Prince of Wales Colliery

The Prince of Wales Colliery, was a coal mine that operated for over 130 years in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. It was closed in 2002 after geological problems made accessing reserves unprofitable, with most of the site being later converted for housing.

For Prince of Wales Colliery, Abercarn, see Abercarn colliery disaster.

Prince of Wales Colliery
Location
Prince of Wales Colliery
LocationPontefract
CountyWest Yorkshire
CountryEngland
Coordinates 53.704°N 1.319°W / 53.704; -1.319
Production
ProductsCoal
History
Discovered1860
Opened1870 (1870)
Closed2002 (2002)
Owner
CompanyAlderman Rhodes, 1872–1896
Lord Masham, 1896–?
National Coal Board, 1947–1994
RJB Mining, 1994–2001
UK Coal, 2001–2002

History

The colliery was developed from 1860, but coaling operations did not begin until 1869,[1][2] with full production underway by 1872, when over 600 tonnes (660 tons) was being brought to the surface per week.[3] It was sometimes referred to as PoW or as the Ponty Prince, Ponty being short for Pontefract, the town that it was in.[4][5] In 1885, the underground viewer, general manager and the owner of the mine (Alderman Rhodes, the Mayor of Pontefract) were prosecuted for not ensuring that the pit was adequately ventilated. A regulation stipulated that the air sections should be a minimum of 18 feet (5.5 m) wide, but those at the PoW were only 10 feet (3 m), 11 feet (3.4 m) and 14 feet (4.3 m). The underground viewer and general manager were fined, with the mayor being told to ensure the safe working of his mine.[6] In 1896, the mine was acquired by Lord Masham, who owned other collieries at Featherstone.[7]

Throughout the 1890s, the mine was subject to strike action on two counts; firstly, the amount that miners were paid for producing coal from the Silkstone Seam, which they believed, should be on a par with other collieries producing coal from the same seam. Secondly, Rhodes had introduced a type of fork for moving the coal from the face into the tubs known as riddles, which meant that smaller pieces of coal slipped through the tines and was less efficient as a shovel. As miners were paid by the amount they mined per shift, this led to another set of strike action.[8][9][10][11]

In the 1950s, the colliery was providing employment for over 2,000 men.[12][13] In 1986, a year after the miners strike, the pit was producing over 34,000 tonnes (37,000 tons) per week, which was above the average of 5 tonnes (5.5 tons) per person on one shift. Despite the breaking of production records, overtime was not available and 400 miners at PoW were threatening to go on strike.[14]

In March 1979, Radio One DJs Simon Bates and John Peel, broadcast a programme live from the colliery, with the first song requested being, appropriately enough, Shaft.[8] By 1981, the colliery working had been transformed from a deep mine, into a drift mine operation, and despite being in Pontefract, was listed as being in the NCBs North Yorkshire region.[15]

A drawdown of the number of pits in the 1990s, led to a suggestion that Prince of Wales Colliery should be merged with nearby Kellingley Colliery, with the output being brought to the surface in just one location.[16]

New houses being built on Prince of Wales site

In 2001, geological problems with the mine were discovered which led to an investigation paid for by the Department of Trade and Industry.[17] This revealed that the cost of extracting the remaining 8,000,000 tonnes (8,800,000 tons) of coal was too expensive, and in January 2002, UK Coal announced the closure of the mine for later in the same year.[18] The company had been trying to develop the Went Edge reserves, and the inability to do so, meant the writing off of some £15.8 million in its initial investment.[19] After closure in August 2002, equipment recovery took two months.[4][20]

In 2013, the site was remediated and by 2018, almost 400 homes have been built on the 77-acre (31 ha) site with planning permission for up to 900 homes.[21] The remediation yielded over 3,000,000 tonnes (3,300,000 tons) of coal, which was sent to power stations to generate electricity.[22] There are plans to erect a steel memorial to the miners who worked at the colliery on the new housing estate built on the site.[23]

In 2014, Alkane developed a methane plant at the site which burns the gas drawn from underground to turn it into energy. The site is rated at 2 megawatts.[24]

