Hello all,

I'm new to all this but really interested in the local coal mines as i'm from Wednesbury.
I love my history and i;m interested in finding out if there any local coal mine shafts that are still visible from the surface (IE the entrances that have been capped ect) And if so there locations. I know that there are lots of old mines in the black country, but have they all been filled in?
Some more information would be greatly appreciated;D
😉

Places such as 'Archives Service Sandwell' are a good place to start.

http://www.sandwell.gov.uk/info/200253/archives_local_and_family_history/595/our_collections 

Considering that the Baggeridge colliery shafts were in the region of 2000 feet deep, and were still in use after nationalisation, I'd be astonished if any shafts had been left open by the NCB after closure.

Most collieries in that area were shafts.

The Coal Authority website has a very handy mapping function. You'd be astonished at the tens of thousands of old shafts they've got on record.

Do bear in mind that collieries, when in use, had constant air management (fans, brattices, etc) to try to maintain air quality and prevent buildup of toxic gases. All that machinery is no longer in use. Entry into such places - if you could find any that were still open - would be highly dangerous, and quite possibly fatal without gas monitoring equipment and the knowledge of how to use it.
People that do enter old coal workings for exploration (it's pretty illegal to do so) generally keep quiet about it, apart from with highly trusted friends. The Coal Authority have a tendency to bulldoze or fill with concrete anything that is accessible that comes to their attention.

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There's an uncapped shaft within a mile or two of Wednesbury.;D

https://www.aditnow.co.uk/mines/Bradley-Colliery--Shaft/ 

Rumour also has it that the Birmingham water table has risen 50 feet since most of the brewery and industrial boreholes ceased pumping

Thank you for your reply i really appreciate it.

Hi,
I sail at Sandwell Valley Sailing Club, our club house is old pit head baths for Jubilee colliery, their are other above ground remains, including a flight of 20 foot wide stone stairs and a round brick feature approx' 30 foot diameter, believed to be a fountain base, also you can walk along tramway, where several sections of wrought iron railings are still visible, small bridges etc, our boat park fence is made from wrought iron railings which originally lined tramway.
Mine shaft is still supposed to be accessible but at nearly 2,000 feet deep, you would need specialist equipment to go down.