Selby Superpit

The Development of Wistow Mine

The A block developments.

When the pit bottom area of Wistow Mine was established in August 1981 the main lateral headings to the production units started. North Return South West, South West Loco Road and South West Conveyor Road were driven to the West of the pit bottom. The headings were also driven to the east of the pit. These headings were called North Return North East, North East Loco Road, North East Conveyor Road and South Return North East. The headings were started with the intention of starting coal production in July 1983. The first group of faces were to be worked off the North Return South West. The first face to be developed was H01AWs, known as A1s. This unit was a 150 yard retreat face and started production on 4th July 1983. The face retreated 122 yards when water broke in on 23rd July. Pumping arrangements were quickly started to contain the massive water flows of over 90,000 litres/pm. This water was coming from the Basal Sands, with a fault on the face compounding the problem. It was quickly realised that due to the shallow depth of the workings in the Barnsley seam on A1s, at 330m, water bearing strata at 80m depth, and geological issues, the mine had to be re-planned.

A1s face was abandoned in March 1984 after 460m of retreat. The longwall face of HO2AWs, known as A2s, commenced production in 1984 but had similar problems to A1s and was abandoned after 230m of retreat. It was replaced with a single entry face H21AWs which was developed quickly to enable production to continue. The next four single entry faces working to the west were H31AWs, H32AWs, H41AWs and H42AWs. All the faces were 45m in length. These faces were developed side by side inside the width of the planned longwalls, with a coal panel left for support and were producing coal in 1985. A further single entry face, H02BWs was developed off the Main South Intake and South West Conveyor, also producing coal in 1985. Water was still an issue on the first 4 single entry faces although not on the scale of A1s and A2s. The next 14 single entry faces on A block were reduced in length to 38m and a reduction in seam section being cut. With a coal pillar of 55m left between faces they proved a success with the last face on A block H19AW starting production in 1988.

As shown on the plan below, B Trunk Road was developed as an extension of the North Return Roadway and was driven parallel to A Block Intake for a group of single entry faces. The first face on this block was H106s which started in 1988. H107s, H108s, H109s were worked between 1988 to 1989. A pillar of coal was left before the next group of coal faces started with H115s in 1990. This area of the mine was very shallow, at less than 285m depth, so a system of micro faces were used to control the strata and water from the Basal Sands above these units. Nine faces were worked starting with H115s to H123s which finished production in 1992.

Single entry coal faces on A Block and B Trunk Road.

Single entry coal faces on A Block and B Trunk Road showing shafts.

Single entry coal faces were a way of producing coal at Wistow Mine to minimise disruption to the overlying strata and by default the overlying water bearing strata. This system was used, with great success at Wistow Mine and produced millions of tonnes of coal.

I was lucky to have seen the single entry system of mining at South Kirkby Colliery in the early 1980s in the Newhill, known as the Castleford Four Foot Seam in North Yorkshire. The system was developed by working five, 35m long faces over a four year period. As the system developed improvements to production were achieved as new equipment was installed. They were discontinued in 1985.

The single entry faces were developed, as the name suggests, using one roadway. At the inbye end of the heading a short roadway is opened to either left or right. This is, in effect a short face creating an L shaped heading. Once the stub heading was created the coal face equipment was installed in this stub heading. The chocks and A.F.C were installed like a standard faceline, but were butted up to the fast end of heading. The ventilation system was installed as part of the pan sides and the air was forced out at the fast end of the face thereby ventilating the face and the supply gate. Once the chocks and A.F.C were installed the drive motor was installed at the supply gate end of the face. The shearer was a shortened version of a standard single ended machine. The face was ventilated by fan like a standard heading but worked under exemption from the Mines Inspectorate, due to the ventilation of the fast end of the face. Methane levels were closely monitored with detection monitors installed at various points on the face to ensure air flow was maintained. The face had a flexible system of hoses and cables supplying the face which included a ventilation system to allow the face to retreat as required with constant air flow being maintained.

As seen from the plan shown above, the South Return and South Intake roadways were developed to access the south of the mine. The North Return North East, North East Loco, North East Conveyor and South Return North East were developed to access the east and north of the Mine. When these headings reached 1500m two roadways were driven south called the ‘C’ Trunk Loco and ‘C’ Conveyor Road. The The North East Conveyor and North East Return Roadway continued east for a further 1800m. H03CWs, a single entry face, H04CWs, HO5CWs were shortwall H06CWs, H37s and H38s were longwall faces and were worked between 1986 and 1989 at around 500m depth. This was at the boundary of Wistow and Riccall Mine.

A roadway was driven north west from the ‘C’ Trunk Conveyor called C2s Trunk Road and three shortwall faces were worked between 1989 and 1990. These faces were H25s, H26s and H27s.

When the ‘C’ Trunk roads reached 2000m, two roadways were driven east towards the Riccall boundary called the North East Intake and Return. H42s, H44s, H45s and H46s longwall faces were worked between 1990 and 1993.

At 200m in the Main South Return, a roadway was driven north east called C1s Trunk Road and five single entry faces, H33s, H34s, H35s, H36s and H36As were worked between 1990 and 1991 at a depth of 380m.

When the south headings reached 1500m an heading called Black Fen No1 Lateral was driven East to join up with the ‘C’ Trunk Conveyor Road. Three shortwall faces, H50s, H52s and H53s along with a double single entry face , H51a and H51b were worked between 1991 and 1992.

One further face worked from the North Trunk Road was H720s. This was a single entry face worked in 1999.

The main lateral headings for the South Intake and Return progressed along with B South Intake and Trunk Road running parallel to the west of the mine to develop a series of single entry faces. Two roadway called South West No 2 Lateral and South West No 2 Return were driven towards the West and faces were developed to the north of these two roadways.

