New Farnley and Sowden Pit · AditNow Community

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Yorkshireman
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

13 years ago

Hi all,

Take a look in my personal gallery if you have a minute or two.

I've posted some pictures of New Farnley, Farnley Forge and Sowden No. 4 Pit, as well as a map of the pit as it stood in 1910. There will be more maps and a few bits and pieces to come.

Some of the pictures are from the family album, so don't be surprised at a bunch of people posing or staring out at you on a couple of them. Don't worry, they're all reasonably harmless - namely my mum, my dad and my two sisters 😉

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christwigg
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

13 years ago

Great set of photos, i've added that location to the database if you want to put them into the archive abum there too.

http://www.aditnow.co.uk/mines/Sowden-Coal-Pit/

simonrail
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

13 years ago

Which pit was it in that area that had a Guibal fanhouse until the 1970s?

Yes, I'll have it - what is it?

Yorkshireman
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

13 years ago

"simonrail" wrote:
Which pit was it in that area that had a Guibal fanhouse until the 1970s?

Hi Simon,

I'll get back to you on that later - bit too busy at the moment

Cheers

rikj
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

13 years ago

"simonrail" wrote:
Which pit was it in that area that had a Guibal fanhouse until the 1970s?

I'm sure most pits in the immediate area were shut pre-WWII, certainly Sowden and Farnley Wood. Or do you mean the fanhouse was still standing?

A Guibal is listed at Farnley Wood in a Institution of Mechanical Engineers Proceedings. What was Farnley Wood Lift Pit is now the travellers' site: not sure when that was established.

Edit: 1987.

Yorkshireman
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

13 years ago

Hi Simon,

If any of the Farnley pits had one, it could possibly have been at one of the larger sites like Farnley Wood Lift Pit, just off Gelderd Road, but my information is very sparse on this count.

I just posted a map of the pit location (1910) in my personal album

simonrail
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

13 years ago

Back in the good old days of 1970 I photographed a Guibal fanhouse on the north side of the Farnley Forge site at approx. SE 256318. You can just make it out at the top of the aerial photo of Farnley Forge on Yorkshireman's album.
The picture was taken in snow, on a foggy day, with an instamatic camera and was a transparency now digitised, but if you guys can tell me which pit it was I'll upload it.

Yes, I'll have it - what is it?

rikj
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

13 years ago

"simonrail" wrote:
Back in the good old days of 1970 I photographed a Guibal fanhouse on the north side of the Farnley Forge site at approx. SE 256318. You can just make it out at the top of the aerial photo of Farnley Forge on Yorkshireman's album.
The picture was taken in snow, on a foggy day, with an instamatic camera and was a transparency now digitised, but if you guys can tell me which pit it was I'll upload it.

Surely you weren't even born in 1970 Simon?

Speaking from my usual position of ignorance, I'd say that fan is in the grounds of the forge itself. Although the works had a couple of day holes and several shafts, I'm not sure of its name as a mine.

Does a typical Guibal fanhouse have a cruciform shape in plan? If so, then there are very similar buildings at the forge and Farnley Wood.

The site of the Guibal at the forge looks to be just outside the current boundary of the industrial estate.

Can you stick the pic up in your personal album for the time being Simon?

Edit: another aerial view from Leodis, unfortunately not as large as the one from yorkshireman.

http://www.leodis.org/display.aspx?resourceIdentifier=2002326_68636722&DISPLAY=FULL

simonrail
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

13 years ago

By 1970 I had started work, been underground in several working collieries, and a few non-working ironstone mines. In August 1970 I spent several days measuring and drawing a couple of steam winding engines. Perhaps I just look young for my age!
I shall upload the picture tomorrow on my album as suggested. The fanhouse is brick and it looks as though the associated upcast shaft has been used for mineral winding.

Yes, I'll have it - what is it?

