Silksworth Colliery, Surface Buildings and Plant.
I started work at Silksworth Colliery on 5th September 1949. The Manager who started me was W D Pratt who had brothers and other relations living in Fence Houses, where I was born and lived.
The colliery had been originally owned by Lord Londonderry but was later sold to the Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Colliery Company, who owned it at the time of nationalisation, on the 1st January, 1947. The colliery was closed for a period of time during the Second World War but I do not know the dates of closure or the reasons.
Silksworth was at that time considered to be a ‘modern’ colliery and was one of the first to have electricity at 6,600 volts underground.
Because I did not live in Silksworth, I was often referred to as ‘a foreigner’.
I spent the first four months on the surface as ‘shop boy’ so I got to know the surface buildings and plant very well. As I recall there were the following:
A downcast shaft which was sub-divided by a ‘brattish’. The shaft was sunk to the Harvey seam level, approximately 2,032 feet from the surface. On one side of the brattish No 3 winding engine drew coal with two cages from the Hutton seam level. The cages had four decks and could hold eight tubs of coal, each of 10 hundredweight. When the cage was used for riding men each deck could hold eight men or thirty-two for the cage. The cages also served intermediate levels in the shaft - the Pump Room (served by the ‘wall side’ cage only), Five Quarter seam and Maudlin seam. The shaft signalling system did not operate from the Pump Room and there was no telephone there.
At the other side of the brattish No 2 winding engine operated two cages which carried men and materials and operated to the Harvey seam. The cages were similar in size to those operated by No 3 winding engine and they served intermediate levels in the shaft - Five Quarter seam, Maudlin seam and Hutton seam. Coal produced from the Harvey seam was also wound up the shaft by this winding engine.
An upcast shaft in which No 1 winding engine wound men and materials with two cages of a similar size to those in the downcast shaft. The shaft was sunk to the Hutton seam but the cages only operated to the Maudlin seam, serving the Five Quarter seam also. This was known as the ‘smokey’ shaft because, when the shaft was first sunk, there was a furnace at the bottom of the shaft to provide the ventilation throughout the workings.
A ventilation fan sucked the foul air from the upcast shaft so that fresh air was then drawn down the downcast shaft.
The ventilation fan was located in a building known as the ‘Power Station’ which was about 40 yards from the upcast shaft. The fan was driven by a 400 brake horse-power, 6,600 volt electric motor and there was also available a standby steam engine of Bellis and Morcom manufacture.
The Power Station had at one time housed steam-powered electricity generating plant when the colliery was owned by Lord Londonderry but this plant had all been removed when I went there in 1949. The part of the building which housed the generating plant was then used as a store for large pieces of equipment, new wire ropes etc. It also housed a spare air compressor, powered by a 300 brake horse-power electric motor and also the 6,600 volt switchgear (of Reyrolle manufacture) which fed surface and underground locations. An upstairs room and gallery housed the switchgear (also of Reyrolle manufacture), for the incoming electricity supply for the colliery at 20,000 volts, obtained from North Eastern Electricity Board.
In the part of the building which housed the ventilation fan there was also an air compressor, powered by a 400 brake horse-power electric motor, the electric motor being generally similar to that for the ventilation fan.
In another part of the Power Station building there was a steam driven winding engine, known as a ‘crab’ engine which was used for shaft maintenance, changing cages, wire ropes etc. This engine has been preserved and is now at the North of England Museum at Beamish.
I often wondered if this engine had been used to sink the two shafts.
Underneath the Power Station there was a series of passages which were used to carry electric cables and compressed air pipes to the downcast shaft and thence down the pit.
There was a Boiler House with six (I think) Lancashire boilers, a hoist for coal handling, a hoist for ash handling and a water softening plant associated with the boiler house. The water supply for the boilers came from a storage reservoir on the hill at Gilley Law and this was supplied from a pump at the Five Quarter seam at the downcast shaft. The pump obtained its supply from the sand-bed underneath the magnesian limestone. The water was abstracted in the downcast shaft at the Pump Room and fed down, by pipe, to the pump at the Five Quarter seam below.
