1967 - Page 4

Grassmoor Colliery Merged with Williamthorpe

Grassmoor Colliery (North Derbyshire) sunk in 1878-1879 as Grass Moor by Messrs Barnes, taken over by Grassmoor Colliery Co Ltd was merged with Williamthorpe on 25th August 1950 but continued to be administrated as a separate unit until 1967.
The mine was situated near Temple Normanton and to the south of Chesterfield. Shaft positions: SK46NW, No1 441120, 367440, No2 441205, 367686. An underground connection had been made to transport the coal to No2 pit. The final year’s output was 473,862 tons with 1,463 men, (Maximum output in 1948 was 480,572 tons and maximum number of men 1,601).

Seams worked

• 2nd Ell at 201 yards (184m) deep, coal bright soft 9½” (0.24m), minge 1’ 1½” (0.34m), soft 1’ 1” (0.33m), clunch floor, abandoned as unprofitable in 1909, within 70 yards (64m) to North
• Grass Moor, and 100 yards (91m) to West
• Deep Soft or Dunston abandoned 31st Dec 1934
• Tupton 4’ 1” (1.3m) finished 14/12 1943.
• Alma, abandoned 1883
• Holmewood 200 yards (183m) to South, 1947 worked extensively by the Grassmoor Colliery Co Ltd
• First Waterloo - Dec 1951
• Second Waterloo Mar 1970, at Grassmoor June 1950, Alma 1877 and opencast
• Deep Soft -1931 and Alma -1922, Deep Hard - Dec 1952 and Dec 1965 and at Williamthorpe previously to 1961 an
• Bonds Main to 1902
• 2nd Piper – Jan 1970, at Avenue 1928, at Boythorpe and Turnoak 1886 and at Alma -1909
• Tupton or Low Main – Dec 1952, and Threequarters and Yard Dec 1965 and previously Williamthorpe to 1961 and Bonds Main to 1902)
• Blackshale –Dec 1939. A Training centre was created in 1952. (North Derbyshire Area surface Training Centre was located adjacent to Grassmoor colliery in Sep 1972. A foundation training face was set up 11th Sep 1980).

A hydraulic pumping made by Carrett, Marshall and Co was draining dip workings in 1871, quite a revelation at the time.
All water made at Grassmoor was allowed to migrate to Williamthorpe following the connection.

Manpower Grassmoor Co. Ltd:

• 1935: No1 Pit 350 men, No12 Pit 183 men, No4 Pit 336 men, No8 Pit 217 men.

Seams were:

• Tupton, Silkstone, Deep Hard, Piper, Waterloo, Blackshale, 350 men on surface.

Tonnage and Manpower NCB:

• No1 Area EMD: 1947: ? tons ? men
• 1948: ? tons, ? men;
• 1949: ? tons, ? men
• 1950: 1,138 u/g, 312 s/f, total 1,450 men
• 1951: 1,484 men
• 1952: 1,917 u/g, 486 s/f, total 2,430men
• 1953: 2,430 men
• 1954: men included under Williamthorpe.

Agents:

• Ed Bromley Agent -1887
• Alfred TH Barnes Agent 1877-1919
• TD Atkinson (1929) Agent 1919-1923
• JW Lamondby (4147) Agent 1923-1927
• EL Ford (3984) Agent 1928-1937
• RH Swallow (2557) Agent 1937-1939
• WF Tunnicliffe (2730) Agent 1939-1946
• John N Booth (3108) Agent 1947-1949
• GF Gardner (1333) Agent 1949-1951
• Geo P Thompson (2914) Agent 1952-1953
• Len Gross (2351).

