Coal Mines in Leeds

Trojan · Post by **Trojan** » Sat 19 Jan, 2008 9:23 pm

Barwicker wrote: I believe that the subsidence mentioned above affecting Bullerthorpe Lane may have been caused by the workings of Temple Pit which was certainly in this area. The pits at Colton I understood to be mostly "Bell Pits", still possibly dangerous but less likely to cause that sort of subsidence. There were of course at least three deep mines at Garforth, all at one time owned by the Gascoigne family and when I lived in Crossgates many years ago the house was very close to what had been Brianside Colliery, somewhere in the triangle outlined by York Road, Crossgates Road & Crossgates Lane, again giving a reason for many road names. I suppose most people round Leeds associate mining with Wakefield and the areas further south, but it's less than a generation that there was coal mining in the Leeds area. I remember miners in their muck, still wearing their helmets catching the 52/53 in Morley. Admitedly this was in the days when the LCT buses were blue, but it's in my living memory, and I'm still working age (just) so presumably it's in other's living memory too.

Post by **chameleon** » Sat 19 Jan, 2008 10:01 pm

Barwicker wrote: I believe that the subsidence mentioned above affecting Bullerthorpe Lane may have been caused by the workings of Temple Pit which was certainly in this area. The pits at Colton I understood to be mostly "Bell Pits", still possibly dangerous but less likely to cause that sort of subsidence. There were of course at least three deep mines at Garforth, all at one time owned by the Gascoigne family and when I lived in Crossgates many years ago the house was very close to what had been Brianside Colliery, somewhere in the triangle outlined by York Road, Crossgates Road & Crossgates Lane, again giving a reason for many road names. It's difficult to accurately pin-point the position of the Brian Pit with the re-alignment of York Road at that point. Although I remember some the houses between York Road and Crossgates Road being built, I was rather young to remember the exact layout!If you can remember a small turning circle some ten or so houses up from Hawkhill Avenue on York Road, it apears to be in that small area, chances are, that it is very close to the new build there!A second old shaft sits to the left of Crossgates lane and must be situated somewhere close to the bottom of the ramp to the car park under what was originally GEM. I did hear stories that when ASDA was housed there, that stock had to be periodically moved around to prevent 'problems' from developing - true or not, I can't say.

The Parksider · Post by **The Parksider** » Sat 19 Jan, 2008 10:19 pm

rikj wrote: I've the Hudson book out of the library at the moment Parksider! Great read and some ace maps as well. Ask away if you've got any questions as it isn't due back for a while!What's more surprising is how readily a lot of these sites get built on. I suspect that "advances" in civil engineering techniques mean that old workings can be built over more safely. Question - which Library you got it from and when you gonna send it back - seriously Rik - I want to get it next mate!I was half involved with the Old WMC (Oh god I have done it now - Lost Leeds WMC's) opposite the Beeston shopping centre/old white hart.The ground report indicated mining activity under the club and they were to either pump in concrete, or sink piles, or both to ensure the foundations of the new apartment blocks were sound.maps from 1800's will show deeper workings, but there was a lot of 1700's mining closer the surface and this is what it was.bell pits mined the seams close to the surface and as history progresses mines of course went deeper....

The Parksider · Post by **The Parksider** » Sat 19 Jan, 2008 10:23 pm

chameleon wrote: The Parksider wrote: There were of course hundreds!!We know of the Middleton and Waterloo mines but many smaller ones existed.If you go along Farm Road Crossgates between 42-44 there's a gap and a mound of earth with trees built on it. That's an old coal mine - any more?As a kid I used to wonder why there was a Coal Road on the north side of the city, when all the mines were south. Of course that was not true and I assume Wetherby was supplied with coal by this road from mines in Crossgates. Mentioned in the other thared, the Shaft on Farm Road collapsed, I think it was in the 70's.It was common practice to simply cap these redundant shafts with a timber raft and cover rather than fully back-fill. The reports at the time said som 700 wagons of hardcore where used to fill it in!There are two more shafts close to the community centre on what is now Maryfield (? road) at the end of what was the Bridle Path, belonging to - no surprise - Mary Pit. The area used to be a large spoil heap, fenced of with iron railings as seemed to be the way they were secured, but still accessable. The top couple of feet of the brickwork lining of one shaft was clearly vissible.There were also shallow workings close by in the adjacent field behind Seacroft Hospital and Killingbeck Colliery was situated behind the corner of the Sutton Trust Housing Estate off York Road, just at the end of the old bridge over the railway track. The old maps show a couple of shafts ther on the edge of what I remember to be a very large spoil heap which came to a very abrupt end with a heck of a drop down the side!Unfortunately both these sites have undergone considerable landscaping so there is no trace on Google Earth. Yes, Mary pit remains a grassy area with trees on it. Across the road up York Road on the right was Brian Pit, but I think this was built over - there seems to be houses on it (I wouldn't buy one there). Up Hollyshaw Lane there's another piece of spare bumpy land with trees on it - Prince arthur pit. A small run of stone spoil heal retaining wall remains.......

