Selby Superpit

Qualter, Hall Engineering and the Selby Coalfield: Wistow No. 1 Winder.

The second of the two winders to be installed at Wistow Mine was a tower mounted, six rope, friction winder (Koepe). This winder was installed over the downcast shaft and had a single cage with counter balance weights. The cage was designed to carry 170 men on two decks or 16 tonnes of materials. To give some idea how large the cage at Wistow Mine was, a complete Dosco Dintheader heading machine could be loaded and transported underground on the cage.

They were the largest cages in the UK and weighed nearly 24.7 tonnes.

Below is the pictorial history of the installation and commissioning of the No1 winder.

The cage had to be manufactured and transported in two parts due to its sheer size.

The final pictures are the fitting and commissioning of the six ropes on to the 24.7 tonne cage and counterweight.

The cages on the friction winders in the Selby Coalfield were all tilting deck type. The middle section of the cage has central pivot points on both sides of the deck. Two hydraulic rams are mounted to the lower and middle deck and when operated the middle section is tilted and the load is held at an angle in the cage. This allows loads of up to 8.2 metres long. This system allowed the long, square section girder work, used in the underground bunker areas to be transported safely within the cage without the need to sling underneath the cage as used at many collieries.

Many thanks to Lisa Butterworth, Marketing Manager and George Wild, Company Secretary at Qualter, Hall and Co Limited for their time and for the use of the amazing photographs from their archive.

Selby before the Miners Strike in 1984.

Below is a very interesting historical film called ‘Selby: the saving face for coal’ about the perception of the future of the industry in 1984 by the NCB and the NUM. In the film the Selby Coalfield is referred to as a big part of the future of the industry but the actual truth of what happened to Selby, and the rest of the UK mining industry, preceding the year long strike, was very different.

At the time, Wistow was the only mine producing coal in the complex and the film refers to the initial problems encountered on A1s, the first working face and the subsequent replanning of the pit.

Selby: the saving face for coal

Qualter, Hall Engineering and the Selby Coalfield: Wistow No. 2 Winder.

Qualter, Hall and Co Ltd is a very famous and world renowned heavy and mining engineering company. When the Selby Coalfield project was started a huge amount of mining engineering expertise was needed to develop the coalfield. The five mines in the complex needed two winders per site to supply equipment and transport the men underground. Mine car handling plants to clear the coal and rock produced during the development phase were also needed at each mine to enable the underground developments to take place before the final connection to Gascoigne Wood Mine was completed. At this point all production came to the surface via the two huge trunk conveyors. Qualter, Hall was chosen to design, supply and install the new, state of the art winders and coal handling plants at each mine.

The first satellite mine to be sunk and equipment installed was Wistow Mine. This was the smallest site at only 29 acres and the shallowest mine in the Selby Coalfield. It was also the first mine to start production in July 1983.

Wistow was the only mine in the complex to use a tower mounted friction-winder (Koepe) on the No1 downcast shaft. All the other mines in the complex installed the friction winder on the No2 upcast shaft .

The winder installed on Wistow No2 upcast was a ground mounted, double parallel drum winding engine with twin cages. Each cage would carry 60 men or 8 tonnes of material. It was the first of the two winders to be installed at Wistow Mine. This shaft was used for the mine car handling plant during early development of the mine.

Below is a pictorial history of the manufacturing and the installation of Wistow Mine No2 winder and mine car handling plant.

During the installation of the No2 headgear the two cages were manufactured and transported from the works at Barnsley onto site for installation.

Each double deck cage weighed 4.5 tonnes and were made of aluminium.

Once the No2 upcast shaft headgear was operational in May 1981 the protective cladding was installed to allow the building of the airlock to progress.

With the cages installed and winder fully operational the winder was commissioned for man riding and use as part of the mine car handling plant.

During this period the surface mine car handling plant and outfeed conveyor system was installed to enable the development mineral to be processed. The double deck system, traversers, LOFCO mine car feeder chains and mine car ramming system enabled very efficient loading of empty, and disposal of full, mine cars to and from the shaft.

The underground coal clearance system to Gascoigne Wood Drift Mine was completed in January 1983 and the use of the surface mine car handling plant ceased and the equipment was removed.