Sub-Area Managers / Group Managers:

• JS Rayner (3077) Sub-Area Manager 1950-51 (later General Manager No4 Area Warwickshire)
• Ben Kendall (1944) Sub-Area Manager 1952-53
• Geo P Thompson (2914) 1952-54
• AG Douthwaite 1954-57
• Len Gross (2351) 1957
• Frank T Murphy (4644) 1958-59

Managers for Grass Moor: (Grassmoor from c1949)

• Benjamin Bamford (1492 s) Manager 1879-1891
• TD Atkinson (1929) Manager 1891-1919 promoted to Agent
• John W Lamondby (4147) Manager 1919-1923 and Agent 1923-1927
• EL Ford (3984) Manager and Agent 1928-1935, RH Swallow (2557) Manager 1935-1937 promoted to Agent
• WF Tunnicliffe (2730) Manager 1937-1944 (transferred to Manager Glasshoughton and Castleford, Agent -1946, Deputy Area General Manager No8 Castleford Area North East Div 1947, later Area Production Manager, Area General Manager No4 Carlton Area 1959-1964, Deputy Production Director Yorkshire 1964-1967)
• RH Swallow (2557) Manager 1947-1950
• William H Southern (2602) Manager 1950-1955 (transferred to Morton)
• Peter I Allsop (5283) 1955-1956 (promoted from Undermanager)

Markham, transferred to Manager Ramcroft)

• Charlie L Round (5437) Manager 1957-1960 (appointed Sub-Area Manager)
• Jock Gillespie (2090) 1960-1964
• Glynn Wynn Rogers (5313) Manager 1964-1967.

Deputy Managers:

• John T Nicholson (8665) 1967 (promoted from Assistant to Manager Lady Victoria, Lothians, transferred to Deputy Manager Pleasley).

Undermanagers for Grass Moor:

• (Grassmoor from c1949) David Knight No1 pre 1877-1900
• No1 Isaac Hartshorn (2nd) 1900-1925
• S Holmes (2nd) No6 1902-1904
• Paul Wheatcroft (2nd) No2 pre 1877-1923
• Arthur Saxton (2nd) No4 pre 1877-1912 and later also No5 -1900
• J Wheeldon No5 1900-1918
• George Austin (2nd) No3 pre 1877-1893 to No6 1893-1899
• Jos Godber (2nd) No3 1893-1919, and also No9 1902-1909 and No12 1919-1923
• William Cowley No6 1899-1902
• Geo Godfrey (2nd) No4 1912-1915
• B Dooley (2nd) No4 1915-1916
• James Austin (2nd) No4 1917-1925
• HW James (2nd) No8/No11 1918-1927 then No12 1927-1928 then No8/No12 1928-30
• WH Hudson (2nd) No1 1925-1930 and to No2/No8 1930-
• TM Hudson (2nd) No4 1925-
• C Barlow (2nd) No2 1923-1924
• Arthur Holmes (2nd) No2 1925-1928
• A Needham (2nd) No8 1927-1928 then No2 1928-30
• J Reaney (2nd) No12 1923-1927
• Henry Curry (2nd) No1/No4 1930-1933 then No8/No12 1933-1937, No12 1938-1943
• Geo A Sellars (226) No12 1930-1931, No2/No4 1932-1937
• RH Swallow (2557) No12 1931-1932 then No1/No4 1933-1935 (promoted to Manager)
• WF Tunnicliffe (2730) No1 1934-1937 (promoted from Overman, promoted to Manager)
• F Sharpe (2nd) No8 1934-1937 then No1 1937-1939
• CE Staples (2nd) No4/No8 1938-1940, No4 1940-1945 and 1947-1953
• GPS Withnall (2nd) No1 1940-1943
• Sid C Carter (2979) No1 1942-1946 (promoted to Manager Park House)
• T Grassick (2nd) No12 1941-1951
• Jock Gillespie (2090) No4 1944-1953
• RMPC Ballantyne (2nd) No1 1947-1951
• Charlie H Glasby (5672) 1956-1957 (promoted to Deputy Manager Kirkby)
• Fred Oldfield (4397) 1957-?
• C Baxby (7375) 1964-1967.