H56s, at the top left of the plan was the first face to be worked in 1992. The faces on the left of the plan were all single entry faces, gradually getting shorter due to geological issues and finished with H69s in 1995. The next group of faces to be worked were at the top right hand side of the plan. The first face was H139s which started in 1994 with the last face, H130s which finished in 1997.

The faces shown in the lower middle panel were worked from the South West No 2 Intake and were single entry faces with gradual reduction in face length known as micro faces. The first face to be worked in this panel was H147s in 1996 to H141s which finished production in 1998.

The decision was made in 1996 to work a panel of coal using the Room and Pillar or Pillar and Stall as it sometimes known. This district was called PE1As. It was mined as a series of 5x14ft headings with cross cuts. The continuous miners used were Joy CM11 and Joy CM15 along with three Joy shuttle cars for coal clearance to Stammler Bunkers. The headings were roof bolted using Fletcher Bolters with a place changing system. This was the only time this system of working was used in the Selby coalfield.

The series of twelve faces shown from H159s to H175s on the right hand side of the plan were worked from the Thorpe Hall Lateral and Extension roadways. These faces were between 1997 until 2003.

The final group of five faces were H154s to H151s worked from 1999 until 2002.

Joy 4LS Shearer at Wistow Mine

This section of the mine worked fifty single entry faces over a period of eleven years, and shows how impressive the Wistow heading teams were.

This was the south eastern area of Wistow Mine and bordered Riccall Mine on the top edge of the plan. The faces were worked from the Black Fen No2 and Black Fen No3 Return roadways. As seen on the plan, fifteen shortwall and longwall coal faces were worked. These types of faces were worked due to the depth of workings. H80s started production in 1992 and H93s finished production in 1998. H81s which was the final face at Wistow Mine is shown at the bottom of the plan.

My Mines Rescue Memories.

This is a little bit of my history and memories working as a Part time Mines Rescue Brigadesman at the Selby Coalfield.

I was a miner from 1979 when I started as an apprentice electrician at South Kirkby Colliery and I worked at 4 pits during my time as a miner. I have worked on the coal face and in headings (tunnelling) since 1980 aged 17.
I always knew about what a Rescue Man did after talking with my Grandad Sep, who was a Rescue Man at Monckton Colliery at Royston and worked for the Rescue Corp retrieving casualties from collapsed buildings in the WW2.
I also remember the Lofthouse Colliery Disaster and the Houghton Main Disaster as a young lad.
One specific incident in 1983 where a good friend of mine was killed at my first pit, South Kirkby, made me want to join the rescue team.
I was unable to become a Rescue Man at my first pit due to availability of spaces but was put on the list for training by my Colliery Overman, when a space came up. Due to the miners’ strike and subsequent colliery closures, this never happened.
When I transferred to Riccall Mine, in the Selby Coalfield, I finally became a Part Time Rescue Man after being put forward by the Colliery Safety Officer, who was also one of the Rescue Team Captains. I did my initial 14 days training in early 1994 at Selby Rescue Station and became a member of the Riccall Mine Rescue Team.

How did you become a Rescue Man and what do you think a Mines Rescue Man did?

After acceptance of application and before initial training you had to pass a very thorough medical including eyesight, hearing, lung function, x-rays for lung dust damage, mobility and fitness test using a treadmill and heart monitoring. This medical happened every year whilst you were a Rescue Man.
This was required due to regulations for wearing breathing apparatus.
An interesting fact, from before my time as a rescue man, was you had to have teeth in good condition due to having to bite on a mouthpiece rather than using a facemask.

You had to pass a Mining First Aid Training course including administering Pethidine (Morphine) pain relief injections.
You had to pass a Flame Safety Lamp gas testing course.
You must learn how to feed canaries (only joking)

Initial Training.
Initial training consisted of a rigorous 14-day course.
During the course you had to prove competence wearing Breathing Apparatus in all types of mining, confined space and rescue scenarios.

S.E.F.A (image courtesy of Anthony Appleyard, at English Wikipedia)

The breathing apparatus used was called a S.E.F.A. which was an oxygen closed circuit (rebreather) type, designed to last 2 hours (+20%) in good conditions.
In tougher conditions the Breathing Apparatus could be set to give higher Oxygen flow but only lasted 1 hour.
It basically looks like a stainless-steel box with 2 vacuum cleaner pipes and a face mask.
You had to learn how to use, charge, strip, clean and rebuild the set. You learned how to examine, test and maintain the set but mainly trust it with your life. This was done twice a day, every day, during your training.
Wearing this equipment gave you terrible headaches for a few days before your body became accustomed to breathing 100% Oxygen.
Included in the course was a wearing inside a hot and humid chamber where the trainees were tested to the limits of the breathing apparatus in extreme heat and humidity whilst carrying water barrels, cycling, shovelling hardcore, lifting weights and other high intensity exercises. The team captain monitored every team member with environmental conditions and oxygen gauges being checked and recorded. The heat and humidity were monitored using a piece of kit called a Whirling Hygrometer, which consisted of 2 thermometers on a frame. One had a wet sleeve over the thermometer bulb with the other one being dry. This equipment gave temperature and humidity recordings to decide the duration of working time. The time inside the chamber lasted 19 minutes, the maximum in these conditions. This was carried out as part of another training session, so we never had a steady day.

Casella Whirling Hygrometer. Photograph courtesy of the Science Museum

Let me tell you what a Rescue Team Captain did!
Rescue Team Captain’s needed to be logical, quick thinking problem solvers. They were expected to have a good local knowledge, be highly trained and experienced. Being pragmatic, practical and courageous was also a great quality.
One of the captain’s jobs before going down the pit was to check the lamproom barometer and log the reading. Low surface atmospheric pressure causes methane to migrate from the coal and the workings underground. This can elevate methane levels which is very dangerous.
His job was to ensure the safety of his team so theoretically he would not carry out any practical work.
He had to ensure the team had all the equipment needed before they went underground and that it had all been checked and ready to go.
He had to check his team’s B.A.s before leaving the fresh air base and monitor the teams oxygen use by doing gauge checks every 15 minutes.
He had to keep an eye on the team members to ensure they weren’t suffering ill effects.
He had to log the teams progress into the mine, using his mine plan, marking the way in and out so that they could get back out without running out of oxygen.
He made a written a log of everything they did and marked anything relevant on the mine plan.
He was the one who lead the team so he gave the signals, by whistle, to control the team movements.
He ensured environmental readings were taken to ensure safety of his team and this information was passed on to the next team at the fresh air base.
He listened to his teams brief at the fresh air base very carefully and annotated it in his logbook with the task they needed to do.

