Category: Whitemoor Mine

The use of non intrinsically safe and non flameproof cameras and photographic equipment is illegal except in very controlled circumstances in UK coal mines. This is due to the occurrence of methane gas, which is an extremely explosive gas. All electrical equipment used in a mine is tested and certified for use in this environment.

Whilst working underground as a faceworker, heading man and later a deputy at Whitemoor Mine, Karl Jarrett sketched his underground environment and the jobs he worked on in his note book. You can see from the artworks below that he captured the very difficult, hot and dangerous conditions we all worked in. 

Below are the memories of Karl when he worked at Fryston Colliery and Whitemoor Mine.

I started at Fryston Colliery in 1980 aged 16. My job was supplying materials to the coal faces and headings in the Beeston seam.
In 1982, aged 18, I completed my coalface training. I then became part of a heading team developing the underground roadways.

Changing shearer cable on 33s. 1982.

Fryston Colliery snap time stopping the belts. 1982.

Holman Borer, Fryston Colliery 86s heading. 1982.

Making stub heading for area borers in 76s Tailgate. Fryston Colliery. 1983.

During 1984-85 I was on strike with the N.U.M. and went picketing almost every day.

Our brave Boys in Blue. 1984.

In 1985 when the year long strike finished we all marched back to work behind the Fryston Branch Union Banner.
In the same year the Beeston seam closed due to a fire on 76s face. Due to the loss of the Beeston seam I started working in an advanced heading on 25s coalface in the Flockton seam.

Carrying a Cruciform on 25s. 1985.

In 1986 Fryston Colliery closed and I was transferred to Gascoigne Wood on loan from Whitemoor Mine for 8 weeks.

When I transferred to Whitemoor Mine in 1986 I became a roadheader machine driver working as part of a heading team.

Holing through to Riccall Mine. 1986.

Tank slit at Whitemoor Mine. 1986.

Whitemoor/ Riccall Mine Connection. 1987.

Dalek at Riccall Bunker. 1988.

Whitemoor dragging beam. 1988.

In 1988 I completed my Rescue Training and became a part time Mines Rescue Brigadesman at Whitemoor Mine.
In 1990 I started working on coal faces as a Shearer driver.

Whitemoor Mine H624s face  salvaging hydraulic props. 1992.

Tailgate from Hell. Whitemoor Mine. 1995

I completed my command supervisors (deputies) qualification and worked as Deputy for about a year before retiring due to health problems in 1998.

All my mining drawings are real places where I’ve worked and events I’ve seen or been part of and have been drawn from memory and sketches I did at the time.

Karl

Many thanks to Karl for giving me his time, his memories and access to his amazing artworks.

The shafts at Whitemoor were the second deepest in the Selby Coalfield. Number 1 shaft was 931m and Number 2 shaft was 941m deep. During the sinking of the Number 2 a European record of 131.2 metres of fully concrete lined shaft was achieved in a month. After completion of shaft sinking in June 1985 the underground infrastructure to develop the mine, pit bottom rope haulage system and coal clearance system was started. Whitemoor was the only satellite mine in the Selby Coalfield to use a rope haulage for transport of equipment and for manriding purposes. This was due to the pit bottoms being deeper than the Barnsley seam. Four, 250m drifts at a 1 in 4 incline were developed by Thyssens mining contractors to access the main lateral roadways in the Barnsley seam. The first two faces to be developed east of the pit bottom were H01Bs which was 200m long and was approximately 800m from the pit bottom and 240m long, H02Bs, 1050m from the pit bottom. Both faces were taken off the East Return Roadway. The faces were worked from South to North. Four lateral roadways were developed to the east of the mine and a single conveyor roadway driven to the west connection with Riccall Mine. The conveyor  roadway had the rope haulage installed for manriding and transport running east and west sides of the mine.

