The Coal Preparation Plant Under Construction
The CPP was built during the early 1970s and in full production by 1975. Coal was brought to the plant from underground using the skip-loader system. By that time most of the coal was being used in power stations, which required coal of a very specific size and quality. This was achieved at Haig by carefully crushing the raw coal to the required size and cleaning it by using the principles of floatation and gravity to separate the lighter coal from the heavy waste. It was then washed and moved to the harbour by a conveyor into a large silo, from where it was loaded into railway wagons for its final journey. Using this system of preparing coal for sale and the underground improvements in handling the mined coal led, by 1981, to the Colliery showing an actual profit of £4.05 per ton. Unfortunately it was not to last and the pit closed five years later. The relandscaped area of the CPP was sown with wild flower seed. This wild flower meadow lasted a year before the council’s lack of ecological knowledge led to a mowing schedule which decimated the flowers.
The Last Tubs
As part of the improvements to the movement of coal underground and up to the surface, tubs (which had been the method used since the pit opened in 1925) were no longer to be used. All movement of coal was, from that point on, carried out by the skip-loading system. This did not go down too well with the men – after all, another thirty-five jobs would be lost. In their paper justification for the changes, the colliery management stated that the loss of thirty-five workers ‘would be a benefit’ to the colliery! Among the faces in the old photograph are: Jimmy Kelly, Jimmy Wilson, Colin Murray, Bill Norman, Paul Findlay, Colin Wilson, Jimmy Chambers, Eddie Bowman, John Haladine, Les Tucker, Terry Halley, Frank Davis, Billy Nichol, George Dunne, Tom Parr and Victor Norman. Today, of course, there is nothing left to show that a skip-loading system ever existed. Only the head gear of No. 5 shaft remains and that is in a poor condition and under renovation.
Mines Rescue
Following the Wellington Pit disaster in 1910, local rescue teams were set up at each pit, trained and kitted out with up-to-date rescue equipment. There was also a mines rescue centre set up near Workington for rescue teams which covered the whole of West Cumbria. Many years later, it was deemed to be propitious to begin the training of rescue teams in underwater situations in case they should ever be required. The local team trained for such a possibility at Workington swimming baths. The team captain, Ray Devlin, is standing fourth from the left. Apart from rescue work, Ray was chief mining instructor at Haig. More than forty years later Ray is still involved with mining through his books and his work for the Friends of the Museum. After Haig closed Ray, a former professional rugby league player, put his efforts into the local TA, reaching the rank of major before calling it a day.
The Manrider c. 1980
The roadway travelled by the manrider was approximately 3 miles in length with an undulating gradient throughout its length, mirroring the levels of the coal seams and the levels which had to be driven through any geological faults. The slope of the seams was on average 1 in 12 towards the south-west and under the sea. There were, however, places where it was much steeper, as much as 1 in 6. Each of the eleven carriage trains was fitted with a brake limit switch at the outbye end which, in the event of over travel, cut the power to the hauler and applied the brakes to the trains. Travelling in at 15 mph the men covered the first 3 miles of their journey in to their work place in twelve minutes, after which they had another long walk of a few miles. Today there are no mechanical systems of travel anywhere on the whole Haig Pit site, but after its relandscaping it’s a great place to take a walk.
Ladysmith Pit Buildings and a Chemical Works
Marchon Products Ltd, a chemicals manufacturer, occupied the premises of the defunct Ladysmith Pit and its coke and tar by-products plants in 1943 and initially used several of the old buildings for some of their processes. In the middle of the upper photograph the remains of two of the Ladysmith buildings can be seen before they were demolished in the 1970s. The one with no roof was where firelighters were made and the larger building to its right was the engineering shop. Behind the old buildings are F1 and F2 buildings, the original phosphoric acid plants. The newer image dates from 2000 and is a general view of the chemical works at sundown, showing the sodium tri-poly phosphate plant, centre and the phosphoric acid plant to the right.
Harbour Steam Engine No. 8
NCB steam engine No. 8 waiting at the foot of the Brake, on the West Strand, for full coal wagons to haul round to the coal loading facilities at the Queens Dock. The whole of the harbour was, by then, covered with rail tracks, all associated with the movement of coal. Today all traces of the tracks have been erased and the Brake has become a nicely constructed pathway linking the harbour with Haig Colliery Museum and onto St Bees. Along the way are many fine pieces of artwork, seating, signs, etc. The steep slope sign marks the start of the old, very steep Brake. The view north also shows the sites of the Lonsdale Haematite ironworks and Henry and William pits at the foot of Bransty cliffs. Just sneaking into the picture are the two harbour lighthouses and the Candlestick Chimney.