Due to the Lofthouse Colliery Inrush Disaster in 1973, new training was needed involving using breathing apparatus in mine slurry and water. This involved working as a team in a swimming pool carrying weights to ensure you weren’t buoyant, whilst having a black out bag over your head and facemask. We had to walk around the pool in loops to feel what it was like trying to breath in your B.A. sets in the 10-foot-deep end of the pool.
This was quite a difficult test due to the water pressure and It felt like trying to breathe with a wide, tight belt around your chest.
Another training exercise involved using your Breathing Apparatus in a scenario where you were entrapped. We visited Kellingley Colliery for this training using some of the old mine workings to do it. The team captain, using a mine plan, had to find a specific point in the mine. Then we were told the roadway had collapsed behind us and the team was trapped. Your aim was to minimise your oxygen use to ensure it lasted as long as physically possible. This is achieved by turning the valve on and off and feeling for the carbon dioxide building up then restoring the oxygen flow. The team captain monitored everyone, with only one lamp being used, to ensure no one got into difficulty. Quite a responsibility you could say. We all survived thankfully.
During the training we worked together as teams of 5, one of us carrying out the duties of Captain for that day.
We used most of the equipment available for use in rescue work during the two weeks until it became second nature.
First Aid was a major part of our training. It involved uses of 3 different types of stretchers and carrying sheets, including drag stretchers, full body splints for back and femur injuries, Entonox and Morphine pain relief drugs , oxygen resuscitator / revivers, bandaging and burn relief. This was carried out either underground or in one of the four simulated underground galleries at the Rescue Station.
This was the reason rescue men tie multiple broad fold triangle bandages around the neck for quick deployment.
Casualty handling was a big part of rescue and learning how to get large, often injured men, through small spaces and around tight corners without breaking them was quite important.
Carrying heavy stretchers long distances was practiced. The trick is to change position regularly but always move 2 positions, clockwise at each change to opposite corners of the stretcher.
When reading mine plans the trick was to always orientate the plan to the direction of travel. Always mark each change of direction and every roadway junction with a chalk arrow on metalwork, props or girders to ensure you could retrace your steps and in the case of further rescue teams having to find or rescue you they would follow your steps inbye to your last point. On your way back out you always marked the arrow with a second point to show where you had been. Marking of position of injured men or bodies had to be annotated on the mine plan and in your log also.
Monitoring of gases during time underground was very important to ensure safety and for record keeping. The Rescue Team Captain ensured testing was carried out and all results noted on the mine plan and in his logbook. An electronic multi gas tester was carried called a Status Mentor continuously checking for carbon monoxide, methane, hydrogen sulphide and oxygen levels.
Carbon Monoxide 200ppm highly dangerous, Hydrogen Sulphide 100ppm fatal. Methane 5 to 15 % explosive and oxygen less than 17%
A piece of equipment called a Drager Tube Sampler was also available for extremely accurate measurement of mine gases including hydrogen cyanide.
On the last day of training when all practical exercises and written examinations were passed a certificate of training is presented which I still have. This was the day you become a Rescue Man and the Mines Rescue green holdall with your rescue helmet and equipment is allowed to be used in anger. A very proud day.
Once you are trained you were entered onto the register of men available for deployment to incidents.
You carried out 6 training session per year, usually with your pit team, of which you are a member. If you miss one you must catch it up, often with a team from another pit.
You attended a medical and fitness test every year which must be passed, or you are withdrawn from the list of available men.
Every three years you attended a methane gas testing course and first aid course to maintain competency.
The aim of practices was to familiarise yourself with all the mines in your area. This predated sat navs and mobiles, therefore knowing where each pit was situated is essential. Once visited they are logged in your mind, especially the more difficult ones to access such as Hayroyds Colliery which was on a small lane off road in Clayton West and Hatfield Main Colliery which was not in Hatfield but at Stainforth in the Doncaster area.
Keeping a record of availability of all the Selby Rescue Men was very important so all shift patterns, holidays, injuries or sickness, changes of address and telephone numbers were always reported to the main rescue station at Selby immediately. Every Saturday morning an alerter/pager test was carried out. If the alerter didn’t work at 0900 you had to call the station to report it. You always carried your alerter with you when not underground.

My green rescue holdall contained all the things needed to attend an incident as Rescue Team Captain.
Green rescue helmet with head straps and ear protection fitted.
Overalls and shorts,
Multiple undies, t-shirts and pairs of socks,
Boots,
Shin guards,
Gloves,
Finger tape,
Kneepads,
Belt with a spanner and knife,
Swipe card and leather case. These were issued at each pit when attending incidents and practices for recording entry and exit from the mine. A sort of modern pit check system.
Barrier cream for skin protection in acid/alkali conditions,
6 ironed and folded triangle bandages,
A pack of chalk for marking up underground,
A box of short pencils (so they don’t break in your pocket),
Captains Record Book with Breathing Apparatus duration tables,
Rescue Training / Incident Logbook with pens,
Two mechanical wind-up watches, one for wearing and the other kept in your pocket as a spare (No battery watches allowed). These were used to time all checks and logs whilst underground so having a spare was important. Watches were always set and checked with the Rescue Officer at the Fresh Air Base before entering an unsafe area.
A packet of BIC razors for having a dry shave to ensure a facemask seal. This was a must have when you have been working and you get a call without having had a shave for a week.
Lucky charm and photo of wife and kids (joking)
Doing well in Rescue competitions gave the Riccall Mine manager a great sense of pride. It was usually very closely fought between the Selby Coalfield Mines, Prince of Wales and Hatfield Main.