Incidents
  • 9 August 1876, a 17-year old worker was killed by a descending cage when he stepped underneath it. The 3-tonne (3.3-ton) cage was described as having "his head frightfully crushed."[25]
  • 2 April 1998, an explosion of firedamp caused the evacuation of 141 workers.[26]

Notable colliers
  • Jimmy Saville - worked as a Bevin Boy in the colliery during the Second World War[27][28]
gollark: Does it actually work with everything, though?
gollark: Does it support ***__n o d e . l u a__***?
gollark: I shall switch potatOS to exclusive use of it immediately.
gollark: It plays the soviet national anthem on loop on about 20 speakers constantly.
gollark: Glorious communism.

References
  1. Buckley, Christine (31 January 2002). "Oldest colliery to shut with loss of 500 jobs". infoweb.newsbank.com. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  2. "Pontefract & Selby Coalfields". nmrs.og.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  3. "The Coal Supply". The North Wales Chronicle (2, 384). Column E. 24 August 1872. p. 3.
  4. Wainwright, Martin (31 August 2002). "Britain's oldest mine closes". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  5. Lazenby, Paul (25 November 2010). "Yorkshire miner's help in New Zealand pit disaster". infoweb.newsbank.com. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  6. "Important Mining Prosecution at Pontefract". Middlesbrough Gazette (5, 797). Column G. 6 October 1885. p. 3.
  7. "Work and Wages". The York Herald (14, 207). Column D. 17 December 1896. p. 5.
  8. "Prince of Wales - University of Wolverhampton". www.wlv.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  9. "The Coal Crisis". The Sheffield Independent (13, 068). Column F. 11 August 1896. p. 6.
  10. "Industrial Facts and Figures". The Leeds Mercury (19, 030). Column D. 1 April 1899. p. 2.
  11. Baylies, Carolyn (1993). The history of the Yorkshire miners, 1881-1918. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 211. ISBN 0415093597.
  12. "Book to pay homage to the Prince of pits". infoweb.newsbank.com. 14 June 2006. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  13. "Durham Mining Museum - Prince of Wales Colliery (UK)". www.dmm.org.uk. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  14. Jones, Tim (17 September 1986). "Miners strike to get more work - Prince of Wales Colliery, Pontefract". The Times (62, 565). p. 2. ISSN 0140-0460.
  15. Grissom, Catherine, ed. (May 1982). "Mining". Fossil Energy Update. Oak Ridge: United States Department of Energy (82/5): 72. ISSN 0146-4299.
  16. "10,000 pit jobs 'to be axed'". The Times (64, 760). 28 September 1993. p. 23. ISSN 0140-0460.
  17. "Inquiry into troubled mine's future". BBC News. 18 December 2001. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  18. "Oldest mine is set to close". BBC News. 30 January 2002. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  19. "UK Coal sinks into red after problems". infoweb.newsbank.com. 6 March 2002. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  20. "Britain's oldest coal mine to close". The Daily Telegraph. 30 January 2002. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  21. "Prince of Wales, Pontefract | A Project by Harworth Group plc". harworthgroup.com. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  22. "Housing plan for ex-colliery site". BBC News. 10 December 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  23. "Memorial to Pontefract miners is approved for housing estate". Pontefract and Castleford Express. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  24. "Alkane is restoring life to region's coal mines". infoweb.newsbank.com. 11 September 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  25. "Pontefract - Fatal Colliery Accident". York Herald (6, 088). Column B. 11 August 1876. p. 7.
  26. "PRINCE OF WALES MINE 124s SALVAGE DISTRICT, Warren House seam. REFERENCE — INVESTIGATION OF DOUBLE DANGEROUS OCCURRENCE" (PDF). mineaccidents.com.au. HM Inspector of Mines. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  27. "Sir Jimmy receives honour for wartime work". infoweb.newsbank.com. 26 March 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  28. "Brown honours wartime Bevin Boys". BBC News. 25 March 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
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