Development Workers at Haig c. 1980
In an attempt to increase the life of Whitehaven Colliery, a great deal of development work was carried out at Haig. New levels and roads were driven to look for workable coal, some successfully and some not. This is a typical team waiting for the manrider to take them that last 3 miles to the bottom of the shaft. Back Row Left to Right: Barry Brown, Malcolm Holliday, Ronnie Knox, Raymond Morton, Billy Parkin, George Lofthouse, David Cradduck. Front Row: Tom Black, Michael Quinn, Bert Morton and Barry Taylor. When the Haig Pit closed some men retired, some transferred to the other mining areas in the country and others found jobs locally. The Morton brothers are a good illustration of this. Bert moved down to Staffordshire to continue in coal mining and Ray found work at the nuclear site at Sellafield, where he continued his trade of electrician. Now retired, Ray still keeps busy with his vegetable garden and follows rugby league with a keen interest. He was a professional rugby player when he worked at Haig. Ray also likes an occasional pint at the Stump, a fine old pub located just 600 yards from Haig Pit and, on a fine day, enjoys a great view overlooking the harbour and the sites of William and Henry pits.
Mine Workers putting Roof Supports Into Place
Ensuring that the roof was absolutely safe before moving the coal cutting machinery forwards was a must. Two Haig miners are setting steel girders in place before moving the machinery. The work was always hard and the pit warm. Despite wearing helmets and electric lamps, the miners’ safety lamp was never far away. The newer image shows the business end of a coal cutting machine then in use at Haig in long wall mining. The cutting machine is getting its teeth checked and cleaned and, where necessary, replaced. Running across the top of the picture is canvas and steel hooped ducting for carrying air all round the workings; good ventilation in the pit was a top priority and essential for safety and comfort.
Winding Engine Men
The winding engine man, at any pit, had a very responsible job to do when raising and lowering men and materials through nearly a thousand feet as quickly as possible. They controlled the speed of the descent and stopped the cages exactly where they were required. The winding engine man was aided in his work by a series of chalk marks on the cable drums and other markers on the ropes put there by themselves. These aids had to be changed as the cable stretched with use. The operator’s controls were simple, just a gear system, steam power control and a brake. The enginemen were constantly in touch, by telephone, with the banksmen at the various levels to which the cage was being lowered. When the pit closed the engine houses were particularly badly vandalised. Haig Colliery Restoration Group spent much time and money on restoring the smaller of the two winding engines, which went on display, worked by compressed air. The engine house is currently undergoing a much needed refit and should be open for visitors soon.
T
he New Houses
Because the three rows of the New Houses were built on the steep side of the brows, the roofs of the houses looked normal at the front but at the back were so low it was possible to sit or play on them without difficulty. Children often took the opportunity to sit round a chimney and even pose for a photograph. The New Houses were condemned in the 1930s and the families moved to new council estates at Greenbank and Woodhouse. Some years ago, one of the town’s civic/heritage societies obtained some grant money which allowed them, with some help from the local council, partially to restore several houses and the front of William Brownrigg’s laboratory, located at the town end of the Middle Row, near Pedlar Pit, the source of his methane gas. With council cutbacks, maintenance of the site has ceased, hopefully just for the time being.
The Travelling Minstrels
The conflict between the miners and the Colliery owners in 1923 was so nasty it became known as ‘Bully Smith’s Strike’. Smith was the agent for the owners and could always be picked out by his penchant for plus-four trousers. He wanted to introduce a new method of working, which would have affected both production and wages. The men were having nothing to do with it and walked out. This proved to be the bitterest of strikes, with little in the way of strike pay. There were regular riots and men and women were sent to jail. Even the Army was called in to keep order. In the hope of getting more support and cash for their families, a group of Whitehaven miners decided to sing for their supper. They formed a choir and set off to the north-east of England, giving concerts where they could and being well looked after, as far as bed and breakfast was concerned, by the Northumbrian mining community. After touring for a little over a month, with contributions to their collecting boxes falling and homesickness setting in, they returned home. The newer image shows Egremont Town Band leading the parade from St Peter’s church to the mining museum to commemorate twenty-five years since the pit closed. Even after this length of time, there is still a great deal of respect for the mining community of Whitehaven.
Heydays at Haig Colliery
The main entrance to Haig Colliery from the 1970s is interesting because it shows the three shafts used by Haig. On the left is the very old Thwaite Pit shaft, by then part of Haig’s efficient ventilation system. Alongside it was the methane extraction plant, which pulled the gas from the coal surfaces and concentrated it sufficiently to be burned in the pit’s boilers to raise steam. Methane was also sold to the town gas company and piped down to the gas holders. To the left of the boiler house chimney is No. 5 shaft and to the right is No. 4 shaft. Other buildings included the pit baths, canteen, first aid centre, workshops, lamp house, laboratory, engineering shop and management offices. Today the once white boundary walls are still there, as are the winding engine houses and the power house. They are currently under renovation as part of the Haig Colliery Museum’s improvement work.
The Haig Colliery Site
When the colliery was demolished little of the pit remained and what did was seriously vandalised. The foreground was once the domestic coal distribution centre, where local coal merchants came to purchase their sacks of all kinds of solid fuel for resale around the district. It also distributed the miners’ concessionary coal. At one time it was surrounded by a steel girder and railway sleeper fence. The whole site was relandscaped for use as a recreational area and the National Trust have added a wonderful footpath stretching from the harbour to St Bees, preserving what industrial archaeology that they could along the way. The recreational facilities are well used and many former Haig miners enjoyed a walk and a crack with their pals on their way round the site. None more so than John Sims, who loved to walk and train his black Labradors. John continued to get round every day, even when his health dictated he did so by mobility scooter.