Riccall No1 Team
Selby Group Rescue Competition 1995

Riccall No1 team came a very good third place in the very last National Rescue Competition at Doncaster in 1996.

Riccall Mine No 1 Rescue Team

Shaun Hager, Derek Stott, Chris Schofield, Paul Nicholson, Mick Hodgkinson and Mick Armitage.

We had a good drink afterwards to rehydrate of course.
During my time I visited all the pits in my area and was Rescue Team Captain at Riccall Mine at an incident involving an underground spontaneous combustion fire, working to seal off H439s coalface and was on standby for Prince of Wales Colliery Explosion. I was a rescue man at three pits, Riccall Mine, Hayroyds Colliery and Hatfield Main Colliery before leaving to be a Wholetime Firefighter at South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue.

Finding the Selby Coalfield.

The Yorkshire Coalfield in 1923

‘Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland’ CC-BY (NLS)

Mining engineers knew about the richness of the coal seams to the south and south west of Selby. The North Yorkshire area around Pontefract and Castleford had been heavily mined. This area was not developed for the Barnsley seam but for a series of seams ranging from the Stanley Main seam to the Beeston Seam. Test borings were started in 1954 and seven seams were found to be workable. The two most important seams were the Silkstone and the Beeston seams with the Winter, Warren House (closely allied to the South Yorkshire Barnsley seam), Haighmoor with the Stanley Main and Dunsil seams all workable. With this information a new colliery was planned, Kellingley Colliery, the first since 1927. As mentioned in The Doncaste r Co nnection the Doncaster Coalfield, South of Selby, was sunk between 1905 to the 1920s to work the Barnsley seam so a natural progression of this seam would be north towards Selby.
A drilling programme was started in 1964, running for 4 years at Barlow, Camblesforth, Hemingbrough, Whitemoor and Kelfield Ridge to prove the coal reserves and found that the Warren House and Low Barnsley seam, which splits north of Doncaster, merged to form the Barnsley seam, a continuous, high quality seam.
The N.C.B. re-started drilling in 1972 to confirm the extent of the Barnsley seam around Selby. Coal deposits were found at Cawood at 405 yards depth and were 10ft 3inch in section. With this information the N.C.B. started a combined systematic exploration of the area comprising 50 boreholes at 3 to 4 km apart and seismic surveys, a system of small underground explosion to ascertain coal seams and fault formations using shockwaves, to complete the research program. They found 2000 million tonnes of workable seams. The Barnsley seam comprised of a 600 million tonne area of high quality, low ash, low sulphur coal. The seam section was over 3 metres at 300 metres depth at the west to over 2 metres at 1100 metres at the East. The seam continued to the southern edge of York and to the River Derwent to the East.
These findings, along with the Plan for Coal 1974, started the process of the application for planning permission to North Yorkshire County Council on 7th August 1974 to mine the Barnsley seam in the Selby Coalfield.
Bibliography
Arnold, P. and Cole, I., 1981. The Development Of The Selby Coalfield. [Heslington, Yorkshire]: [Selby Research Project, Dept. of Social Administration and Social Work, University of York].

Mines Rescue Training

The 14 Permanent Rescue Brigadesmen worked a 14 week “rota” system where 5 men were available along with an officer between 1600 hrs and 0800 hrs. The 6 men, who were on call at weekends, undertook work and telephone duties due to the Nightwatchman working only Monday to Friday.

Two Rescue Brigadesmen were allocated to service breathing apparatus on weeks 4 and 12 of the rota.

Weeks 7 and 14 of rota did not have any after hours duties so the rescue brigadesmen could use these weeks to book holidays.

Initially – Mondays were Permanent Corps training days, where a team went to a local mine with the Assistant Superintendent or Third Officer and undertook a rescue training wearing breathing apparatus

Wednesdays were station training days where a team of Rescue Brigadesmen undertook a rescue training wearing breathing apparatus in the rescue station “galleries” which had 2 x 36 metre mock of both a coal face (low and high seam) and headings (low and high seam)

Rescue Brigadesmen also undertook a number of daily duties i.e. ground maintenance, cleaning, painting etc.

The station had a hot and humid chamber where rescue workers could do work under extreme conditions (hot and humid working reduced working time wearing breathing apparatus from 2 hours to as little as 19 minutes)

The site also had a large lecture room that could accommodate 50 people and its own gym (treadmill and weights)

The station staff spend a lot of days training part time rescue workers including;

New rescue workers who had to complete a 15 day initial course in rescue with 3 to 4 courses completed each year with around 8 to 12 trainees per course.
Existing rescue workers had to undertake 6 rescue practices per annum.
Rescue Brigades men had to undertake minimum of 12 practices per annum.
At its peak there were 23 part time rescue teams from mines covered by Selby Rescue Station so it is not difficult to see that quite a lot of time was spent training people and servicing equipment.

When station opened the Siebe Gorman Proto apparatus was still in service as was the Aerolox liquid oxygen breathing apparatus. Proto had been in service in various forms since 1908. These sets were replace by the Sabre SEFA breathing apparatus around 1989 (this was eventually replace by the Drager BG4)

To give staff experience and improve competency Rescue Brigadesmen also worked in mines carrying out the following tasks;

Building prepared stopping sites
Building stoppings
Building air doors
Sealing air doors with shotcrete
Involved in installing / dismantling ventilation fans

These were useful skills to develop as an emergency underground was more likely to require rescue teams to undertake activities to save the mine, rather than save life, as monitoring systems, ventilation and general health and safety had improved dramatically in the mining industry.

The hot and humid chamber was also utilised on occasions and staff volunteered to wear a variety of types of new breathing apparatus that were being trialled prior to being manufactured.

