I live in the Huddersfield area of West Yorkshire and I am doing research into local coal mines and holes in the ground.
We have bell pits from when the Abbeys owned the land, ironstone workings, coal pits, quarries and atleast one "Dolly Stone Mine". For the younger members, this is what your mother rubbed on the edge of the steps when she had washed them.
Under Huddersfield Town Centre there are workings 17 m deep. My problem is finding where the entrance to the mines were. In my work I have found them that the coal board did not know about when we met on site. In the 1930s strike holes and surface working were dug all over where there was a chance of coal.
There are not many mines from this area listed in the database and I have yet to find how to add new ones.
Is there anybody out there who has any details on mining round this area who could help me?

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Hi Isabel

There are a couple of us in West Yorkshire who generally try to stick our heads into any old mines we can find around here.

Get in touch please, as there is a lot of stuff to go at, and too few people looking!

Cheers

Rick

Hi Rick Thanks for the reply.
I started looking into an area of Hudderfield from, Bradley,Fixby,Outlane,Marsden,Meltham,Crow Edge,Cumberworth, Shepley,Shelley, Kirkburton, Kirkheaton and back to Colne Bridge/Bradley. I have found there are so many in this area that I have reduced it to the Bradley/Fixby area, Leeds Road, Town Centre, Newsome to Thurstonland areas.
The coal seams in this area are on the small side so when the railways came and brought the coal from the Barnsley areas many shut down so I am working from the 1930s back on most.
I worked in Building Control so dealt with building foundations on a daily basis and came into the mining problems. This is where I got alot of my information. I have some info outside this area.
I am reading books at the moment and setting old Ordance survey maps over new ones to pinpoint the mines. I have houses now built over shafts.
Most mines have no signs on the surface now so I am having problems finding them. I am in local societies covering Geology and local history so I am talking to people there and have found one whose father worked down one of the mines at New Mill.
My grandfather was scalped and badley damaged his legs in a cage accident, the rest where killed. The trouble is I don't know which pit yet. I have been to the coal mining museum but was not lucky there. I note there is a new book out covering accidents.
Can you help me in this area?
Isabel

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If the accident occurred prior to 1915 then it will feature in the annual report of the divisional Inspector of Mines with the dead named and the accident briefly described (or possibly described at length). If after 1914 then local newspapers are likely to be your most detailed source of information. One way to narrow down the year it occurred if it occurred after 1914 would be to trawl the post 1914 Inspectors of Mines reports looking for multiple deaths in a single year from shaft accidents.

For general local mining history, a most informative starting point will be the Geological Survey 6" maps. There's probably two editions - early C20 and post WW2, with the latter being much fuller and more accurate. Also, the accompanying Geol Survey sheet memoirs, especialy the early C20 editions, contain a huge amount of useful information.

The governmental List of Mines (annual 1872-1950), Hunt's Mineral Statistics (annual 1854-1881), the Guide to the Coalfields (annual 1948 onwards), and the Colliery yearbook and Coal Trades Directory (annual 1923-1963, mainly useful for the WW2 years when the LoM was not published) provide annual lists of working collieries and owner's names, with manpower and other details from the 1890s onwards.

The NCB published regional catalogues of abandonment plans that summarisel (by refeerence to a grid based on 6" OS mapping) the extent of workings of each colliery in each seam. There is also an older governmental catalogue published in the 1920s that listed plans deposited down to that date, PLUS plans in private hands with the same details - this is useful because many of those plans in private hands (surveyors, mine owners, estates, etc) were never deposited with the NCB or wioth public archives.

The National Coal Mining Museum at Caphouse Colliery (within reach for you possibly?) and major metropolian libraries will hold these sources. Local libraries will be able to advise on relevant local history books and publications. The county record office will hold whatever colliery company and mineral-owning estate records have survived to be deposited. Public libraries' local history collections often contain useful material too.

In general the most useful (only) source of reference for old workings might be the large scale geological maps, though I'm sure you're aware of this. Whether any are held locally in libraries tends to be pure chance.

Any shafts marked on the OS maps could just as easily be from stone mining as coal. I've a copy of "Mining in the Elland Flags", which I can get you any info from.

I've only just started looking at that area, having concentrated on stuff nearer Leeds (where we are). Coal mining seems to have been greatly associated with getting fireclay and I'm currently tracking down the old works.

Sorry can't be of more specific help, but you seem to be exploring all the right routes. The only one I would add is dog walkers. They're often vey knowledgable about the local landscape and we buttonhole them everywhere we go!

I'll send you a private message with a bit of other info as well.

