I have been in contact with Ron Bruce, who was part of the Selby Executive Committee. Ron worked in Estates as part of the committee and was in charge of the land acquisition for the Selby Coalfield Project. Below are some of his memories.
“Before the Selby Coalfield was planned boreholes had to be drilled to find out if the coal seams in this area were of sufficient quality and quantity to start the project. Access to land and the rights to use the land were needed to site the drilling rigs.
The geologists and mining engineers at the North Yorkshire N.C.B. Headquarters always thought that the Barnsley seam was available to the east of the existing coalfield and they were right. When Kellingley Colliery was planned to the East of the existing coalfield in the 1950s, a test boring program for the new mine proved that the Barnsley seam, also known as the Warren House was a workable seam.
Kellingley Colliery never worked the seam as the pit was sunk to work the Silkstone and Beeston seams. Five further boreholes were drilled in the Selby area in the 1960s which proved the existence of the Barnsley seam and the prospects of a new coalfield.
The No.1 Cawood borehole was drilled as part of the Selby Coalfield project in late 1972. This was situated on Ryther Road at Cawood. The contractors for this hole were Cementation Exploration Limited. The small piece of land needed to site the drill rig was 1/5 acre and this land was rented for three months from the farmer, with compensation for crops lasting twelve months. The soil on the site was moved out of the way to create hard standing for the drill rig. When drilling was completed the site was restored back to farm land using the displaced soil. The core sample data was analysed and the results were confirmed on 22 December which proved the Barnsley seam was 10ft 3 inches. A very good start to the project.
Ezra, D. (1976) Coal: Technology for Britain’s future. London: Macmillan (page 99)
Bill Forrest, deputy director (mining) of the North Yorkshire Area of the N.C.B. was in charge of the Selby project. He decided a strategic team was to be created to manage all aspects of the project and was to include Mine Planners, Mining Engineers and Estates. The team was called the Selby Executive Committee. The first job to be carried out was a huge programme of 84 surface boreholes to prove the extent of the seams available for mining. The contractor who carried out this specialist drilling program was Foraky Limited.
During the boring programme all the land acquisitions and temporary borehole sites were through negotiations with the relevant parties. Fortunately the estates team had sufficient site flexibility to proceed on the basis of negotiations without recourse to any time consuming legal procedures.
During the early stages of the borehole drilling program at Selby a major incident happened at Lofthouse Colliery, near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, which needed the help of the Selby Executive Team. On the 21st March 1973 an inrush of water from old mine workings happened on South 9B coal face at Lofthouse Colliery. Rescue teams arrived from all over the area to commence rescue operations. Alongside the underground operations a plan was devised to drill a rescue borehole from the surface into the area where the men were situated. A drill rig was needed urgently to carry out the work. The nearest drilling rig and team was at Sherburn in Elmet sinking an exploratory borehole very near to the future site of Gascoigne Wood, one of the new Selby mines. Under the supervision of the Selby Coalfield Executive Team the drilling team withdrew the drill and made the rig ready for transport. Access to the land adjacent to Batley Road at Kirkhamgate near the Lofthouse rescue borehole and to the borehole site itself was acquired through the landowner very quickly and a hard standing area was created under the supervision of Ron Bruce (Estates) from the Selby Executive Team. The drilling rig and team were transferred and were ready for drilling within 14 hours of the inrush. Sadly the rescue operations were in vain due to the extremely dangerous conditions underground and a further inrush being imminent. The borehole was abandoned 200 feet from completion.
Below is the memorial in remembrance to the seven men lost in the Lofthouse Disaster on 21st March 1973. It is very near to the rescue borehole site at the junction of Wrenthorpe Lane and Batley Road.
The mine sites land acquisitions.
When the 1975 Public Inquiry was completed and planning permission was granted in April 1976 the job of acquiring the sites for the mines began.
Gascoigne Wood site was acquired partly from British Rail (the former marshalling yard site) and partly from a local farmer and was initially 164 acres. Further areas were acquired from this farmer when the coal preparation plant was installed lagoon and tipping areas were required.
Wistow site was acquired from a local farmer and fortunately it was on the market at the time. It was the smallest mine site in the coalfield at only 29 acres.
Stillingfleet site was acquired from Escrick Park Estates together with land required for access and improvements to the highway connection to the A19. The site position meant building a new two lane road from the mine site to the Cawood Road junction. The site was 63 acres.
The 100 acre North Selby site was acquired from a local farmer and the whole farm was purchased since the land remaining was not a viable undertaking. The farmer was able to purchase a new farm to the east outside the coalfield area. Land for the two lane access roadway to this site, which was over a mile in length, was acquired from Escrick Park Estates. In addition at North Selby a racehorse stud complex at Chequer Hall was acquired because of possible noise problems during blasting and drilling operations in the development stages. This area together with the balance of the farm land acquired with the shaft site were granted on tenancy to an existing British Coal farm tenant who gave up his tenancy on a small farm at Cleckheaton and moved to Escrick with his Shire Horses. When completed the North Selby Mine was 80 acres.
Riccall and Whitemoor sites were both acquired from a local farmer under a single purchase and he was able to acquire land to the east outside the coalfield area. Riccall Mine site was 64 acres and Whitemoor Mine site was 67 acres.
During the development of the early underground tunnels of the Selby Mines, Selby District Council decided to charge the N.C.B. rates for the mine roadway development phase due to the coal being extracted during tunnelling. The N.C.B. appealed these rates as the coal was part of the development. This issue was taken to a Lands Tribunal in London and was resolved in favour of the N.C.B.
It’s always good to speak with experts who contributed greatly to this amazing project and my sincere thanks go to Ron Bruce who contributed the information in this post. Without people like Ron being happy to speak with me, these memories would be lost forever.
Continue reading Ron Bruce’s memories of acquiring the land
Selby Superpit 