Many thanks and kind regards to Ronnie Munro, a Mines Rescue Officer at Selby Mines Rescue Station, now at MRSL (Mines Rescue Services Limited), who trained me on many occasions and who provided me with the information in this post.

Mines Rescue Incidents

During its life the Rescue Station teams attended many underground incidents including;

Gascoigne Wood Drift Mine – fall of ground due to heading collapse and rescuing trapped miners.

Stillingfleet Mine – fall of ground; Assisted in clearing a fall of ground thus allowing some trapped miners to be safely extracted from the area.

Kellingley Colliery – Ignition that resulted in a number of small “explosions” at the coal face; Nitrogen was injected into this area to reduce oxygen content to allow retreat mining to continue; this in turn left the affected area behind where oxygen content would be insufficient to allow an explosion to occur.

Prince of Wales Colliery – an explosion occurred and affected area needed to be sealed off.

Grimethorpe, Hatfield, Kellingley, Riccall/ Whitemoor, Askern and Barnburgh – assisted in sealing areas off due to spontaneous combustion.

Further incidents;

Stockline Plastic Factory, Glasgow – some staff assisted in search and rescue / recovery of bodies from this disaster.

Assisted in rescuing a person who was trapped by a trench collapse near Leeds.

Castlebridge Colliery, Longannet Mine Complex, Fife, Scotland – assisted in sealing area of mine due to spontaneous combustion.

Some rescue workers also had cameo roles in the movie “When Saturday Comes”

I served as a part time rescue brigadesman during my time at Riccall Mine, Hayroyds Colliery and as a member of Hatfield Main Colliery Teams. The training and support given to the teams in the Selby Complex and beyond was outstanding and it was an honour to be part of Selby Mines Rescue.

Many thanks and kind regards to Ronnie Munro, a Mines Rescue Officer at Selby Mines Rescue Station, now at MRSL ( Mines Rescue Services Limited ), who trained me on many occasions and who provided me with the information in this post.

Mines Rescue History

When the Selby Coalfield was developed all the parts of the process were meticulously planned and checked to ensure success. The Selby Superpit was a huge part of the Plan For Coal set out in 1974 with huge investments being made both in infrastructure and staffing.

When the six Selby Mines were planned a provision for rescue from the mines had to be staffed and a rescue station built to provide this cover. The original plan was to going to be a “B” type station which does not provide a team of Permanent Brigadesmen but is staffed by Part Time Rescue Brigadesmen employed at the surrounding mines. The original site was to have the following staff to manage, train and support the part time brigadesmen;

A Superintendent who takes overall charge of the station.

Two Assistant Superintendents.

A Third Officer.

Two Permanent Brigadesmen for training part time men, assist with equipment, breathing apparatus servicing and supporting rescue operations.

Two Nightwatchmen to provide telephone cover during non office hours of 1600 to 0800 hrs.

A cleaner.

The link below provides further information.

Selby Mines Rescue.

The site of the Rescue Station was located at Osgodby opposite at what is now Selby Garden Centre on a plot of land consisting of 4 acres.

There were 6 houses built on site to accommodate the Superintendent and other staff listed above. It was a statutory requirement at the time that the full time rescue personnel lived within a half mile radius of the rescue station (The Coal and other Mines (Fire and Rescue) Order 1956). A further decision was made to increase cover and the rescue station was made an “A” station. The increase in manpower required 2 further houses to be built on the site and properties to be purchased in Osgodby and Barlby, with properties being rented in Riccall and Barlby.

The new station was staffed with trained Permanent Brigadesmen who transferred from closing rescue stations in areas where stations were no longer needed due to colliery closures.

Wakefield Rescue Station- 8 men transferred.

Ilkeston Rescue Station- 2 men transferred.

Rotherham Rescue Station- 2 men transferred.

Two further staff were recruited from mines to complete the 14 permanent corp of men.

Starting at Riccall Mine

Riccall Mine

I remember my transfer to Riccall Mine like it was yesterday. I was working as a heading / coalface electrician at South Kirkby Colliery from 1979 to 1986. The pit seemed to be doing quite well with two new seams, the Fenton and the Highfield or Top Newhill having successful faces running. Suddenly the pit was planned to merge with Ferrymoor/Riddings Drift Mine. The writing was on the wall, as we all knew in the coal industry, merge a pit with another and then close two for the price of one. I knew I had to make my own way to the Selby Coalfield if I had a chance of staying in the industry as transfer options were still very difficult due to planned staffing at Selby taking place from closing collieries in the old North Yorkshire Area mentioned in previous posts. After a few phone calls and an interview with Bill Hagan at North Yorkshire Area manpower to explain the transferring, travelling and moving house allowances I transferred to Riccall Mine. It proved to be the best move I made. I signed on at Riccall Mine in September 1986 with a lot of lads from Kingsley Drift Mine, signing on the same day due to closure of their pit. It was on a thursday so my last day was to be Friday at South Kirkby Colliery. I said my good byes on the Friday dayshift and had the weekend off before starting Monday, on the day shift at Riccall Mine. The first day consisted of getting my new two piece overalls, something I had never seen before, tools, pit head bath keys, electrical locks and PPE for the new pit and introductions to some of my new shift. Quite a few of the people who signed on the same day as me ended up on the same shift including one of my new Shift Charge Engineer who I worked with until my last day at Riccall Mine.
As I walked around the surface buildings I was very impressed by the brand new pit and how clean, tidy, modern and well designed it was. When I went into the pit yard for a look around the surface the first thing I noticed was the mine car handling plant at the No1 shaft.

Qualter Hall were the contractors for the Mine Car Handling Plants in the Selby Coalfield.
Coal is unloaded from the cages in mine cars through a tippler, which emptied the coal, and returning back onto the cage to go underground using a LOFCO chain driven system. The coal was then sent by road for processing elsewhere. This system was used at all the Selby Mines, for the heading drivages, before the mines were connected to Gascoigne Wood Drift in December 1987. This was not the equipment I expected to see at Selby but it served it’s purpose well.

