Hi my grandfather worked at Pensford and Bromley pits in he 1920's around 1962 he showed my brother and I a concrete slab about 9 / 10 feet square with about a 2inch hole in the
centre. it's in the woods by the side of lane leading to frysbottom. at that time there was cold air coming out of the hole.I now live in Australia but will be in Swindon in august 2016 If anyone is interested I'll show them where it is as I can't find any reference to it.

This the place? Top RH corner of map.

http://maps.nls.uk/view/101460694 

http://maps.nls.uk/view/106019657 

http://maps.nls.uk/view/106019654 

http://wikimapia.org/4579361/Site-of-Frys-Bottom-Colliery-Disused 

"Frys Bottom Pit was at work by 1838, though the details of its sinking, partners, and so on are difficult to trace.
The lessor was certainly the Earl of Warwick, and the shaft some 9ft in dia. X 588 ft deep.
In 1863, an agreement was made between the Earl and the Bristol & North Somerset Railway to construct a siding from Clutton Station to the colliery (some 3/4 mile), with the actual contruction taking place by 1873.
When the pit opened, coal was wound in hudges, with a horse gin proving the power. By 1862, and probably from circa 1850, this archaic system was replaced with a winding engine & wooden headgear - but still with only a single pulley.
Output and working methods are sparse, though the indications are that this was not a substantial undertaking, or producing a significant output, even for this coalfield.
Work at Frys Bottom was suspended in 1887, and the pit permanently shut on 31st July, 1895."


Ref: Down & Warrington
Nearby cities: Bristol, Cardiff, Gloucester
Coordinates: 51°20'29"N 2°32'0"W

the shaft in photo is not the one I'm talking about,try approx. ref 51 34 10n 2 53 76 w between the lane and not far from the brook which is a lot lower down the bank my grandfather said they washed the coal there. for awhile he lived in the cottages up the road from the pub

About here?


https://zoom.earth/#51.341926,-2.535031,16z,sat 

sorry figures way out took them off google earth,drive towards chelwood turn right into frys bottom lane follow until road dips where it crosses brook it's on your your left between the lane and the brook. if you e-mail your phone number i'll ring you e-mail address [email protected]

presume you mean the wooded area on the west side of the road here?
http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17&lat=51.3422&lon=-2.5324&layers=6 

From the description I think the OP means where the two streams meet a bit further north, west of Purnell's Gully

yes it's along where it says longworthy.I tied a bolt to 100 yards of fishing line and dropped it down but did'nt reach the bottom so no idea how deep it goes.

Hi anyone know where you can find underground plans of pensford colliery would you please let me know. best regards les m

The Coal Authority should have the abandonment plans, which will give the full extent of the workings at closure. As I'm guessing visiting their offices could be a bit problematic given the distances involved, you'd have to ask about them provising a copy.

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Thanks for that will try them.regards les m.

A bit of free info from BGS relating the colliery 750 metres south which indicates the shaft in question may be over 600 feet deep, all depends on what purpose it served.
It also gives the relevant abandonment plan number.


http://scans.bgs.ac.uk/sobi_scans/boreholes/390682/images/10715148.html 

I find it amazing how such a simple piece of paper can so succinctly encapsulate the required information about the shaft and yet leave the effort which went into creating it so completely to the imagination!

I find it amazing how such a simple piece of paper can so succinctly encapsulate the required information about the shaft and yet leave the effort which went into creating it so completely to the imagination!

A geologists report not an engineers, thats why :lol:

Thanks all still unable to find out anything about the shaft
north west of frys bottom in the woods at longworthy
close to the brook. will be taking a look there in august
might be a bit harder to find now.les m.

Hi Les, sent you a message

Thanks that would be a help any help is great specially living over here,after searching for hours finally found a map on the coal authority site that shows several shafts very close to the shaft i found but they are not named.

If you click on the Xs you may get some details of CA treatment, one mentioned as filled and another capped with concrete in 1985.