There were ‘Screens’ to sort the coal, the small coal was sent to the ‘Dry Cleaning Plant’ where it was cleaned, some of it going to the boilers to raise steam. The remainder of the coal went to the picking belts where the stone was removed by hand. The cleaned coal from the picking belts and the dry cleaner was tipped into trucks and was then weighed on a weigh-bridge before being taken away on the railway line to Sunderland.
There were many other buildings:
Lamp Cabin - for the charging and servicing of the miner's lamps. Battery operated cap lamps, of ‘Oldham’ manufacture were in use in 1949. There were also flame safety lamps, used for gas detection, for the miners and machine operators, and smaller safety lamps for ‘officials’. At a later date, about 1953 ‘Ringrose’ battery powered gas detectors were introduced.
Timber Yard for the storage of pit props, hardwood chocks, planks and railway sleepers for use underground. It was also used to store steel ‘arch girders’ and ‘corrugated straps’ of various sizes. Bent and distorted straps and arches, which were sent out of the pit, could be straightened in a hydraulic straightening press that was located at the top of the timber yard.
Stores - for the issue of store items for the mechanics and electricians and also for use underground.
Blacksmith's Shop.
Fitting Shop with an area partitioned off as a Joiner's Shop.
Electrician's Shop.
Burner's Workshop.
Electric Welder's Workshop.
Saddler's Workshop which also served as a workshop for the Painter and Sign Writer.
Tub Repair Shop.
Pneumatic Pick Sharpener's Shop.
Shaftsmen's Cabin.
Ropemen's Cabin.
Stable for Pit Pony.
Laboratory.
Gas Testing House where those preparing to be shot-firers or deputies had to recognise ‘gas caps’ of various percentages of coal gas.
Salt House - used to store rock salt for use on the roadways in the pit yard during frosty weather.
Conveyer Fitter's and Pipe Fitter's Workshop.
Cooling Pond - I never really found out what this had been used for but I presume that it was used in conjunction with the Power Station generating plant. Alternatively, it may have been used for cooling water for the air compressor. It was always full of water when I remember it.
Hydraulic Prop Repair Shop - this was set up about 1951 to maintain the ‘Dowty’ hydraulic pit props.
Oil Store.
Masons Shop.
Pug Mill - here they made the black cement that was widely used for bricklaying underground.
Wood Store and Sawmill.
Stemming House - where clay ‘stemming’ was made for charging the shot holes underground at the coal face.
Choppy House - this stored chopped hay (known as ‘choppy’) which was used to feed the underground pit ponies. The choppy was prepared at the Granary at Bunker Hill, Philadelphia, and brought in by rail wagon to this store.
Loco Shed - there was normally one small steam loco housed here.
Underground Air Raid Shelter.
Garage - used to house the Ambulance and the coal delivery wagon. There was always an ambulance stationed at Silksworth, in later years it provided cover for Herrington Colliery also.
Powder House - for the storage and issue of explosives and detonators for use underground.
Weigh Cabin - to weigh the tubs of coal coming out of the pit.
Token Cabin.
Pit Pond - this was used to receive the minewater which was pumped out of the pit. All this water was pumped from a pump located in the Hutton Seam engine-house which was near to the downcast shaft. Here there was a centrifugal pump, powered by an 80 brake horse-power, 3,300 volt electric motor which pumped from a ‘dam’ into which water from all parts of the pit had been pumped. There was a standby pump and electric motor available in the engine-house (normally neither were connected).
There was a ‘steam drift’ which went down underneath the stone heap and came out at the pit pond, known as ‘the twenty acre’ pond. The steam drift carried the pipes for the minewater and also a 500 volt electric cable to supply a pump beside the pond, known as ‘the twenty acre pump’, but I never fully understood what this pump was used for. My comments regarding the cooling pond should be noted here also as the two items may be related.
Stone Heap - the stone heap at Silksworth was quite extensive and there was a system of conveyors to carry the stone from the downcast shaft. In later years two large dump-trucks were used to convey the stone to the tipping area.
Mechanics Time Office - where the colliery mechanics clocked in and out.
Colliery Office for Clerks, Colliery Manager and Undermanager.