Riccall No 1 Pit Bottom with mine car coal clearance in 1987

The mine car handling plant was later removed when the Gascoigne Wood coal clearance was fully operational. During the time the mine car handling plant was used for coal clearance, the underground supply system was a double bogie GMT (Gyro Mining Transport ) mine car system using the No2 shaft, something I had never seen before.
The surface was 64 acres, very small compared with my old pit, and was built on a disused WW2 airfield, virtually invisible from the road. It has a huge soil banking which was landscaped around the visible edges of the mine surface using trees to hide the mine from view as agreed in the public enquiry in 1975. The plan, after closure of the mine, was to restore the mine surface back to farm land using the soil in the banking as infill but this was never used as the mine is used as a business park nowadays.

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Riccall Mine Surface Buildings

No1 Shaft was a downcast with a ground mounted double parallel winder with two eight tonnes or 72 manriding capacity cages . No2 Shaft was an upcast with a tower mounted multi rope friction winder with a single cage and counterweight. The cage capacity was 16 tonnes or 149 manriding capacity on 2 decks. It also had a system of a tilting deck cage so larger or longer pieces of equipment could be lowered underground inside the cage without using slinging under the cage. The tilting deck cage was used for the huge amount of compound girders used in development drivages and bunker / drivehouse roadways at the North of the mine where the coal was loaded into Gascoigne Wood.
The shift I was put on had two Shift Charge Engineers, one from Royston Drift Mine and one from Kinsley Drift Mine who started on the same day as me. The lads on the shift were mainly from Newmarket Colliery with a couple of Woolley lads, one Fryston and myself from South Kirkby Colliery. The chargehand was from Woolley Colliery who I knew from my apprenticeship times at Monk Bretton Training Centre.
My first day underground was to give me an idea how the pit was set up and how things worked. I rode underground in the No2 shaft and was suprised how large the cage was. It would carry 149 men on two decks. When I got off the cage the temperature was quite warm and I realised why we were given 2 piece overalls.
The mine was set up to use No2 shaft as the mine supply shaft. The pit bottom was very modern with a Qualter Hall hinged platform and chain ram system used to push full articulated G.M.T. Mine cars off the cage using the empty G.M.T.’s. The full cars were kept in the pit bottom passbye system for later transportation to districts. Headings were supplied with arch packs, a pre packed system with all the materials needed for setting a pre determined amount of girders. If the girders were 16 x 12 ft they were packed in 5 settings with 19 x 13ft being packed in 4 settings. The materials were transported by flameproof Clayton BoBo or Clayton Pony rubber tyred battery Locomotives.

Clayton BoBo rubber tyred battery locomotive.

Clayton Pony rubber tyred locomotive hauling a powered face support.

The charging and maintenance station for the loco’s was in the pit bottom with dedicated fitters and electricians looking after the loco’s.
No1 shaft was used as the coal clearance shaft loading 2 tonne mine cars from the strata bunker in the north conveyor road onto the pit bottom coal handling system and then loading onto the double deck cage for disposal on the surface. The system was another Qualter Hall Engineering design and worked well. When I first saw the system I was very surprised at a brand new mine.
The mine was developed with three lateral roadways, two intakes and one return. The North Intake and North Conveyor were the intakes from the No1 shaft with the North Return to the No2 upcast shaft. The North Return had a central rackatrack installed on the sleepers from the pit bottom to 700m mark. This was intended for Rackatrack locos but they were never used as rubber tyred Clayton BoBos and Pony locos were a preferred option.

The North Intake and North Conveyor roadways were the connections to Gascoigne Wood for coal clearance. The North Conveyor and North Return were driven by Mk 2B roadheaders and were both completed when I started in September 1986. The North Intake was still under development using a Dosco Mk 2A revised hydraulic Roadheader with a trial MEDC intrinsically safe pilot circuit unit. The only one I have ever seen.
The South Headings were the South Intake and South Conveyor from the No 1 shaft with the South Return heading to the No 2 upcast shaft. I was to be the electrician in the South Return heading. All the headings were developed with cross slits for the coalface main and tailgates which also kept the temperatures in the lateral headings slightly cooler. The South Conveyor heading was driven with Dosco Mk2B roadheader and was nearly completed to the Whitemoor Mine connection when I started. The South Intake and South Return headings were being driven using Mk2A revised hydraulic roadheaders.
I started the next day in my new job with the heading team. The team was a mixture of men from different pits consisting of two young back up lads, Johnny Baker and Bernard White from Newmarket Colliery, the Deputy was Johnny Dale from Fryston Colliery with the heading team from Rothwell, Peckfield and Newmarket Collieries who were Tony Armstrong, Frankie Parr and Johnny Millar, the fitter, Chris Ward was from Park Hill Colliery.
The South side coalface headings were HO1CR’s (C1’s) main and tailgate. The tailgate was developed using a Joy Continuous Miner (JCM12) with two shuttle cars for coal clearance to the gate conveyor. The maingate was driven by a Mk2A revised hydraulic roadheader.
The North side face headings were HO2DR’s (D2’s) Main and Tailgate. The tailgate was developed using a Lee Norse Continuous Miner (LN800 1TT). This machine was an American specification and could cut out for a setting in 7 minutes. This was the first heading at Riccall Mine to use bolts as a support system. The maingate was driven by a Dosco Mk 2A revised hydraulic roadheader.
I settled in to working at Riccall Mine within days and quickly realised I had made a good move. The mine was developing very quickly and new installations were happening on a weekly basis. The availability of overtime was limitless and the development production bonus was very good due to good mining conditions cutting a 2.6 metre seam and very powerful, high speed continuous miners being used in the face developments.