Many thanks to Lisa Butterworth, Marketing Manager and George Wild, Company Secretary at Qualter, Hall and Co Limited for their time and for the use of the amazing photographs.

Memories and Artworks of Karl Jarrett.

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.

Artwork of a miner by Karl Jarrett, showing a man working underground changing a shearer cable at Fryston Colliery.

Changing shearer cable on 33s. 1982.

Artwork of a group of miners by Karl Jarrett, them at snap time underground at Fryston Colliery.

Fryston Colliery snap time stopping the belts. 1982.

Artwork of miners by Karl Jarrett, showing them working at the face of a heading underground at Fryston Colliery.

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.

Artwork of miners being attacked by police at Fryston Colliery during the miners' strike of 1984.

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.

Artwork of miner by Karl Jarrett, showing man carrying a cruciform arch at Fryston Colliery.

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.

Artwork of miner by Karl Jarrett, showing man on road header machine at Whitemoor Mine.

Holing through to Riccall Mine. 1986.

Tank slit at Whitemoor Mine. 1986.

Whitemoor/ Riccall Mine Connection. 1987.

Artwork of three miners by Karl Jarrett, carrying a pump at Whitemoor Mine.

Dalek at Riccall Bunker. 1988.

Artwork of three miners by Karl Jarrett, dragging a beam girder at Whitemoor Mine.

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.

Artwork of miner by Karl Jarrett, salvaging props from the face at Whitemoor Mine.

Whitemoor Mine H624s face salvaging hydraulic props. 1992.

Artwork of miner by Karl Jarrett, working in the tailgate from hell at Whitemoor Mine.

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 development of Whitemoor Mine.

© Copyright Ben Brooksbank and licensed for reuse under a cc-by-sa/2.0 Creative Commons Licence.

Whitemoor Mine in 1988

The shafts at Whitemoor were the second deepest in the Selby Coalfield. Number One downcast shaft was 931m and Number Two upcast shaft was 941m deep. During the sinking of the Number Two 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.

Transferring; Moving or travelling?

When the Selby Coalfield was ready to be staffed a transfer system was created to ensure the smooth transition of skilled mining men from closing collieries in North Yorkshire. A phased closure programme of pits in Wakefield and Castleford created the first wave of men to move to the new Selby Coalfield started in 1979 and continued in the late 1980s. The men who were asked to stay in the industry from the closing collieries were given options to either travel or move house to the Selby area.

The first option at some of the closing Wakefield collieries was to travel by coach. This mode of transport to the pit had always been an option around mining areas for a very long time. We called it the Pit Paddy in the Barnsley area and it ran thousands of miners to work every day for decades on the Tracky buses (Yorkshire Traction).

The Selby Mines were a substantial distance from the closing collieries so privately contracted coaches were used instead of the public services buses used previously.

Another option for the transferring men was to travel in their own cars to the new coalfield. A payment was made for the extra travelling distance, in miles, between your existing Colliery or from your home which ever was the nearest to the new Selby Mine of your choice. This option was very popular due to the flexibility it gave you to work overtime especially on the night shifts. Many men used this option for the life of the coalfield.

The third option available was to up sticks and move house to the Selby area. The criterias were that you had to move to a home within a certain distance from your new pit and that the mortgage or rent at your new house was greater than the amount you were already paying for your old house. The amount you received was up to £48 per week with a further one off payment for resettlement which we called Carpet and Curtain Money. You were paid the mortgage assistance for 5 years. The money paid reduced by 25% for the next 3 years until year eight when it ceased. Some men I knew used this option to rent a house from the new housing association estates to see if they settled in the area. If they decided it wasn’t for them they could move back and restart the travelling allowance again. Hundreds of miners and families moved to Selby into the new houses being built in the villages near to the new mines. Selby, Thorpe Willoughby, Hambleton, Brayton, Barlby, North Duffield, Riccall and Hemingbrough had new housing developments and were all very popular with the mining families. Sherburn in Elmet, Cawood and Wistow were popular with miners transferring to Gascoigne Wood and Wistow Mines as they were sited west of the River Ouse.

One difference between the villages to the East and the West of the River Ouse was there was no mains gas supplies in the East but a big bonus was you had no Selby Toll bridge to contend with on afternoon shift on market day.

