Talk:Burnley Coalfield

Black Clough Colliery

@J3Mrs: The map I added to Black Clough Colliery doesn't agree with the prose. The map shows a footpath over Thieveley Pike to Deerplay Colliery which has a tram road to a coal staithe on the A671 in Weir. Thoughts? TiB chat 20:28, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Um interesting. Deerplay near Weir and Black Clough were operated by the same company. They had to have some way of getting the coal out. A tramway seems the most obvious solution. (Speculating) Maybe the tramway followed an old footpath or became a footpath, I know where this has happened in a few places. By the way have you tried this website it's free to use and I like it better than Old Maps. The collieries need coordinates, I'll try and do some, I found Bank Hall and Towneley so I'll add them to the coalfield.

After looking at Deerplay I think the coal came out there after 1915 so the tramway was short lived. J3Mrs (talk) 17:26, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

I've checked Nadin, and he mentions the tram road, but was presumably the source of the NMRS data. My gut feeling is that the info for Deerplay and Black Clough have become confused, but we'll have go with the sources we have of course. I will try to improve that entry at some point. As for the NLS site, I do like it. It is prettier and non-profit, but doesn't seem to have as many maps. I have no objections to using it where suitable, do you know of a existing cite we could copy?TiB chat 20:00, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Town House

Good spot TiB, I'd been thinking the same thing and today found a newspaper article referring to it as Clough Head or Town House. I've been looking at the mines list for 1896 where quite a few other collieries are recorded. The article is looking good, much better than I expected. I have now got quite a grasp of the geography!!! I have never looked at so many maps I my life. I found an Owen Ashmore book that I forgot I had so a few more scraps to come. J3Mrs (talk) 19:14, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

It is progressing well. My interest is undiminished, but I've been taking advantage of the lighter evenings and less awful weather to visit a few of the sites. Little remains and so far I've only managed a single photo of the remains at Park Pit, but I plan to get a few more if we ever get a blue-sky weekend again. The old Railway drift buildings still exist and I've seen a couple of concrete pyramids, marking covered shafts at Bogart Brig. I have more content to add from Nadin and Bennett. I own Bennett Vol 1&2 (up to 1800) and have Vol 3 on order. A friend has Nadin, so I've currently got photos of about a third of the book (mainly covering the Hargreaves family, Bank Hall, Hapton and Moorfield, but also a few smaller collieries including Dick Pit ). I could certainly add more sites (Williamson says that 640 shafts and drift entrances have been recorded), but what is the cut-off point? Maybe 50-year lifespan?TiB chat 20:30, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

What indeed is the cut off point? Many pits were very small, maybe a couple ought to be mentioned to show the very small scale of some operations. I really don't know but if they are mentioned somewhere and can be located on a map........... There's very little left anywhere. Lancashire County Council (before 1974} made a very good start on obliterating all signs in my bit of the old county, I expect it's the same around Burnley.. You do seem to have developed an enthusiasm I hadn't counted on! My interest in local history grew out of my family tree, industrial history in particular. J3Mrs (talk) 20:53, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

My interest in history on here has grown simply by virtue of that section generally starting an article. Once I'd found a few sources it became the path of least resistance to continue with it. However in this case my granddad was a miner and I have family stories of a tractor almost being driven down a shaft at one of these pits and broken ribs from a roof collapse at another, and I also inherited a replica miners lamp made from match sticks. So this subject has been on my to do list for a while, and it is always good to work with quality contributors such as yourself. Despite knowing most of this area very well, I've been surprised just how much I've learned so far. TiB chat 21:30, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Where is the cutoff for Accrington? Should Calder at Altham be in Accrington? J3Mrs (talk) 19:27, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

The short answer is that I don't know because I'm not entirely sure exactly where the fault is. The longer version is that comparing the map on p.6 in Williamson to something with a little more detail, the fault seems to follow Syke Side Brook, putting Calder on the Burnley side. However it is Huncoat that I'm uncertain about. The Williamson map puts it right on the line, and from the other maps it might be just on the Burnley side. Without more info it is impossible to be sure but today Huncoat is considered a suburb of Accrington and its section was looking a little small. I will check Nadin ASAP.TiB chat 20:25, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

Impressed with the progress while I've been away enjoying the weekend. As I said I've not got much on Burnley in my books but sometime in the next few weeks I will go to the mining museum library to see what I can find. It's a pleasure to work with such an avid researcher to produce a really important article. J3Mrs (talk) 17:08, 15 April 2018 (UTC)

Colliery companies

As there weren't many significant owners, the Executors of John Hargreaves, George Hargreaves, Pickup and the Cliviger Coll Co. I thought it would make an interesting section, I read a bit about them but for the life of me can no longer find it, I'm stuck. J3Mrs (talk) 20:28, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

That sounds like a great idea. I had wondered about creating articles on some of the companies, if sources for individual coalmines are limited it might be a good option? I'm not sure where you found the info previously but I have just found a few more Accrington collieries while looking. Nadin (I now have my own) has a few pages on the Exors history. I could email over copies if this helps? And on any colliery of course.

While we are discussing the history section I thought some content on the methods employed might be good. In the early deep mines I'm seeing the room and pillar method with waterwheels for pumping and shaft-bottom furnaces for ventilation. I guess you will know more on the developments and might have some sources that could be combined with the mentions in the sources we have already? I also now have a complete set of Bennett's History of Burnley. He doesn't have a lot on coal mining, but there is some useful details on the early stuff and a bit about strikes and union disputes which I plan to add.TiB chat 14:49, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

I could have been anywhere, I have a mind like a sieve. I'm not sure if the Hargreaves were branches of one family but I do know the companies merged in 1929. I have a bit of info on Cliviger too. All sounds good to me. I enjoy working like this with someone else to run things past. J3Mrs (talk) 16:08, 29 April 2018 (UTC)