Stables - for two cart horses and two pit ponies which were used on the surface (mainly in the Timber Yard). These were used on two shifts - 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.. The ponies that I can remember were called ‘Bluey’ and ‘Banker’. I believe that there were also stables to accomodate any ponies that had to be brought out from the underground stables when they were unwell. The stables were located at ‘the Farm’. Mr Robson, the Engineer, lived here. There was also a farm cottage, which was actually only about 20 yards from the Electrician's shop, where Ernie Swinburn lived.
There were two small fields where the ponies and horses could graze. One of the fields was also used as the football pitch for the Mechanics football team.
Pit Head Baths.
Pit Row - a row of about 14 houses adjacent to the colliery which housed the Undermanagers and other colliery officials. The houses had been built originally to accomodate the ‘sinkers’ who sank the two shafts of the colliery. The street is now called ‘Gilley Law Terrace’.
Canteen.
Medical Centre - this was built about 1951 and was said at the time to be of such a standard that operations could be carried out in it. There was a full-time Nursing Sister during the day time and First Aid Attendents during the night-shift and at week-ends.
Silksworth Colliery - Steam.
I worked at Silksworth from 1949 - 1953 and also from 1955 to 1959. The information on the steam engines and boilers, which I can recall, is as follows:
Boilers.
A bank of six Lancashire boilers provided the steam for the colliery. Coal was fed in by means of an elevator after having been tipped from railway wagons. The coal was small coal obtained from the colliery's ‘dry cleaner’.
Water was supplied from a reservoir, located at the top of Gilley Law, quite close to the Colliery Manager's house. The water supply for the reservoir came from the sand bed underneath the magnesian limestone. An electrically driven pump at the Five Quarter seam pumped water up the downcast shaft and to the reservoir. Water from the reservoir was fed, by gravity, to a water softening plant which was located adjacent to the boilers. Part of the Water Softener Attendant's duties was to walk up to the reservoir to check the level and arrange for the necessary pumping to keep it supplied. He also used to switch the street lamp on and off at the end of Pit Row (now Gilley Law Terrace).
Winding Engines.
There were three winding engines, known as No 1, No 2 and No 3.
No 1 Winding Engine worked in the upcast shaft and worked to the Maudlin Seam with an intermediate level at the Five Quarter seam. There was a store in which rock salt was kept, known as the ‘salt house’, located underneath the stairs leading up into the engine house.
The shaft signalling equipment was manufactured by ATM.
The engine-men that I remember were:
Michael Dunn
Frank Dunn
Jack Davison
No 2 Winding Engine was in the downcast shaft and worked to the Harvey seam with levels at the Five Quarter, Maudlin and Hutton Seam also.
At one time there was a mechanism at the rear of one of the engine cylinders which operated a pump located in a ‘staple-shaft’ outside the rear of the engine house. This mechanism was put into use when the winding engine was not being used and the engine was then used to pump water. I presume that this was fresh water being pumped out of the sand bed underneath the magnesian limestone and that the water was pumped to the reservoir at Gilley Law. At one time Silksworth Colliery had its own power station to generate electricity for the colliery. The water requirements would therefore have been much greater to supply the boilers. Alternatively this pumping arrangement may have been used before the electrically driven pump was installed at the Five Quarter level.
The shaft signalling equipment was manufactured by ATM.
The engine-men that I remember were:
Bob White
Bob Austin
George Ferry
No 3 Winding Engine also worked in the downcast shaft - the shaft was divided across its diameter by a wooden ‘brattish’ throughout the full depth of the shaft. No 2 engine worked with two cages on the eastern side of the brattish and No 3 engine worked on the western side with two cages. No 3 engine worked to the Hutton Seam which was where the coal output was drawn from. The engine also worked to the intermediate levels at the Five Quarter and Maudlin seams. In addition there was also an inset known as the ‘pump-hole’ which was about 300 feet below the surface and was at the level of the sand bed underneath the magnesian limestone. The lining of the shaft up to this point was done with cast iron sections, known as ‘tubbing’ in order to keep the water out of the shaft. The remainder of the shaft was lined with brick.
