My name is Chris and I have worked in mining all my life from the age of sixteen. I grew up in a village surrounded by pits in the 60s, with family members who all worked in the local coal mines, New Monckton Colliery and Royston Drift Mine.
I am the sixth generation of miners in my family going back to mining in the Black Country and Catcliffe so I suppose you could say mining is in my blood. I was always interested in mining history and my mining heritage from early in my career. Around the same time I had the urge to research my family history as I was told miners were in my family as long as anyone could remember.
I am obviously the last generation of coal miners due to the sad closure and demise of the industry so this gave me the idea of researching the Selby Complex, the last big mining project undertaken in this country. I worked at Riccall Mine, one of the Selby pits, which was a huge advantage to starting my research. It is my intention to research all aspects of this marvel of mining and civil engineering and will include the history, concept, geology, mines rescue provision, planning, including the public inquiry, design and social impact that the Selby Superpit had on the 110 square miles of villages and on the town of Selby.
All information and memories are correct to the best of my knowledge. Sorry if the information about Riccall Mine seems more in depth but that is where I worked as a coalface and H.V. installation electrician so most the information is from my own experiences. Anyone who has further information about any of the Selby Mines please let me know and I will edit accordingly.
So … let’s get started.
My grateful thanks to Eddie Downs for his permission to reference his book ‘Yorkshire Collieries 1947 – 1994’ which has proven to be an invaluable resource and an inspiration for this blog.
Downes, W., n.d. Yorkshire Collieries, 1947-1994.
Photographs of Dosco tunnelling machinery kindly provided by my mate Rich Teasdale ( Rich Tea ) who worked as a field service engineer for Dosco Mining Machinery.
Selby Superpit 