Ron Bruce’s memories of the Mines Rescue Station

These are the memories of Ron Bruce, Selby Executive Committee (Estates)

“I have been recalling my memories of the Mines Rescue Station at Selby. The provision of a new rescue station and training facilities were discussed at the Executive Committee Meetings.

There were certain statutory regulations regarding the distance from a rescue facility to a coal mine and the Selby Mine sites were outside the parameters of the Wakefield and Doncaster Rescue Stations at Ings Road, Wakefield and Wheatley Hall Road, Doncaster.
A new facility was required so a site at Osgodby on the A63 near to the A19 was selected. This site could serve the Selby coalfield and collieries along the eastern edge of existing coalfield around Pontefract and Doncaster.

I was able to negotiate the purchase of some 4 acres which was sufficient for the Rescue Station and associated houses for some of the Rescue Men and families. This facility was very much ‘State of the Art’ when it was completed in the mid 1980’s especially when compared to the Rescue Station on Ings Road at Wakefield.
Shortly after the opening of the new facility and with the closure of the western collieries around Wakefield, the Wakefield Mines Rescue was decommissioned in 1986 and the site was sold for retail development. A ‘Blue Plaque’ visible from Ings Road marks the location of the former station”.

The Selby Mines Rescue station closed after the Selby Complex finished mining in 2004 and rescue facilities were moved to Kellingley Colliery. The Selby Rescue Station site was sold for housing development. The site is straight opposite the Garden Centre on the A63.

The Rescue Station staff travelled between the old Selby site and the new site at Kellingley Colliery until the changes were completed.

Ron Bruce’s memories of acquiring the land

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.

The Public Inquiry April to June 1975.

A public inquiry allows everyone with anything to say, a forum in which to say it. And there was certainly a lot of people with a lot to say about the plans for the Selby Coalfield. Some were in favour, some were against, and likely, many were undecided.

Some described the plans as the ‘rape of our countryside’, others thought ‘a coalmine will be a goldmine’. Anyway, no matter the side, the 2 April 1975 was when it all began in the Museum Hall on Park Lane, Selby, attracting a great deal of interest from the public. (Ezra, 1976, p114)

An office was rented, which was the N.C.B. public information centre on Finkle Street, Selby. Anyone who had any question about the project could raise issues or get answers to questions raised about the project.

There were representatives at the inquiry from the NCB, from North Yorkshire County Council, Selby District Council, Yorkshire Water Authority, British Railways, The National Farmers Union etc. etc. Each group had its own concerns, the water authority was worried about drainage and potential flooding for instance, and there was a massive concern generally about subsidence.

Mr Eric Orchard, a world expert on subsidence explained that in the past there had been little thought given to the potential damage caused by subsidence; houses had collapsed and fields had flooded. Today though was very different, coal miners were more informed and the whole process was much more scientific. Orchard went on the explain the methods that would be used to control the effects of subsidence and reassured the inquiry that there would be very little damage. Any repairs would be minimal and the NCB would pay for them.

Orchard’s reassurance went so far but didn’t 100% calm the worry around all the medieval churches and historic buildings. However, the NCB with its duty of care to these buildings, believed that the systems planned for mining the coal would protect the churches and similar important buildings.

But what about Selby Abbey? The risk was too great. An architect looked into the details of the Abbey’s foundations and found that any changes in the water table levels (something that could happen with mining) would threaten the structure of the Abbey. The NCB agreed to leave a pillar of coal underneath the Abbey as support but the size of the pillar was under question too. Selby Council was worried about the sewers which could crack if subsidence occurred, they were also concerned about industrial buildings and schools and hospitals so they wanted a larger supporting pillar, not just underneath the Abbey but under the whole town.

A larger support, the NCB argued would lose them nearly £100 million in lost coal. so it was left to the Government to make the final decision on the size of the Selby pillar.

Local people, especially farmers, had their own worries, flooding being a top concern. One farmer thought that the NCB could turn ‘an agricultural area into a duckpond’. The NCB didn’t deny that there could be adverse effects but agreed to put right any damage and to pay compensation to those effected. (Ezra, 1976, p121)

There were ordinary home owners too who were concerned about damage to their properties. The NCB agreed that in the event of damage they would decide whether to repair or compensate but said that severe cases were unlikely.