Cocks were let into the cast iron sections at the pump hole-level so that water could be abstracted and used - some for the underground water supply and some to be pumped to the surface from the Five Quarter pump which was below this level. Access to the pump-hole was only possible from one of the two cages and you had to jump across a gap in the shaft to get there. There was no telephone and no shaft signalling system at this point - to signal to the engine-man it was necessary to hammer on a heavy metal plate about 2 feet in diameter, known as a ‘gong’.
This winding engine had a conical drum for the winding ropes.
There was a crack in the bed-plate of this engine and it had been repaired many years before by pouring molten lead into it. There was a telephone line from the engine house to the boiler house so that the engine-man could telephone and inform the boiler house if the steam pressure became low and was affecting engine performance.
The shaft signalling equipment was manufactured by ATM.
The engine-men that I remember were:
Tom Davidson
Billy Davidson
Mick Davidson.
Other Steam engines.
As already mentioned there had been a steam powered power station to generate electricity. I was never able to find any information about this.
There were two other steam engines:
Main Ventilating Fan Steam Engine.
The main ventilating fan was driven by a 400 brake horse power electric motor. However in the event of a breakdown in the electricity supply or any problems with the electric motor then the drive could be transferred to a steam engine of Bellis and Morcom manufacture and the fan could be driven from that. I presume that the power output and the revolutions per minute of the steam engine matched those of the electric motor.
‘Crab’ Steam Engine.
There was a small steam powered engine known as a ‘crab’ which was used when cages or winding engine wire ropes were being changed. This engine was saved when the colliery closed and is now at the North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish.
Builders of Silksworth Colliery Steam Engines.
No 1 Winding Engine - manufactured by Worsley Mesnes Co, of Wigan.
No 2 Winding Engine - manufactured by Andrew Barclay & Co, of Kilmarnock.
This engine worked at a lower steam pressure than No 1 and No 3 engines.
No 3 Winding Engine - manufactured by The Grange Iron Company of Gilesgate, Durham.
This engine had cylinders of 48 inches in diameter with a stroke of 7 foot.
The Grange Iron Company’s works were established in 1867 on the site of the old Grange Colliery near Gilesgate, Durham. Previous to this the company had taken over the works of W. Coulson, Crossgate, Durham. The Grange Iron Company manufactured all kinds of steam engines, machinery, and colliery plant and in 1894 Whellan’s “Historical and Topographical Directory of County Durham” said that the company was then giving employment to about 600 men. Near to the Ironworks was the Grange Foundry Inn, a public house which is still there.
The directory lists the following.
Harry Lawrence, Manager.
R. Matt. Ogle, Assistant Manager.
William Rennie, Secretary to Iron Co, Bellvue Terrace.
George Harry Winspear, Cashier.
William Taylor, Grange Foundry Inn.
Another steam winding engine manufactured by the Grange Company is that at the Washington ‘F’ pit and this engine is preserved in situ in the engine-house which is operated as a museum by Tyne & Wear Museums Service. An electric motor drive has been added to the engine to show the engine working for visitors. This engine was manufactured by the Grange Company in 1888 and installed at Washington in 1903. The engine developed about 500 brake horse power and was fitted with the Grange’s patent expansion valve gear in order to conserve in the use of steam and, of course, coal.
Silksworth Colliery - Underground.
Silksworth Colliery was considered to be a modern colliery when I went to work there in 1949.
There had recently been installed a conveyer belt 42 inches wide and 1,200 yards long. It was powered by an 80 brake horse-power electric motor and brought the coal from the Main Coal, Maudlin and West Hutton seams to about 1 mile from the shaft bottom from where the coal was loaded into tubs and taken via an ‘endless’ haulage system to the bottom of the downcast shaft at the Hutton seam. The conveyer was said to be the largest in the world at that time. An article describing the installation of the conveyor appeared in the September 1949 issue of Iron and Coal Trades Review.
The colliery had been equipped with a number of ‘Meco-Moore’ cutter-loaders but their use had been discontinued when I went underground in 1950. The coal was largely produced by hand filling on to conveyor belts following undercutting by Anderson Boyes type AB15 longwall cutting machines. In later years ‘flighters’ were used to load the coal on to the conveyor belts and then ‘Anderton Shearers’ and ‘ploughs’ were introduced. These were mounted on armoured flexible conveyors (AFC’s).