I worked in the South Return heading, which progressed well, until just before the heading made the connection with Whitemoor Mine, when I became chargehand on my shift. In April 1987 the heading hit a partial washout. In this area of the heading, water started dripping from the roof and sides. The water was incredibly acidic and left awful red marks all over any bare skin, so anyone entering the heading had to cover their skin with a special slimy barrier protection cream. The roadheader turned from a machine white to a very rusty orange within 2 days. This acid water continued for about 150m before it disappeared. The heading thirled in May 1987 as shown on the plan below. The roadheader was so badly damaged by the water that it was left when the heading was completed.

Mine plan showing South Return and South Conveyor roadways at demarcation mark.

The 1974 Plan for Coal

The Plan for Coal and the Selby Project

Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s the reliance on cheap oil was accepted as one of the prime sources of energy for the U.K. The National Coal Board were vocal in criticising this rationale as the OPEC countries had made it quite obvious they were pressing on with a program of maximising revenue from the oil by increasing prices dramatically in the future. The N.C.B. were also questioning the long term viability of the Nuclear Industry due to excessive cost and uncertain technologies. The suggestions and plans were made by the N.C.B. for a long term strategy for the coal industry. The plan involved increasing coal production and replacing older working collieries with new, highly efficient mines. This plan was conceived due to the increase in efficiency and concentration on productivity from modern coal face design and increased mechanisation at existing collieries.
Over a three year period from June 1970 ‘the price of Saudi Arabian light crude oil rose 1.80 dollars a barrel to 11.65 dollars, representing an increase of 547 per cent’. (Arnold and Cole, 1981, p. 14). These prices were dramatic and were a direct side effect of the Yom Kip pur War in 1973. This war created serious problems for the UK by quadrupling oil prices, an increase of £2bn to the oil import costs. The government had already started on a massive North Sea oil exploration investment but a plan for the coal industry had to be formulated to create a flexible energy policy. This was called The Plan For Coal 1974 and the Selby Project was to be a substantial part of the plan.
The Plan for Coal was designed to sustain the output from British mines in the 1970s and to increase production during the 1980s. The target set by the N.C.B. in the 1970s was to produce 135 million tonnes of coal by 1985. The deep mines were to produce 120 million tonnes, with opencast mines to top up production by 15 million tonnes. This target had a built in replacement of old capacity and a creation of new capacity of 42 million tonnes. This was to be achieved by sinking new mines, reconstruction of long life collieries and extending short life collieries by finding new reserves. ‘The cost of this new future for coal was estimated at £1,510 million (at September 1973 prices) and a major share would be devoted to the proposed Selby Project’ (Arnold and Cole, 1981, p.15)

After the Plan for Coal 1974 became government policy it became obvious 10 million tonnes of the 20 million tonnes of new capacity was to be the Selby Project and the planning permission was to be submitted as soon as possible.
When the N.C.B.’s planning permission to the North Yorkshire County Council was submitted on 7th August 1974 the new mine had already been discussed by the local community. The scale and breadth of the planning permission surprised the local communities, councils, local committees and planning authorities and a public enquiry was the obvious outcome.
Bibliography
Arnold, P. and Cole, I., 1981. The Development Of The Selby Coalfield. [Heslington, Yorkshire]: [Selby Research Project, Dept. of Social Administration and Social Work, University of York].

Staffing the Selby Superpit

The Selby Complex of mines was a huge project involving many aspects. The individual mines were developed over a prolonged period of time and staff were required as the project progressed. Mining contracting companies were initially used for shaft sinking and development drivages with supervision provided by officials at the pit sites and management from the N.C.B. North Yorkshire Area Headquarters, based at Allerton Bywater. Deputies, for the shaft sinking, were the first staff to be transferred to the sites. As the Gascoigne Wood Spine Tunnels progressed and shafts were sunk at the five individual sites men were needed to staff the mines.

The N.C.B. needed to provide the staff, from existing collieries, to ensure the pits had experienced supervisors, miners, craftsmen and management to run the new mines. A phased closure of the older collieries in the North Yorkshire Area was planned alongside a recruitment plan of local people. These staff were called green labour with no experience of mining. The colleries to be closed were all from Wakefield, Leeds and the Castleford area initially.
Having worked at Riccall Mine and having one of the Deputies, on my shift, who supervised the shaft sinking contractors, I acquired some information about the shaft sinking supervisors deployed at Riccall Mine, who all transferred from Walton Colliery, in 1978 when sinking commenced.
The first men to be transferred were the Deputies / Shotfirers to supervise the contractors during the shaft sinking operations. These men were released from individual collieries before they closed and were experienced in shot firing, used during the sinking process.
The North Yorkshire Area colliery closure program started in 1979 and continued through the 1980s until all the staff were needed for full production to commence at the new Selby Complex. The list below is not exhaustive but contains the main pits used to staff all the Selby Mines with closure year.
Walton Colliery, 1979.
Peckfield Colliery, 1980.
Lofthouse Colliery, 1981.
Manor Colliery, 1981/82.
Park Hill Colliery, 1982/83.
Newmarket Colliery, 1983.
Rothwell Colliery, 1983.
Ackton Hall Colliery, 1985.
Saville Colliery, 1985.
Fryston Colliery, 1985.
Glasshoughton Colliery, 1986.
Ledston Luck Colliery, 1986.
Wheldale Colliery, 1987.
Nostell Colliery, 1987.
The collieries chosen to staff the Selby Superpit were very old collieries and were virtually worked out. The miners from these pits were often working with equipment from a previous era of thin seam mining so the transition to very heavy duty mining equipment was to be overcome.
A documentary called There’s Life North of Watford was made in 1982, two years before the Great Miners’ Strike in 1984 / 1985 and contains interviews with two miners and their wives talking about the difficulties of the transfer to the Selby Coalfield and living in the new area, in a village near to Selby.
The first mines to be staffed were Wistow Mine and Gascoigne Wood Drift Mine. Stillingfleet, Riccall and Whitemoor Mines were staffed in that order with North Selby Mine being the last to be staffed. In the early development of the complex and subsequent need for staff, entire groups of miners from closing collieries were transferred to the newly opened mines at Selby. Examples of this type of mass transfer were Lofthouse and Manor Colliery men went to Wistow Mine and Newmarket and Park Hill Colliery men went to Riccall Mine. When the men were transferred, transport was made available for the men by using coaches. Other men would use their own vehicles, often sharing the driving due to large amounts of overtime being worked. Some of the transferred miners moved to live nearer the new mines in the villages in and around Selby.