Haig Colliery Museum
By the time the Haig Pit Restoration Group had acquired the remains of the old colliery, it had fallen into a terrible state of repair. Anything that was removable had been and the power house sported a massive hole in the roof. Much of the machinery and instrumentation that could be broken up and sold for scrap had been. The group had paid just £1.00 for the site and despite its condition they were determined to convert it into a mining museum. They started work on tidying up No. 4 engine house and put the winding engine into working order. A big Lottery-funded grant enabled them to replace the roof completely – a massive task. Replacing and protecting the glass in the windows was also carried out and the museum opened to the general public. The old shear wheels made good signs and a car park was added. As I write, the museum is undergoing a further makeover which will see an education suite, café and museum shop added as well as a children’s play area.
The Beaver Dorling Winding Engines
The lifting gear for both shafts at Haig was powered by Beaver-Dorling steam engines. No. 5 shaft engine was the larger of the two with 40-inch-diameter cylinders and a 7-foot stroke. Running at 40 rpm and using steam pressure of 120 psi, it could develop 3,200 hp. Installed in 1921, it had a 21-foot-diameter steel rope drum and, while mainly used to move goods and materials into the pit, it could lift up to forty men in its cages. No. 4 steam engine was the first to be restored by the group and put on display in the museum. It had a 30-inch-diameter cylinder with a 5-foot stroke and running at 40 rpm, the smallish engine could still develop 1,200 hp. It was capable of raising twenty men at a time and was installed in 1916.
Open Cast Coal and a Sewer Pipe
Open cast coal mining was already under way at Tattie-Pot Lane, Distington, a village 4 miles north of Whitehaven. The opencast system was in use in an area – the Whingill Colliery – where they were extracting coal from the seams which had already been worked by conventional coal mining. They took everything that was left, including the thin layers of coal which could not be worked normally. As can be seen, the land is very much disturbed by the opencast process, although they do relandscape the area as they finish and can even build a golf course such as that at Harris Moor, Whitehaven. After Haig Pit closed the land on the site, including the whole of the wagon-way between the Brake and Ladysmith Pit, was used to lay a new main sewer from the village of Sandwith to the pumping station on the harbour. That work also disturbed the newly landscaped colliery site and disturbed the peace and quiet of the area.
Underground Workers and a Museum
Men working underground at Haig Colliery just before the use of tubs was abandoned. Here they are filling coal into the tubs from a conveyor, which had brought the coal from the coalface. From there they were taken to the shaft bottom on their way to the surface. When the skip-loader system started, coal was conveyed all the way to the shaft bottom before being transferred to the skip-loader and from the top of the shaft it was tipped onto a surface conveyor to take it directly to the CPP. After the colliery museum was opened all kinds of surplus mining equipment was brought to the pit for restoration and display. The old double-decker bus belonged to a local vintage club and was being restored by its members.
Aged Miners’ Retirement Cottages
In the late 1920s and early 1930s a committee was formed with representatives from all the working pits to look at the possibility of building retirement homes for some aged miners. Land was found, money was raised and a terrace of fine bungalows was built overlooking the town. The committee met from time to time to keep an eye on progress. In the photograph of the committee is the architect, Mr A.C. Bentley FRIBA, dressed in the light suit, and Mr Thompson Reed, the Financial Secretary and Treasurer he was the great grandfather of today’s district MP, Mr Jamie Reed. Also present was Mr John Hanlon, very much involved with the mining industry, trade unions, Whitehaven Borough Council and the Labour Party. Today’s image is of the Miners’ Memorial by Colin Telfer, set near the Wellington Pit and called The End of an Era. The sculpture depicts four colliery workers, namely a Screen Lass, a Mines Rescue Worker, a Face Worker (Hager) and a Deputy.
A Ray of Hope
Once all deep mining had ended
in 1986, a group of former miners, engineers, steam enthusiasts and members of the public formed the Haig Colliery Restoration Group and, after getting No. 4 engine up and running, collecting a deal of memorabilia and replacing the massive slate roof over the engine houses, they opened Haig Colliery Mining Museum to the general public. A lot of work was and is done with schools and other groups to keep the memory of the mining industry alive and in people’s minds. Ten years or so later, the museum is currently undergoing a major change. A new education and resource centre is under construction and will include a café and shop. A nice step into the future. Meanwhile, as I write, a new Australian-backed UK mining company is looking to restart coal mining, just south of Haig Pit, to raise high-grade coking coal, for which there is a big demand in the UK. West Cumbria Mining Co. have obtained licenses to explore just to the south of St Bees and well out to sea. At a public meeting they expressed a good deal of confidence and a ray of hope that 500 new jobs in mining will be found in the near future.
The Whitehaven Colliery Through Time Page 5