The colliery had been one of the first to have electricity at 6,600 volts supplied underground.
In the days of private ownership, as a Londonderry Colliery, the colliery had generated its own electricity, but this had ceased and electricity supplies were taken from the North Eastern Electricity Board when I started work there. There were duplicate supplies going down the shafts, either one of which could supply all the underground workings. Additionally there were duplicate supplies fed to a big sub-station located about 1½ miles from the shaft bottom alongside the 42 inch wide conveyer belt.
The colliery was preparing for the development of the Harvey seam with ‘loco roads’ and also a loco road was being driven from the upcast shaft at the Maudlin level which would intercept the seams of coal as it travelled inbye. This road was at a depth of 1,355 feet below Ordinance Datum and was therefore called ‘the 1355 horizon’. One of the stonemen who was driving the drift was called Ned Pearson, so the road was commonly called ‘Pearson's Drift’.
In readiness for the loco roadways coming into use the colliery took delivery of two ‘Hunslet’ diesel locomotives but it was a number of years before they were put into use. From the time of delivery they were stored in the Power Station for a long time.
I was told that the colliery had closed for a period during the Second World War. When preparations were being made to re-open it Shaftsmen were sent down on the top of the cage in No 1 shaft (the upcast shaft) in order to examine the shaft. As the cage was descending it stuck in the shaft (said to be due to the amount of dust which had collected on the shaft guides whilst the colliery had been closed) and it was only the quick thinking of the Banksman, who had seen the winding rope go very slack, in signalling to the engineman to stop lowering the cage and then bring it back to the surface, who saved the Shaftsmen's lives.
The colliery was producing about 12,000 tons of coal each week from the following seams:
Maudlin Seam - Second South district with three working faces, 3rd East, 3rd West and
4th East.
I believe that the 3rd West faces had been used for the Meco-Moore machines at one
time.
The 4th East face was said to be working the area of coal in the vicinity of Stoneygate
Waterworks, near Houghton-le-Spring.
Main Coal - This was opening out in 1950 and quite quickly there were three working
faces. The seam of coal was about 6 feet high with a stone ‘band’ in the middle. The
thickness of this band increased as the faces advanced so the coal always tended to have
a percentage of stone with it.
West Hutton - There were two working faces - 2nd West and 3rd West and another face,
4th West opened about 1952.
Crosscut - Coal was produced here using pneumatic picks and hand filling into tubs. The
coal was brought outbye to ‘North West’ with a 300 brake horse-power, main and tail
hauler (known as the ‘300 horse hauler’). From North West it travelled via the endless
haulage system to the downcast shaft bottom.
North Barrier - Coal was produced here using pneumatic picks and hand filling into tubs.
Later about 1952 a longwall face was opened. The coal was brought outbye with the 300
horse-power hauler.
Low Main - There were two longwall faces and the coal was brought outbye with the
Hutton seam shaft hauler (400 brake horse-power).
North West Hutton - This opened up with one face and the coal was brought out on to the
42 inch conveyer belt.
Harvey - Development work in the Harvey seam meant that new roadways were driven,
the shaft was deepened (possibly down to about the Busty seam level). A production
face was opened up (possibly about 1954). This coal was drawn up the downcast shaft by No 2 winding engine.
In order to improve the ventilation for the Maudlin and Main Coal faces a booster ventilation fan (of ‘Sirocco’ manufacture) had been installed inbye during 1949.
There was a man-riding haulage system in the Maudlin seam which carried men about 1½ miles inbye. There was one stop, at North West which was about half way on the journey. Even with this it was still about a further mile to travel to 4th East which was the farthest working face from the shaft bottom. The man-riding hauler was driven by a 400 brake horse-power electric motor. The roadway travelled around a very big curve which had been supported with a large amount of brickwork. Because of the large cost of construction this curve was always known as ‘the Golden Curve’. Near to this there was an old roadway which was called ‘the police’s hat’ because of its unusual contour.