Yorkshireman
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

13 years ago

#10

"simonrail" wrote:
Back in the good old days of 1970 I photographed a Guibal fanhouse on the north side of the Farnley Forge site at approx. SE 256318. You can just make it out at the top of the aerial photo of Farnley Forge on Yorkshireman's album.
The picture was taken in snow, on a foggy day, with an instamatic camera and was a transparency now digitised, but if you guys can tell me which pit it was I'll upload it.

This looks to be the map section it should be in.
Personal album Farnley Forge Yard in 1875 and 1910.
Maybe the building above the air shaft?

I suggest we start a Leeds & Bradford pits gallery
🙂 There are hundreds of them, both named and unnamed

Yorkshireman
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

13 years ago

#11

Hi Rik,

your wish is my command - a bigger version of the same shot you found on Leodis is now in my PA.
(in fact I might have posted it on Leodis myself a couple of years ago - it's a cropped and cleaned up version tweaked in Photoshop, just like this one)

Cheers

simonrail
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

13 years ago

#12

Picture uploaded on my personal album, 'S' page 8.
Looking at Yorkshireman's 1875 and 1910 maps of Forge Yard there's the fanhouse near the top, just south of 'Little Wood.' In 1875 there are 3 shafts indicated including the fanhouse, and a Dayhole. Presumably they were working coal and fireclay.

Yes, I'll have it - what is it?

Yorkshireman
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

13 years ago

#13

2 new pictures of Farnley Forge Fan House posted

[photo]Sowden-Coal-Pit-Archive-Album-Image-71285[/photo]
[photo]Sowden-Coal-Pit-Archive-Album-Image-71286[/photo]

Thanks to simonrail for the picture - I just tweaked and cropped it a bit

Yorkshireman
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

13 years ago

#14

4 new (old) photos of Sowden No.4 Pit in New Farnley uploaded to the Sowden archive album

Anyone know what happened to Pits 1 to 3? 😉

christwigg
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

13 years ago

#15

Good work gents, looks virtually identical in layout to the Huntcliffe one, just slightly further from the actual shaft.

[photo]Sowden-Coal-Pit-Archive-Album-Image-71285[/photo]
[photo]Huntcliffe-Iron-Mine-User-Album-Image-38009[/photo]

pedrgogh
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

13 years ago

#16

The History and Development of Co9lliery Ventilation By Alan lists a 20' dia by 6.5' Guibal fan at Farnley in 1875

rikj
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

13 years ago

#17

"Yorkshireman" wrote:

I suggest we start a Leeds & Bradford pits gallery
🙂 There are hundreds of them, both named and unnamed

The mines can be added to the database, (just need the name and OS grid reference) and any photos added to the album of each mine.

I'm going to check on another thread what's the best way to handle the colliery/pit relationship.

How unnamed features are handled, I don't know. If they are just put on as "Old coal pit" then the "O" section of the database is going becoming hugely bloated! But, would be nice if they could be recorded somehow, as they aren't on modern maps.

Yorkshireman
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

13 years ago

#18

"rikj" wrote:

"Yorkshireman" wrote:

I suggest we start a Leeds & Bradford pits gallery
🙂 There are hundreds of them, both named and unnamed

The mines can be added to the database, (just need the name and OS grid reference) and any photos added to the album of each mine.

I'm going to check on another thread what's the best way to handle the colliery/pit relationship.

How unnamed features are handled, I don't know. If they are just put on as "Old coal pit" then the "O" section of the database is going becoming hugely bloated! But, would be nice if they could be recorded somehow, as they aren't on modern maps.

That's something I've been wondering about - I suppose it could be broken down into familiar regions (each with their own experts on AN) like "West Yorkshire coalfield", "Cleveland Ironstone", "Swaledale Leadmining" or something similar.

I'm sure hundreds of us have pictures and data lying around that we can't correlate with a particular mine name, so a system like the one suggested above would put other members into a position to help identify the sites and transfer them to definitively named sections of the DB.

Cheers