An old air shaft between Bruntcliffe and Howden Clough

Places to explore
User avatar
Leodian
Posts: 6478
Joined: Thu 10 Jun, 2010 8:03 am

Post by Leodian »

I would be grateful if anyone could please tell me any information about an old air shaft. The shaft is near to Scott Lane but does not seem to be over any old railway routes. The shaft is labelled 'Old Shaft' on an 1893/94 map in the Old Maps UK website, 'Old Air Shaft' on the 1922 and 1933/38 maps and 'Old Air Shaft (Sealed)' in a 1956 map. The older maps show the shaft is not far from a Victoria Colliery, Bruntcliffe, so perhaps it was a ventilation shaft for that.The attached image shows the location of the shaft towards the bottom left on the 1893/94 map. I have struggled to get a definite Google view but think the shaft may be the small circular object in a rectangular looking feature that may be the site, which can be seen through this link:- http://goo.gl/maps/jicmPThe shaft is not the very prominent shaft that seems to be over Morley Tunnel near Scotchman Lane and which is seen in about the centre of this Google view:- http://goo.gl/maps/wbHD1        
Attachments
18931894AirShaftNearBruntcliffe.jpg
18931894AirShaftNearBruntcliffe.jpg (71.4 KiB) Viewed 7371 times
A rainbow is a ribbon that Nature puts on when she washes her hair.

somme1916
Posts: 982
Joined: Fri 02 Mar, 2012 7:39 pm

Post by somme1916 »

Interesting...........Howden Clough colliery nearby was shown to have rail workings that went underground at some stage but i don't know in which direction.Victoria colliery which was at the top end of Bruntcliffe La/Bradford Rd was quite a large undertaking working right up to the late 1930's i believe.There was also a smaller coliery at Howley Park which was at the Batley end of Morley Tunnel.According to Jim Thorpe's excellent "Coal Mining in Morley" ISBN 13:978-0-901450-65-4,both Howley Park and Morley Main collieries had long legal wrangles with the London and North Western Railway Company due to subsidence of the railway track in the(morley) tunnel.It may be that there existed a separate mineral line at some stage although it would seem that Howley Park colliery lay some distance from the shaft you mention(Batley end of tunnel) ??? The book may give you further clues as would also some good records in Morley library.If I come across any further info.....i will post it on here. As an afterthought..........I would think it highly likely it would be an old air ventilation shaft for Victoria Colliery(p.s. there's some great pics in that book).
        I'm not just anybody,I am sommebody !

jonleeds
Posts: 717
Joined: Thu 31 Jan, 2008 4:59 pm

Post by jonleeds »

Hi Leodian, I know the area you are talking about very well, I believe the shaft which is now capped off is actually a secret tunnel that goes to the centre of the earth which can now be accessed from the nearby masonic lodge. The grand wizard of freemasonry there used to use it to visit beelzebub and sign a few pacts before nipping back for a round of golf at Howley Golf club! Heh heh heh! In reality it looks like a capped off shaft related to Morley's coal mining past. I've mentioned it before on here, but there used to be a similar looking capped off shaft opposite the Arkle pub on Springfield Avenue and I reckon there will be similar ones all over Morley. It used to creep me out when I was a nipper living in Morley that below our feet were miles of old workings that had been sealed off for decades. I used to wonder what its was like down there and how terrifying it would be to fall down one of these shafts and end up trapped for days groping around in the dark.Up at the top of Churwell Hill on the site that used to be Churwell Colliery was an old pit hill of mining slag / shales that had subterranean fires blazing for many years, it used to conjour up images of hell thinking about fire ripping through the old tunnels hundreds of feet below the surface.    
Have your fun when you're alive - you won't get nothing when you die... have a good time all the time! - Chumbawumba!

And no matter how things end, you should always keep in touch with your friends - Dave Gedge

somme1916
Posts: 982
Joined: Fri 02 Mar, 2012 7:39 pm

Post by somme1916 »

There were 47 known old collieries in the Morley borough from around 1850 to the 1930's..........as well as many "day holes" etc.The capped off shaft near the Arkle would have been in relation to the old Dean Hall colliery nearby.......spontaneous combustion underground or on old pit stacks/slag heaps is not uncommon and would obviously be quite dangerous to anyone nearby !
        I'm not just anybody,I am sommebody !

