the anhydrite deposits was similar to that of the early coal mines – pillar and stall. The difference was that the pillars were much higher than in the coal seams, the thickness of which dictated the height of the roof. The Solway anhydrite mine was worked using large diesel-driven heavy machinery, including near motorway-sized dump trucks. This was possible because there were no restrictions on their use because of gas. The other raw material used by Marchon to manufacture phosphoric acid was phosphate rock, mined and crushed to sand-sized pieces in Morocco. It was shipped to Marchon from Casablanca in the company’s own specially built ships. When demand outstripped the smallish ships’ ability to keep pace, the rock was shipped in 30,000-ton bulk carriers and unloaded at sea for transfer to the harbour facilities, the silos of which are seen in the colour image.

  Anhydrite and Phosphate Rock

  The raw anhydrite mined at Whitehaven was all shapes and sizes and had to be crushed to the same size and moved from the rock face, within the mine, to the crushers by dumper truck. It was then moved by a conveyor system to the surface, where it was finely crushed and stored for use in large silos. There was a simple grid over the loading chutes in the mine that prevented oversized pieces from doing damage to the conveyor. The phosphate rock, mined in North Africa, underwent a similar treatment before being shipped to Whitehaven in 30,000-ton bulk carriers and transferred into smaller vessels offshore. The sand-like rock was then unloaded at Whitehaven harbour into large silos from where it was moved to the factory in specially designed lorries. The newer image shows the barge Odin being loaded from a bulk carrier about 2 miles from Whitehaven harbour mouth.

  The Ladysmith Coal Washery

  For many years after Marchon moved onto the Croft/Ladysmith Pit site, the old coal washing and cleansing facilities were still used by Haig Pit, which only had screens in use to clean up their product. Coal for sale on the open market was washed at Ladysmith after being transported between the pits by rail and then moved down to the Harbour along the wagon-way. The washeries stood side to side with the much more modern chemical works buildings; the nearer large chimney, on the right, was that of the Ladysmith boiler house, used by Marchon for many years to produce its own steam requirements. The other 450-feet-tall chimney, in the background, was the sulphuric acid tail gas outlet. Marchon’s phosphoric acid purification plant stands just to the south of where the washery once stood, surrounded by many other production units including the high pressure hydrogenation plant and the phosphate dry salts plants.

  The Movement of Personnel

  Clearly, in 1939 the owners of the pit took a dim view of anyone entering a riding set when it was in motion. The first underground/under sea manrider was installed at Haig in 1939 and was capable of a speed of 24 kilometres per hour. The system was the lifeline of the Colliery. Comprising eleven carriages on each of two trains, 284 men could travel at the same time, 142 travelling inbye and the same number outbye. The trains were moved by an endless Beckett & Anderson reversible rope hauler using 1 3/8 inch diameter rope, over a distance of 4.8 kilometres at a speed of 15 mph. Nine carriages took fourteen men and the two end carriages eight–142 in total. The roadway was approximately 3 miles long with an average inbye dipping gradient of 1 in 12 and a maximum one of 1 in 6.1 for a short distance. The trains carried the men only part of the way to their place of work. Before riding the train, the men had another journey to make by cage, dropping about 1,000 feet from the surface. All that remains now at Haig of the methods men used to get to the coal face is the head gear of No. 5 shaft, now being restored as part of a major upgrade of the Colliery Museum.

  Children of the Pits

  In the early days of mining in Whitehaven whole families, including their children, boys and girls, worked underground in the very worst of conditions. They suffered the same risks as their fathers and at least eighty-six children under the age of fifteen years died at work. The youngest recorded death was a boy, Abraham Taylor, aged just 8 at Croft Pit in 1831. Of the grand total, just two were girls. It was decided that a separate memorial to these children should be put up in the gardens of St Nicholas’s church. Money was raised and the memorial erected. It was dedicated by the mayor of Copeland, councillor Peter Bennett, on 30 March 1988. The memorial carries all the names of the deceased and was topped by a brass sundial. If something can be damaged, it will be damaged and the sundial was too tempting a target. It was removed for its own safety and just recently replaced by a fine piece of sculpture of a pit pony attended by three children – a more fitting tribute.

  Changing the Shear Wheels

  Obviously, wear and tear on the shear wheels and the steel ropes which pass over them was significant over years of constant use and they required renewing from time to time. It was a tricky job, often in confined spaces, needing careful planning and organisation. Large heavy lift cranes had to be hired in to get the wheels up to the top o
f the head gear. The wheels of No. 4 shaft were changed in the mid-1970s. Looking from the ground, the wheels don’t seem to be all that large; however, take a look at the man standing on top of the wheel and the others on the platform and their size is all too apparent. The steel rope, which also suffered from wear and stretching, was also replaced. The new image shows the girder work at the top of No. 5 shaft after the Pit had closed.

  The Coal Preparation Plant

  Slowly, with coal getting further away and therefore more expensive to get out, Haig began to show financial losses each year, even though production remained relatively stable. It became obvious that the Colliery was in some difficulty and a considerable amount of money was spent on making improvements. A major change was the building of a coal preparation plant (CPP), which also involved the installation of a skip-loading system for raising coal and transporting it to the CPP. The prepared coal was conveyed down to the harbour, thus doing away with a centuries-old wagon-way and brake. Everything was completed and the new system working by 1975 but for the next few years the Colliery still ran at an average annual loss of £3.329 million. By 1978/9 the losses had reached a figure of £16.69 for each and every ton of coal produced. Today all trace of the CPP has gone; the relandscaped area is used by the local population and some from further afield to get out and enjoy the wind and weather.