There were more issues raised; naturalists were concerned about delicate ecosystems; residents were concerned about heavy lorry traffic; there were unpopular changes planned to reroute the railway line, the winding towers were going to be taller than expected and be a blot on the landscape, there were anxieties about massive migration of workers to the mines and the labour force depletion from other areas. All agreed that mining ‘ghettoes’ were to be avoided. Two village councils even refused to have a mine named after the local village hence Whitemoor Mine and North Selby Mines.

The inquiry lasted for thirty eight working days. The Secretary of State gave his permission on 1 April 1976, a year after the opening of the inquiry, and even though not everyone was pleased about it, there was a feeling that Selby should see the best in it and make it a successful venture. One of his conditions was that pillars of coal must be left under central Selby.

Ezra, D. (1976) Coal: Technology for Britain’s future. London: Macmillan.

‘Dash for Gas’

In the years following the 1974 Plan for Coal and the implementation of the need for consistent energy supply, to be based on continuing coal usage, a further plan was being devised by the Conservative Party. This involved privatisation of the energy generation and supply followed by the privatisation of the coal industry. The twelve electricity utility companies were privatised in 1990 and became two huge companies called Power Gen and National Power. The nuclear industry was removed and was kept under state ownership until 1995 where it was merged with Scottish Nuclear to become British Energy. In 1991 the Scottish energy generator became Scottish Power and Scottish and Southern Electricity.

Up to 1990 the generation of energy from gas was not allowed but in 1992 this changed when the restriction was removed allowing the generators to use the the North Sea Gas reserves. This resulted in a huge increase in gas generation called the ‘Dash for Gas’. At privatisation in 1990 the fossil fuels used for generation of base load was 92% coal, 7% Oil and 1% gas. The UK coal used for generation was over 73 million tonnes in 1990. The newly privatised energy industry signed contracts with British Coal to supply 65 million tonnes of coal up to 1993. Due to the impending loss of coal market with the new energy producers, the government minister Michael Heseltine announced a closure plan of 31 mines with three pits being left out of the announcement. One of the mines was Whitemoor in the Selby Coalfield.

This left 19 mines ready for the privatisation of the industry planned for 1994. After 1993 coal contracts with the two new energy companies reduced to 35 million of UK produced coal. Due to the huge building program of Combined Cycle Gas Turbine power stations, the import of cheaper, often subsidised coal from Russia, orimulsion and petcoke from the U.S. the writing was on the wall for the coal industry and the closure of coal fired power stations was the obvious next step.

The closure of the 31 coal mines with the loss of 37,000 miners in 1993 and the perceived concern over the potential closure of the Selby Coalfield had a fundamental effect on the staff with a daily shout in the pit head baths of ‘Have you heard owt’ meaning when are we closing. Mining contractors became more commonplace for even small jobs and staff changes were happening as the men from the closing pits saw Selby as the place to be for at least a few years anyway and staff leaving due to the mistrust of the new owners, RJB Mining.

The Selby Coalfield reached full production in 1992/93 with an output of 10.8 million tonnes. The following year, 1993/94, the production peaked at 12.1 million tonnes. the next 4 years were 8.2 million (9 months), 11.4 million, 10.3 million and 8.5 million tonnes respectively. In 1997, the merger of North Selby and Stillingfleet Mine along with closure of Whitemoor Mine was announced. RJB Mining took a very risk averse strategy on production faces from 1995 onwards. In 1997, the developments at the South West and the North East of the mine were abandoned at Riccall Mine with long life developments ceasing at Wistow and Stillingfleet Mines. Due to the closure of Whitemoor and North Selby Mines the number of faces being worked dropped and therefore output from the complex fell to 7.14 million tonnes. The original concept of the coalfield was to produce 10 million tonnes of coal from five mines. The closure of 2 mines and subsequent planned loss of production ensured the complex could never run at a profit due to the standing cost of Gascoigne Wood Mine. At the end of 1997 an announcement was made at Riccall Mine that the complex had a maximum of 7 years production left if we were lucky. All the readily available coal faces in the Selby Coalfield were worked along with a new development to work 9 million tonnes of Stanley Main coal at Riccall Mine to honour the coal contracts up to 2004 and the closure of the coalfield. In the year of closure the coal produced in the UK was down to 13 million tonnes per year, a figure the Selby Coalfield alone had almost achieved in 1994.