Surveyors included: ..

• HW Needham
• HD Randall (689) -1940s
• Malcolm S Hardy (2628) (transferred to Arkwright).

Fatal Accidents Grassmoor
See previous list.

• Richard Wheatley (?) powder blast 12/10/1852
• Charles Newbold (15) run over by a loco on the surface 17/5/1889
• Bernard Hector Eyre (55) hit by a girder 6/10/1959
• Robert Saxton (50) fall of roof ?/4/1944, died 7/5/1966

Colliery Closures in 1967

Denby Pottery Clay Mine (Derbyshire) (J Bourne and Sons Ltd) Deep Soft 3’ 11½” (1.2m), fireclay 4’ 8” (1.42m), some opencast to the east in 1962, worked to the south prior to 1863, new part started 1949, closed 23rd March 1967. Mining had begun in 1808 when a coal seam with a bed of extremely good clay was discovered.
Manager: ND Wood.

Pits Closed Or Merged

In accordance with the Labour Government’s White Paper on Fuel Policy the industry’s capacity was reduced and 62 pits were closed or merged.

No6 shaft at Babbington (South Nottinghamshire) was filled and capped.

Shot Firing Off The Solid

Shot firing off the solid in stable holes was introduced in 1967. A fan pattern of shot holes was drilled. Previously coal had to be undercut.

Dead Man’s Handle Fitted To Chocks

A safety device called a dead man’s handle was fitted to chocks in 1967. The ‘Stockport valve’ proved successful at Bentinck, but did not catch on. Phase IV control valves, a new type, with 10 operating positions including split raise and lower etc were tried on 13 converted chocks at Ollerton. The first full face was operational at Silverhill in 1967. (All in Nottinghamshire).

Silverhill Connection To Pleasley

An emergency connection was made from Silverhill (North Nottinghamshire) to Pleasley (North Derbyshire) at the Deep Hard horizon, close to Pleasley pit bottom. This type of connection allowed pits to do safety work such as rope changes etc without the need to restrict the number of men underground that could be between 9 and 20 odd when one shaft was closed temporarily.

Surface Drifts

The surface drift at Bentinck (South Nottinghamshire) was completed down to the Blackshale seam in May 1967. It was 2,200 yards (2012m) long 16/17 x 12ft (4.9/5.2 x 3.65m) arches dipping at 1in4.2 and intersected the Waterloo and Tupton seam workings. The Cementation Co Ltd was the contractor doing 1,700 ft (518m) of concrete lining through 700ft (213m) of waterlogged ground. The Blackshale was developed in 1966 and the Waterloo working was abandoned. Restrictions were imposed in this seam due to the new M1 motorway where no undermining was allowed and large areas were sterilised as a pillar of support for the road.

The surface drifts at Pye Hill (Nottinghamshire) 862 yards (788m), and Ormonde were completed also. However at Ormonde (Derbyshire) in April one of the two main north headings in the Piper seam struck a 6 foot (1.8m) fault and there was an inrush of water.

Glapwell and Bramley Vale drift were merged (North Derbyshire).

Coal Taken From Ollerton To Bevercotes For Visit By Duke Of Edinburgh

The Duke of Edinburgh made an underground visit to Bevercotes (North Nottinghamshire) on 13th July 1967. However there was no coal production being done at the pit due to problems, and coal from nearby Ollerton was imported and put into the system so that the Duke could see how the coal was transported on the conveyors and sent to the Coal Preparation Plant! (That was the ‘Gypsy’s warning’).

Calverton

The first Dintheader designed and developed by Bretby MRDE for dinting and low height heading in coal and soft stone headings was installed at Calverton (South Nottinghamshire). AS FIDD arm shearer introduced.

Bentinck

An AS (Anderson Strathclyde) RH 22 Roadheader / MkIIA Roadheader converted to water-jet assistance by Dosco, was installed at Bentinck (South Nottinghamshire).