Woodside - Opened 1889 Closed 1966.
Woodside Colliery by 1991, not much remained i.e. the Piper Winder/infrastructure, was in use as a minewater pumping station. The crane to the left was involved in bringing up the huge submersible pumps for maintenance, the work being carried out jointly by contractors and British Coal staff from Annesley Bentinck mine. After privatisation, RJB Mining (now UK Coal) demolished the supposedly preserved headstocks in what can only be described as an act of vandalism. |
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The winding wheels were sold to another ex-mining area (Bassetlaw, I believe). These were the smaller wheels fitted for the pumping operation, not the original cage winding wheels that had been removed years previously.
To this day, UK Coal continue to blame the Coal Authority for the demolition, basically because it turned out to be a major P.R. blunder, now that they want to start opencasting in the area again.
100 years of local mining history gone.
Ironically, the pumps have had to be switched back on (and will have to for the forseeable future), and now there is no winding gear to assist in their maintenance. |
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