Tag Archives: Coal Mining

Railway Memorabilia Display

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Aldridge Library situated in Rookery Lane Aldridge, is currently displaying an exhibition of Railway Memorabilia courtesy of Chasewater Railway Museum. The display is housed in two glass cabinets.

To compliment the cabinet display is a screen presentation of the aspects of Chasewater Railway.

The display which was organised by Susan Satterthwaite (a volunteer at Chasewater Railway) will run until the end of May. The Library is open from Tuesdays until Saturdays, (closed Mondays & Sundays).

The artifacts displayed are just a selection of the many on display in the free to enter,  Chasewater Railway Museum, which is situated at Brownhills West Station, and is open on train running days.

Why not visit and relive the past.

Chasewater Railway Museum – Newsletter, February and March 2018

Chasewater Railway Museum

Newsletter, February and March 2018

 

Chasewater Railway Museum – Acquisition from the Cannock Chase Mining Historical Society

Chasewater Railway Museum

Acquisition from the Cannock Chase Mining Historical Society

This is the latest, and probably the last, book to be published by the Cannock Chase Mining Historical Society.

The Cannock Chase Coalfield has been covered by the series of books written by various authors over the past few years.  They are all on sale in the Chasewater Railway Museum, which is open on train running days.

Mick Drury, who wrote this book, and others in the series, starting with the Conduit and Littleton Collieries, followed by William Harrison Company Ltd., The Lesser Known Coalmines of the Cannock Chase Coalfield, Cannock Old Coppice Colliery (Hawkins Colliery) and, with the late Jack Sunley and Maurice Davies, Education, Training and Rescue in the Cannock Chase Coalfield.

The Cannock Chase Coalfield was fully covered by this series of books from the Cannock Chase Mining Historical Society and this left Mick, who was instrumental in the formation of the Society and, for a time, Chairman, with the completion of this book ‘Boots All My Life’.

All of the books are available in the Chasewater Railway Museum (‘Boots All My Life’ – £14.00) or by using the link below.

The book is priced: £14.00 + p&p.

And is available by contacting Alan Dean on:

westcannock@talktalk.net or enquiries@ccmhs.co.uk.

Chasewater Railway Museum Catalogue – National Coal Board (NCB) Items

Chasewater Railway Museum Catalogue 

National Coal Board (NCB) Items

Quite a few NCB-related items, if there had been no coal there would be no Chasewater Railway.

Click on the link below to see the full list

NCB 2020 XL Files

Caption text: Object number, name, description, location in the museum.

Click on a picture to see a larger image, the click on the side arrow to move on.

 

Chasewater Railway Museum Catalogue – Cannock Chase Colliery Co. Items

Chasewater Railway Museum Catalogue

Cannock Chase Colliery Co. Items

Various items from the Cannock Chase Company Co.   (CCCC)

I think that it is fair to say that, if this company had not existed, neither would the Chasewater Railway Museum, certainly not as it is now.

Click on the link below to see the full list

Cannock Chase Colliery Co 2020 XL Files

Caption text: Object number, name, description, location in the museum.

Click on a picture to see a larger image, the click on the side arrow to move on.

 

Chasewater Railway Museum – New Items

Chasewater Railway Museum

New Items

Three new items of mining memorabilia spotted on e bay by Kevin Pettifor – who gave Barry Bull a call and purchased them. Thanks again Kev.

mines-rescue-lapel-badge

This first one is a lapel badge of the Mines Rescue Service, National Coal Board.

mines-rescue-5-year-service-badgeBoth sides

reverse-brown

The second one was awarded to Arnold Arrowsmith for five years service with the NCB Mines Rescue Service, West Midlands Division, Sneyd, 1955.

mines-rescue-service-10-year-service-badge

Both sides

reverse-silver

The third one was awarded to Arnold Arrowsmith for ten years service with the NCB Mines Rescue Service, West Midlands Division, Sneyd.  This one is hall-marked silver.

Chasewater Railway Museum – Littleton Colliery warning notice

Chasewater Railway Museum 

Littleton Colliery warning notice

An opportunity presented itself recently to acquire by way of private purchase half a dozen items of local colliery railway interest. Not since the 1960s and early 1970s, when in that period a good relationship existed between the Railway Preservation Society and local National Coal Board management and which resulted in several donations of interest has the chance to obtain in bulk such star items for the museum collection. Finally a possibly unique cast iron sign headed The Littleton Collieries Ltd.  The last of the six items, the 3 nameplates and 2 worksplates have been posted recently.

1902

In the Museum

Littleton Sign 2

The notice before the paint-brush got close!

Littleton Sign 1

The notice in situ – left of centre.  We think located near to the Penkridge end of the Littleton Colliery to Penkridge line.

Chasewater Railway Museum – Pensnett Railway Items

Chasewater Railway Museum

Pensnett Railway Items

 

Pensnett Railway Pay Check No.163 (1903)

Paycheck from the railway which once served the coal and iron industry, notably Round Oak Steel Works, Brierley Hill.  Known also as the Earl of Dudley railway as most of the eventual 40 miles of track was situated in the Dudley Estate, and at one time linked Old Hill, Cradley, Dudley, Himley, Wall Heath, Dawley Brook and Ashwood.  By the 1960s the only portions in use were the line to Baggeridge Colliery and the tracks around Round Oak Steel Works linking scrap bays, ancillary factories and works stores.

Built entirely for the movement of coal, etc. the only times a passenger service operated was on odd occasions when the Earl of Dudley took invited guests on a ‘jolly’ and on the few days per year of the annual Himley Fete and this only during the period 1928 to 1937.

Destination ticket for an empty coal wagon.

Card with instructions for repairs to coal wagon.

Chasewater Railway Museum – A Kellingley Pay Check

Chasewater Railway Museum

A Kellingley Pay Check

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Kellingley Colliery

Kellingley Colliery was the last deep coal mine in Britain. It is situated at Beal in North Yorkshire, about 1.5 miles east of Knottingley in West Yorkshire, on the A645 and 3.6 miles east of Ferrybridge power station.

Miners at a North Yorkshire colliery have finished their final shifts as the closure of the pit brings an end to centuries of deep coal mining in Britain.

Owner UK Coal said it would oversee the rundown of the Kellingley mine before the site was redeveloped.

Unions said it was a “very sad day” for the country as well as the industry.
Had it not been for the coal industry, there would have been very few canals or railways built, for example, Chasewater Railway would not have been built, as it runs over the trackbed put down for the Cannock Chase Colliery Company and used by other collieries in the locality.

Chasewater Railway Museum – A Small Addition

Chasewater Railway Museum 

A Small Addition

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A small addition to the Museum collection of coal miners’ pit checks is a pre-nationalisation of the coal industry example from the Granville Colliery Ltd.

The unusual thing about this particular item is, along with the Company name, it shows the location of Burton-on-Trent, whereas the real site of the Colliery was a few miles away at Swadlincote.

The first shaft was sunk in 1823/4 with number 2 shaft sunk in 1887. The earliest locomotives were six 0-4-0 saddle tanks of Hudswell Clark manufacture from the period 1890-1914.

On Nationalisation 1/1/1947, Granville became part of the NCB East Midlands Division No.7 Area and by then only two of the original locomotives remained. For short periods and at different times these two were supplemented/replaced by four Manning Wardle 0-4-0 saddle tanks, a Peckett 0-4-0 saddle tank, and finally a Ruston Hornsby 0-4-0 diesel of 165 horsepower.

Rail traffic ceased in January, 1962 and workings were merged with Rawdon Colliery. Final closure came in August, 1968.