Silksworth colliery was not directly connected to any other colliery underground. The nearest workings may have been Houghton or Eppleton Colliery in one direction and Ryhope in another.
The Low Main workings were said to be underneath Grindon. When the Harvey seam developed there was quite a lot of problems with mining subsidence in Silksworth itself.
Silksworth was a ‘dry’ pit and there was not very much problem with water. All the water encountered was pumped out to the Hutton seam shaft bottom and into a dam from where the big pump in the Hutton seam Engine house pumped it to the surface and into the pit pond.
When I first went down the pit I became very interested in the shaft ‘tubbing’ (cast iron lining segments which extend from about the surface to about 300 feet down the shaft) and the reasons for its use. I discovered that this was used where the shaft was driven through the water-bearing strata and that this was a layer of magnesian limestone underneath which there was a sand-bed. The colliery extracted fresh water from this which was fed down to the Five Quarter seam. Here some of the water was fed into a large metal tank (or ‘cistern’) and this was used to feed into a pipe-range which went inbye into all parts of the pit where it was used for dust-supression, for the ponies in the stables and in an emergency for fire-fighting purposes. A further quantity of the water that was abstracted was pumped up to the surface from the Five Quarter seam and went into the reservoir at Gilley Law for use in the colliery boilers (and probably in the Pit Head Baths also).
From this time on I have had a big interest in the history of the local water supplies.
Stoneygate, Ryhope, Cleadon and Fulwell pumping stations together with others belonging to Sunderland & South Shields Water Company (now Northumbrian Water), together with a number of industrial supplies pump out of the same water-bearing strata.
Modernisation.
Silksworth Pit, 87 Years Old, Now a Showpiece of Co Durham.
The complete reconstruction of Silksworth Colliery is in its final stages - and only the last touches remain to be applied to what is now a showpiece among the coal winning centres of the North-East.
The colliery, which first started producing coal in 1872, is one of the oldest pits in East Durham. Now it has been given a new life to produce even more coal.
Electrification has been the keynote for the modernisation scheme which has led to the ousting of steam as a primary driving force in the colliery, the provision of a new coal washer capable of dealing with the colliery’s entire output, and a number of underground improvements which have added greatly to the efficiency of coal handling.
The colliery is now one of the most modern in the Durham Division.
The steam winders which served the three shafts have gone and electric winders installed in their places during successive holiday periods.
The first to be electrified was at the up-cast shaft on which most of the men at the colliery rode. The second shaft was, in fact, one partitioned into two. As part of the scheme the division was taken out and the new winder installed was designed for automatic control. This means that all the operator has to do to initiate a wind is to push a button. Semi-automatic and manual control are also available with this system.
The driver can control speed accurately at all points in the shaft and there is also a device which ensures that the speed is within safety limits at all times.
There has been a change, too, in the method of winding. Previously it was done in ten-hundredweight tubs, winding eight tubs at a time. Now this has been replaced with skip winding with 7.5 ton capacity skips.
The installation of the new winder at this shaft meant that new headgear had to be erected - a 150-feet high concrete structure which was built over and around the existing gear.
During the pit holidays this year about 240 tons of steel had to be removed from the headgear and the guide framework for the skips on each side of the shaft to be installed before work on the new headgear could go ahead.
The new washery has a capacity to deal with 275 tons of coal an hour. It was designed to deal with the whole of the pit’s output which is wholly for the London and South of England gas trade and is known as mixed gas coal. The washery replaced the old dry-cleaning unit in March of last year.
Underground, new locomotive roads have been driven in at two main levels - 2,000 feet and 1,600 feet - and alterations were made so that the whole of the output from the lower level is fed into mine cars at one loading point.
At the upper level the output has been centred at two loading points and in both cases the coal is loaded into 2.5-ton capacity mine cars which are hauled to and from the loading points in trains of 24 by battery-electric locomotives.
The locomotive roads were driven in by the men, who normally work at the colliery, at two entirely new levels the roads stretch for several miles. At the upper level - from which about three-quarters of the output now comes - the traffic is controlled by automatic coloured light signals and the road junctions have been planned with the accent on ventilation and fire prevention efficiency.