User avatar
Leodian
Posts: 6478
Joined: Thu 10 Jun, 2010 8:03 am

Post by Leodian »

Cheers somme1916 and jonleeds. A shaft going to the centre of the Earth sounds fun but lets hope no fracking is allowed that might cause problems!
A rainbow is a ribbon that Nature puts on when she washes her hair.

morleyhall
Posts: 56
Joined: Wed 02 Dec, 2009 7:24 am

Post by morleyhall »

The old shaft at the bottom of the old map is possibly from West End Collieries. The workings of the old mine were in Birkby Brow Woods, a popular place for Gypsies to live at one time. http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?reso ... 60794Going slightly off topic here, but back in the mid 70s I lived at Moat Hill in Birstall, and I have a young faded memory of seeing disused railway sidings in a field near to the woods at Howden Clough. I’m sure that the sidings ended on the raised bank in the field here.https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Howden ... 1,7.66I’ve looked up the air shafts in Morley Tunnel. It was closed at the time for track repairs, and my class did a sponsored walk through it from Peel Street School to help raise the last bit of money they needed for the new minibus around 1980.I’ve a vague memory of being told about an old disused railway tunnel in the Scotchman Lane area, but the only disused tunnel I could find in Morley was Phill’s thread on Gildersome.

somme1916
Posts: 982
Joined: Fri 02 Mar, 2012 7:39 pm

Post by somme1916 »

Seems that's another possibility morleyhall....both birkby brow/west end collieries feature in the book i mentioned before in roughly this location.If only Morleians realised the rich seam of history beneath them eh !    
        I'm not just anybody,I am sommebody !

Phill_dvsn
Posts: 4423
Joined: Wed 21 Feb, 2007 5:47 am

Post by Phill_dvsn »

morleyhall wrote: I’ve a vague memory of being told about an old disused railway tunnel in the Scotchman Lane area, but the only disused tunnel I could find in Morley was Phill’s thread on Gildersome. That must be Soothill tunnel I think.I've some photos of the portals herehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/phill_dvsn/sets/7 ... 448542/One of the portals is down this steep drop herehttp://goo.gl/maps/KLKjvThe other portal is herehttp://goo.gl/maps/Ce9d0And an air shaft is here, I believe you can see down it still through a hole in the shaft cappinghttp://goo.gl/maps/7G2E2
My flickr pictures are herehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/phill_dvsn/Because lunacy was the influence for an album. It goes without saying that an album about lunacy will breed a lunatics obsessions with an album - The Dark side of the moon!

somme1916
Posts: 982
Joined: Fri 02 Mar, 2012 7:39 pm

Post by somme1916 »

Hi Phill,I walked that tunnel several times in the late 70's before it was sealed up and there was indeed an air shaft about half way through as I remember.......although quite dark,it could be traversed without artificial light on a clear day.....you couldn't quite see the light at the end of the tunnel until you were part way in.Very interesting walk however....well constucted(weren't they always) with not too much in the way of obstacles back then.As teenagers,we were fascinated by such things ! Woodkirk stone quarries lay directly adjacent to the tunnel.....there are still some remains of the old Woodkirk train station and bits of the old platform just off Dewsbury Rd.near the Woodkirk cricket ground and you can quite easily make the cutting out leading up to the tunnel entrance.At the other end....nearby were the remains of Howley Hall.It was indeed very steeply banked at both entrances to the tunnel.The trains from Leeds still ran when I was very young and would travel up to Tingley where there were extensive sidings at what was a very busy rail junction used by several coal trains feeding the old town gas works at Tingley and destinations further beyond.In fact,as a kid,all I can remember was the myriad of trains....passing by at very frequent intervals.All before the M62 motorway was constructed of course !    
        I'm not just anybody,I am sommebody !

somme1916
Posts: 982
Joined: Fri 02 Mar, 2012 7:39 pm

Post by somme1916 »

Above post edited to read "Woodkirk quarries" not Howley Park which were of course several hundred metres away as the crow flies ! There were several dangerous quarry pools with very steep sides full of all sorts of underwater obstacles........to be entered at your peril ! Further along however,lay a bank of long,narrow and quite shallow pools which were quite an attraction in summer months.....these led up towards the direction of Howley Park.
        I'm not just anybody,I am sommebody !

Post Reply