When collieries closed and staff were needed for staffing later in the development they were held on secondment at other collieries until positions became available at their chosen mine.
After the Great Miners Strike, collieries closed at a very fast pace. As places became available at Selby, miners transferred from the Barnsley area. The colliery closures progressed and miners from many parts of the country transferred to the Selby Mines. This resulted in a huge mix of men, from different areas as diverse as Scotland, North East, Wales and the Kent Coalfield, all working in the Selby Mines.
At Riccall the workforce changed from the late 1980s and men from Nostell, South Kirkby, Betteshanger, Askern, Sharlston and Prince of Wales all came to work at Riccall as the industry was decimated by the closures due to the government energy policies and the ‘Dash for Gas’.

The Robbins 193-214 TBM

The Gascoigne Wood South Spine Tunnel was a very new concept in coal mining roadway development. A Thyssen 12-35 FLP Tunnel Boring Machine had been trialled in an 476m overburden undersea heading development at Dawdon Colliery starting in 1975 with varying success. The heading was a 3.6 m circular tunnel driven through coal measures in mudstones and fine sandstones with broken zones of coal, shalestone and seatearth. The machine progressed 1086m in 1975 but gradually proved to be unsuccesful completing only 1398m by 1978 when it was abandoned.

The Robbins 193-214 TBM was designed to fulfill the high speed drivage required for the development of the Selby Complex coal clearance tunnels exiting at Gascoigne Wood Drift. It was a 5.8m diameter TBM designed to have advance rates of over 120m per week.

The Robbins TBM Erection Chamber.

Capture TBM Spec

The cutting head consist of a disc cutter rotating at five revolutions per minute scooping heading material onto a rear facing conveyor. The cutter head, which contains 42 roller cutters, is designed so that they can be changed from inside the head at the rear of the face for safety.

Capture Robbins TBM

This picture gives you an idea of the sheer size of this machine and the size of the erection chamber required to build it which was 40m long and over 8.5m high. The T.B.M. was designed and built at the Robbins factory in Seattle, U.S.A. The T.B.M. was tested and then shipped to the Gascoigne Wood Mine erection chamber for the build up and testing before being accepted for use underground. The T.B.M. cut a 5.8 metre circular tunnel, then a 5 piece circular girder was installed at 1m centres. The heading roadway, behind the machine, was then backfilled, using the cutter muck, up to 1.2m. The conveyor running through the machine had a controllable delivery point, to deliver the muck, into the roadway at the back of the machine. This created a flat base, in the circular roadway, to allow for services such as the conveyor to deliver development muck to the surface and rails to be installed for the supplies to the heading.

Capture Robbins TBM 2

The Robbins Miner.

The 240 tonne 193-214 T.B.M. consisted of seven sections :-

The Cutter Head,

The cutter head carried the disc cutter and rotated at 5 rpm. It scooped the material, cut at the face, and transferred it via chutes on to the internal machine conveyor. It consisted of 5, large bolted sections. It allowed for changing of the rotating cutters from inside the cutter head structure for safety purposes.

2. Cutterhead Support and Main Beam,

The cutter head shield provided the support for the main bearing mounts, ring gear seals and gear reducers. It transmitted all the cutting and steering torque forces to the main beam. It also provided extending fingers, in the upper section, to the ring beam erection area. The main beam was bolted to the rear of the shield and slid within the gripper section at the rear of the machine. Its main function was to transmit forces to the main gripper assembly and also housed the machine conveyor.

3. Gripper and Propel,

The gripper assembly comprised of the gripper shoes, cylinder, gripper carrier, torque and propel cylinders. During cutting operations the gripper shoes were held against the tunnel wall whilst the propel cylinders pushed the machine forward against the gripper assembly. This allowed the machine to be steered.

4. Machine Conveyor,

The hydraulic machine conveyor was situated inside the main beam and delivered the heading material to the main clearance conveyor or the heading backfill facility.

5. Rear Support,

The two legs and shoes operated by 2 hydraulic rams which support the machine during the regripping phase.

6. Ring Beam Erector,

This section erected the 5 piece rings girders within 2 metres of the face. It was positioned under the cutter shield fingers

7. Pantechnicon,

This section was supported by a twin monorail system. It carried all the support systems for the T.B.M. and consisted of :-

a) The 120m overlap dirt disposal conveyor.

b) The 10 sections carrying the electrical equipment including 2 x 6.6kv / 1100v 1.5 MVA transformers and air scrubber fan.

c) The auxiliary fan overlap system for face ventilation including a telescopic sectional system for heading advancement.

d) Two hoists for unloading heading supplies from minecars.

e) A series of monorail mounted bogies used for carrying the 6.6 kv type 631 electrical supply cables and water hoses allowing a 200m advancement before a move up is required.

The invert fill was was 20m back from the face and did not require any tamping of material.

The materials needed for the heading was transported on an internal monorail system through the body of the T.B.M.

The dust control system was mounted behind the cutterhead and was connected to the dust collection system mounted inside the machine.

All the hydraulic services operated on an N.C.B. standard 40/60 oil/water emulsion to adhere to the fire resistance standards (HFB). These hydraulic system were mainly 2000 psi but some system parts were operating at 3000 psi.

The outbye side of the pantechnicon, mounted over the conveyor, was the 6.6kv GEC MIVAC electrical supply isolation unit.