Just to break away for a moment from the general hillarity over Simon's getup for the period costume trip , while my wife was out riding yesterday in Shipley country park yesterday I went for a wander around with the dog. This took me past the sorry remains of the "American Adventure" theme park, and having spotted a headstock I wandered over to take a look. This was obviously a modern reproduction done to get cash out of some public arts budget, but sat behind it was a nice example of a winding house. Unfortunately, the original headgear has now gone but when LeeW took this photo it was still there:

🔗Woodside-Coal-Colliery-3-Archive-Album-Image-60287[linkphoto]Woodside-Coal-Colliery-3-Archive-Album-Image-60287[/linkphoto][/link]

One thing that did strike me was the gap at the apex of the winder side gable, which looked like there should have been something there. Does anyone know what was there originally, or have any idea what might have been in the gap?

---

I have an industrial loco pic of ex Liverpool and Mersey loco Cecil Raikes with winder behind, will try and find it! 😞

---

I have an industrial loco pic of ex Liverpool and Mersey loco Cecil Raikes with winder behind, will try and find it! :-[

Google pic search, wrong side of winder house though. 😞

http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/I-Was/I_was3.htm 

Thanks both! I should have gone for a quick look in the visitor centre shop as I remember that had some books on the local collieries.....

---

I know absolutely nothing about mining terminology but I used to work at the American Adventure and remember watching the headstocks being dismantled in either 2000 or 2001. A sad day.

There's a great close up of the apex here
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126399702@N05/15467485825 

The two holes for the cables are clearly visible, and yes it does look like something is missing. Hmm.

I love how the Victorians made even the most brutally functional of buildings into things of beauty. Anyone got any photos of the inside?

The hole in the apex was made simply to accommodate the new winding rope, when, following end of deep mining at Woodside in 1961 the number 2 shaft was used for pumping. The pulleys shown in the photograph are not the ones used when the pit was in production, being of a smaller diameter than the originals.
A new winding engine was installed and was equipped with a single winding rope to raise the 4 submersible pumps for maintenance from their position some 200 metres below the surface. The new arrangement required a change of winding angle and this was the reason for the new hole. The engine was removed sometime in the 90's and the three pumps in use today are raised and lowered by a mobile crane when required from their present position 70 metres below surface level.
It's interesting to hear the pumps kick in as the water level rises, I believe they raise around 25 million gallons of water per week.

They were replacement headstocks as the old ones were condemned, it was due to the 14" diameter pipes being clogged with ocker leaving them at around 2" bore. Pipes were lifted using the winding ropes and the weight of the big Mackley pump and pipes was fine, but when nearly clogged the weight was too much for the headgear so it was replaced with these temporary items.

Now they have been removed and the pipes exit the shaft and bend, they have put up a brick building round the pit top and bring in a crane to lift the pipes and pumps.