A 6.6kv, 750kw double drive, steel cord conveyor identical to the one installed at Riccall Mine, ran 3000m from the Riccall Connection at the west of the mine to the faces at the east of the mine passing through the pit bottom area. The connection to Riccall Mine South Conveyor Road was  made in November 1986 using a Dosco Mk2A Revised Hydraulics Roadheader with a further connection to the South Return Roadway made in December 1987. An 8m high, 80m long Drive House and a Bunker area were created at the connection for the Whitemoor coal production to start in January 1988. This conveyor loaded onto the Riccall Mine Steel Cord Conveyor.

Plan showing Whitemoor and Riccall Mine Steel Cord connection.

The next face to be worked starting production in 1989 was H621s at the west of the mine. This face loaded straight onto the Riccall Mine Steel Cord Conveyor. H622s and H624s were the next two faces at the west of the mine starting production in 1990 with developments underway at the east of the mine for H615s face which started production in 1991. During the production of  H624s the face hit some faulted areas which created cavities needing remedial work. During the remedial work, the face was shuttered and straw was used as packing along with pumped liquid cement. This system was used to consolidate the face through the faulted areas. Very soon after the use of the straw infill on H624s face, H444s face at the south side of Riccall Mine became affected with mice. The first time it was apparent that we had the thieving rodents was snap wrappings were found torn and food stolen. Eventually the mice were seen all around the workings at Riccall Mine.

Mice were always a problem at the older pits due to ponies being used underground. The associated straw, hay and food usage meant the mice were inadvertently brought underground in these bales of bedding and hay feed bales. We could only assume the same thing happened with the straw packing bales used on H624s face.

Plan showing faces worked at the West of Whitemoor Mine adjacent to Riccall Mine.

In 1991 the face headings were developed for H626s and H623s, the last two faces at the west of Whitemoor Mine. These face were adjacent to the faces worked at the south and south west of Riccall Mine. H623s started production in 1991 with H626s starting production in 1992. The lateral roadway to H626s was extended to the west and made a connection with the Riccall Mine South West Trunk as an intake roadway for the faces worked in that area. H626s finished production in 1993 and production was transferred to the east of the mine.

The east side workings were extremely hot due to the depth of the seam at nearly 1000m. Floor heave and weighting was also a problems as the mine progressed further eastwards.

When the East Conveyor lateral roadways were completed and H615s face was producing coal, the lateral roadways to the north and south for the next phase of developments were started.

The North East Lateral headings were driven 1000m to the north where a junction was created. The headings then developed 2500m towards the eastern limit of planning permission for the next five coal faces starting with H630s in 1993. The faces at this part of the mine used Longwall International face equipment and Joy 390kw 4LS Shearers. H631s started production in 1994 followed by H632s in 1995. These three faces worked from north to south. The next face panel was not worked and the next two faces, H634s and H635s were developed towards the east boundary of the coalfield at the River Derwent working on an east to west orientation. H635s face was the last face at Whitemoor Mine which started production 20th February 1998 and finished production on the 8th June 1998.

The South East Lateral headings were driven 2000m to access the next five coal faces starting with H616s in 1992. This area of the mine used Longwall International face equipment and BJD 300kw Ace shearers with face lengths of 210m. H617s was the next face in production which started in 1993 with H619s, H620s starting production in the next two consecutive years. The coal to the south of H620s was never developed. The last coal face in the south east of the mine was H641s which was worked west to east. This face was 235m in length with face gate length of 1850m. This face started production in 1996 and was completed in 1997.

Whitemoor Mine showing all the faces worked.

All the faces at the east of the mine used roofbolts as primary supports and were developed using JCM 12 Continuous miners. All lateral roadways were developed using 58 tonne, 393kw Dosco LH1300 or Anderson Strathclyde RH22 Roadheaders. Contractors were used to carry out development and salvage work from 1993 with British Coal / RJB Mining workers employed to work the coal faces. Whitemoor Mine achieved it’s weekly record of 64,000 tonnes in February 1993 and produced it’s annual record production of 2,210,000 tonnes of coal in 1994.

During the 10 years of production Whitemoor Mine used diesel and battery free steered vehicles along with diesel and battery locomotives along with the rope haulages to supply the underground equipment and for manriding.