Graigfawr
Thanks for the info. I do not know which mine it happened at or what year. He was born at Blacker Hill then I have him next at Ryhill. My cousin thought it was Lodges Mine but can't find any records. The Mining Museum has the Inspectors reports but they do not give all the names of those injured.
The Mining Museum sent me a list of all there records of mines in my area. My job enabled me to get copies of mining reports from the Coal Board also. I have many old maps of the area also which I am taking mines from. I have also got some trial hole reports for areas of Huddersfield which indicate the depth of the tunnels.
I am interested in Geology so I have books and maps for the area including some old ones.
We have Bell Pits and iron stone working from the land belonging to the Abbeys, Fountains, Byland and Rievaulx from the North and Roche from the South. In addition we have Roman Clay works and Kilns (no shafts known). So what there is around I have no idea.
I have yet to hit Huddersfield Library.

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Isobel,
Try the Coal Mining History Resource Centre,some maps showing some mines in the area,
Also,when you`ve googled the above,lower down the list,try Iom08,there`s lists of mines from 1860`s to 1945

May help you.

Thanks Ty
I have many lists but they don't give map references.
I have submited a list for inclusing for my local pits which are not on the database. I am trying to find all of them to photogragh and give map references. I know one shaft now which is central under a block of 4 flats.

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Isabel,
If its map ref`s you want,your best bet is to get a BGS map of the area,they are expensive now,the 6in to a mile,around£80

Otherwise,arrange a viewing at the Coal Authority at Mansfield,they are very helpfull.

I am up at Mansfield MRO a fair bit and can pull the seem plans sometime if you give me the central location or a specific sheet number... be a week or so before I am there. The seam plans have the mine names on...

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Thanks Iclok
Is it possible to get copies of plans from the MRO. I am after mines in and around Huddersfield Town centre to a quarter mile outside the ring road ( Spring Wood Pit). Two others are Stile Common pit and Busters Hill pit.
What do you class as the central location

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You may find that Huddersfield library has copies of the 6" geol maps, it's worth asking them what they've got as local studies sections do tend to have things like that. They may also have the first series 25" OS maps which may be useful.

I wouldn't be at all surprised at there being a lot of shafts under the town centre, I salvaged a photocopy of a Coal Authority map of South Bradford when I worked for the council there and there are apparently shafts under the M606! I also remember being told that when the Moor in Sheffield was being redeveloped in the early 1960s a lot of previously unknown coal pits were found....

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They will ask what area I want to look at so have to give them a point to work from, a particular town or in this case are you just saying Huddersfield.

Interestingly AR I just had the plans out for Ripley-Heanor area and discovered a sough and a shaft just over the field dating back to 1827.... it was classed as ancient in 1827 😮

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There's a digging project for you then! :lol:

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I think it may be open as where its shown on the map is a 12 foot deep stream cutting and whilst I never looked there is no reason it should be blocked as the water is fairly quick running and silt free.... we will wait and see... now where's that machete :lol:

Def up Mansfield next week so will see what I can find for Huddersfield

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Iclok - you busy little bee!!!

I reckon a lot of people think I should just BUZZ off somewhere else...

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Hi
Digging at my age!!!
Round Castle Hill at Huddersfield we have many adit/day holes from flat areas. Do you know how to find the adit in the bank. They have metal detectors for metal, I use two steel rods for water and drains. Do you know if they have anything for finding holes? I should add that is cheap and easily transportable. I can't aford to get Time Team with their gear.
All I could think of was a long spike to push through the undergrowth and surface material.
New Ground Colliery was used as air raid shelters in the war, having two adits with just a flash proof entrance for bombs. When I was young the were just bricked up. Now they have covered them in tons of muck.

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Do you know how to find the adit in the bank.

Often the site of adits can be pin-pointed by reading the landscape. Mining is economics, and miners wouldn't move anything a yard more than they had to. So the spoil heaps will point to the adit, if spoil was coming out. Also, the product of the mine had to go somewhere, usually on rails. The path of which may still be visible.

Run in day holes might have different vegetation to their surrounds. And depending on the dip of the seam, might still have water coming out, and appear as small springs.

Anyhow, the evenings are long and we're only 20 odd minutes away if you fancy a walk about!

I went with the Huddersfield Geological Society Party who had just done some geology walks round Castle Hill. One of them walks past some old mine workings. The leader said one area in particular was an addit but we could not find it. I found a true circular area about 6 ft (1.2m) dia by about 4 inch (100mm) deep. To me this looked like a shaft.?There are supposed to be further adits in the field below.
Glad you found the Thurstonland tunnel it is just a black hole for crawling.

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