The new roads are arched and measure 15 feet by 10 feet and to a large extent are supported with steel arches and concrete lining. The size of the arch has enabled a doubled track to be laid so that there is two-way traffic of full and empty trains.
Underground power loading has been introduced and it is estimated that 70 per cent of the output is now power-loaded.
Silksworth is now among the first collieries to have the ‘plough’ - one of the most up-to-date coalcutting machines - at work in its depths and it is rapidly proving itself a worthwhile investment.
The principal merit, apart from coal getting, is that while there is a more rapid advancement of the face there is almost an accompanying opportunity of better control of the roof.
After the electric winders were installed and the existing boiler system was scrapped, a more compact collection of oil-fired boilers was put up to supply the pithead baths with hot water and for general heating of the buildings at the colliery. A new access road has been put in from the main Silksworth - Herrington road and a spacious car park provided.
The present office accomodation is to remain with only minor modifications.
From: Sunderland Echo, Tuesday 1st December 1959.
Silksworth Colliery - Fatal Accidents.
Brief notes on some fatal accidents which occurred at Silksworth Colliery.
16th December 1871 - Thomas Storey, age 31, a Sinker at Silksworth. Killed following falling off a cradle in sinking the shaft. (1) (2)
19th March 1875 - William Wigham, age 38, a Fitter at Silksworth. Fell out of the cage and was killed. (1) (2)
23rd May1877 - Anthony Hall, age 13, Wailer at Silksworth. Run over by full wagons. He had left his work and went to waggons on the branches, where he had no business. (1)
8th November 1877 - George Rawlings, age 22, Collier at Silksworth. Severely injured by fall of stone, died 5th December, 1877. (1)
24th November 1879 - Robert Dunn, age 13, Trapper at Silksworth, was badly injured by being run over on a self-acting incline while attempting to cross. He died on 14th December, 1879. (1)
26th January 1880 - John Wyatt, age 29, Collier at Silksworth. Killed as a result of a fall of stone whilst he was working in a broken jud. (1)
10th February 1882 - James Binns, age 24, a Putter at Silksworth. His head was crushed between a plank and the tub top. (1)
1st April 1882 - Ralph Gowland, age 30, Onsetter at Silksworth. The cage struck a guide at
bank, which fell to the bottom of the shaft and struck him on his legs and body killing him. (1)
18th August 1884 - William Crawley, age 60, Screener at Silksworth. He was crushed between a wagon and the screen gearing. (1)
12th September 1884. William Millington, age 48, Hewer at Silksworth. Killed as a result of a
fall of a large stone from a slip close to the working face. (1)
24th July 1885 - Frank McLeod, age 17, Putter at Silksworth. He was crushed between tubs
when an empty tub ran amain. He died on 8th September 1885. (1)
11th October 1886 - John Carter, age 64, Stoneman at Silksworth. Killed as a result of a fall of
stone whilst renewing timber. (1)
26th January 1887 - William Cutter, age 16, Run-rider at Silksworth. The engine set got off the
way at a crossing and drew out some timber causing a fall of stone which killed him. (1)
22nd March 1887 - John Adams, age 13, Driver at Silksworth. His pony ran away and the tub
had jumped the way and appeared to have run over him. (1)
31st January 1888 - James Magee, age 34, Coal Hewer at Silksworth. In bringing a full tub
down an incline it overpowered him, and he was thrown down, run over and killed. (1)
26th August 1888 - Thomas Greenwell, age 23, Coal Hewer at Silksworth. He died after having
two broken legs, one of which had been amputated, following an accident on 10th May 1887, when he was injured as a result of a fall of coal. (1)
30th March 1889 - William James, age 47, Shaftman at Silksworth. While assisting to take a steam boiler down the pit he slipped and fell into the sump and was drowned. (1)
31st July 1889 - John Bland are 45, Stoneman at Silksworth. It was alleged that he died from the effects of fumes caused by the use of roburite, but the doctor certified the cause of death to be inflammation of the lungs, the result of a chill.
28th November 1889 - William Hedley, age 76, not employed at Silksworth. While trespassing on a private branch railway, he was knocked down by a locomotive engine and died a few hours later. (1)
10th December 1889 - John Marshall, age 40, Horsekeeper at Silksworth. Alleged that he
received injuries to his knee by being kicked by a horse, two weeks earlier. He died from pneumonia, the result of a cold. (1)
4th January 1890 - John Tulley, age 58, Wasteman at Silksworth. He received an injury from a fall of stone in May 1889. He worked from October to the end of December, and died from inflamation of the bowels, the result of cold and not from the accident. (1)
12th July 1894 - Michael Martin, age 57, Hewer at Silksworth. He was killed as a result of the
fall of a large stone from a slip in a broken jud. (1)
26th September 1895 - Robert Wynn, age 14, Driver at Silksworth. A horse slipped and fell,
causing the tub to cant over, and it crushed him against the side. He ought not to have
been riding on the tub. (1)
24th April 1896 - William Davies, age 69, Storekeeper at Silksworth. Whilst he and another man were carrying a piece of wood, he caught his foot in a cage hoop and fell;
the wood fell on his abdomen and he died in Sunderland Royal Infirmary on 27th July 1896. (1)
5th August 1896 - Thomas Knox, age 59, Master Shifter at Silksworth. He was riding up a drift on a full set when he fell among the tubs, and was so severely injured that he died five hours afterwards. (1)
18th February 1897 - John Blaney Ainscough, age 14, Driver at Silksworth. He was driving a set
of three full tubs, when the first two got off the way, and his head was crushed between
the first tub and a prop. (1)
12th March 1897 - George Willis Hodgson, age 12, Driver at Silksworth. He was crushed
between a full tub and a prop in a flat. He was warned to get out of the way. (1)
12th November 1897 - Philip Towns, age 12, Trapper a Silksworth. He was riding a pony out-bye when he fell and fractured his skull againgst a rail, from which he died. (1) (2)
25th September 1933 – Fatal accident to Albert Amos, aged 20, and a pit pony who were killed outright, and to Reuben Frecker who died the following day in Sunderland Infirmary, after a set of eight tubs became loose and rushed an incline trapping the boys and the pony. Thomas Large (21) and Robert Billinghurst (22) had managed to jump clear and were treated for severe shock before being sent home. (2)
29th April 1949 Fatal accident to Peter Wilson Turbin, aged 32, a fan attendant who was killed by the inspection door of the main ventilation fan closing on him as was going to do his inspection of the fan. The accident occurred on a Sunday afternoon. (3)
c 1951 Fatal accident to a stoneman in North West Hutton whilst driving a new road when the
district was being developed. The man was hit on the back of the neck by a lump of stone which fell from the roof. (3)
1952 Fatal accident to a face worker in West Hutton seam (2nd North or 3rd North). The man
was struck by the revolving coal cutter chain and picks. (3)
c 1952 Fatal accident to a man working on the endless roadway at the Hutton seam shaft bottom.
He was crushed by a tub. (3)
4th October1954 Fatal accident to an underground locomotive driver in the Harvey seam. The man, William Edward Lambert Hodgson, aged 32, was driving an ‘Atlas’ battery operated locomotive which was pushing a number of tubs. The first of the tubs carried a steel ventilation tube which became dislodged and crushed the driver. (3)
2nd December 1958 fatal accident to an underground haulage worker, William Griffiths, aged 33. He was crushed against the side of a wall by tubs. (2)
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c 1954 there was a serious accident when the winding rope broke on No 2 winding engine and the cage fell to the bottom of the shaft and went into the sump. The accident happened on a Saturday morning at about 4.00 a.m. and at that time a large number of men were waiting to descend by the next cage. Fortunately there was no loss of life or injury as the cage was carrying tubs of coal or stone at the time. A section of the pulley wheel in the shaft headgear broke away and the winding rope came off the pulley and fell on the structure of the headgear and broke, causing the cage to fall to the bottom of the shaft. (3)
Sources :
(1) North of England Mining Accident Victims 1870 - 1899, indexed by George Bell.
(2) From The Story of Silksworth- (1).
(3) Personal recollections.
February 2000