The Parksider · Post by **The Parksider** » Sat 19 Jan, 2008 10:29 pm

chameleon wrote: 'when i was younger my grandad used to tell me that below us(on the gipton estate) there used to be miles of old mine shafts and he told me that the hills circled in red are actually slag heaps 'Bandy - My map shows two shafts here as Gipton Pit. One is next to the letter 'T' of Thorn Mount in the bottom left of your circle, the second in a straight line to the right, on the grass, just to the left of the 'T' ofThorn Walk.The notes say:'Crow coal at 11ft Black bed at 141 ft Better bed at 246ft Pit bottom at 250ft'Let's hope these were properly filled when this pit closed!Interestingly, these are the only ones showing in that area until you reach Crossgates to the east and the railway track to the south. Gipton Pit was at the bottom of The Fairway - roughly. The end of coldcotes school grounds was the spoil heaps - I recall the thin grass on grey shale like stone.The Gipton pit had a tramway that ran to Hovingham avenue to coal staithes just above the Fforde greene.It is a distance from Gipton pit to Killingbeck colliery or the crossgates mines (Brian Pit and Mary Pit) but mine shafts went down - then they mined outwards!!!You don't have to be on a shaft to be built above mine workings!!

The Parksider · Post by **The Parksider** » Sat 19 Jan, 2008 10:33 pm

Barwicker wrote: I believe that the subsidence mentioned above affecting Bullerthorpe Lane may have been caused by the workings of Temple Pit which was certainly in this area. The pits at Colton I understood to be mostly "Bell Pits", still possibly dangerous but less likely to cause that sort of subsidence. There were of course at least three deep mines at Garforth, all at one time owned by the Gascoigne family and when I lived in Crossgates many years ago the house was very close to what had been Brianside Colliery, somewhere in the triangle outlined by York Road, Crossgates Road & Crossgates Lane, again giving a reason for many road names. Brianside pit I think IS built over unlike other croggy collieries!!!Anyone manage an exact location - It's on Godfreys?

Post by **chameleon** » Sat 19 Jan, 2008 10:49 pm

Brian Pit (as described on the maps) is on the old Godfrey map. The one I also referred to is the Geological survey which is laid over the 1934 OS map and so has more recent structures and housing shown. It is from the relative positions of these that I approxomated the position of the shaft, adjacent to the new York Road and immediately next to the old road - confident I'm prety close there.

Post by **chameleon** » Sat 19 Jan, 2008 11:02 pm

'Brianside pit I think IS built over unlike other croggy collieries!!!Anyone manage an exact location - It's on Godfreys?'Godfrey shows the old railway sidings and gas works behind the Station Hotel in crossgates, but it doesn't reveal the presence of an old 300' shaft in what must be the corner of the Arndale Centre car park (nearest to Station Road) It's either there or underneath that strange furniture store just inside the Centre on the right!

liits · Post by **liits** » Sun 20 Jan, 2008 3:48 am

The Parksider wrote: There were of course hundreds!!We know of the Middleton and Waterloo mines but many smaller ones existed.If you go along Farm Road Crossgates between 42-44 there's a gap and a mound of earth with trees built on it. That's an old coal mine - any more?As a kid I used to wonder why there was a Coal Road on the north side of the city, when all the mines were south. Of course that was not true and I assume Wetherby was supplied with coal by this road from mines in Crossgates. Not only on Farm Road, even when I was at school [Crossgares Middle School] to the rear of the school, on Bridle Path Road, was another mine. Yet another, but older, was on Hollyshaw Lane. This was on the left just before the crest of the hill, on the left as yoy went up towards Whitkirk. If you were to venture as far as Barowby Comon, on the left had side, as you headed towards Garforth, was a whole great big area that had been mined. This area still [in the mis 1970's] showed obvious evidence of being mined.A school friend of mine [no punn] who lived on Hawkhill Avenue, had little glass plated fastened to her house because it was subject to subsidence, the whole area of the Hawkhills, Brian's and Snadways being an area of monong prior to houses beings built in the late 30's and then comencing again after WW2.

liits · Post by **liits** » Sun 20 Jan, 2008 4:01 am

Actually, thinking about it, the remains of the mine / pit on Farm Road were subject to a bit of subsidence in the late 70's / early 80's. A school friend of mine lived in the semi's on the same side of the road, Well Garth Mount, junction with Farm Rd. At this particular time, so he said, there was "like an earthquake". Some outfit, presumably the NCB spent a few days pumping mud down the hole to stop it cavung in further.Also, and I've posted a version of this elsewhere, when Vickers [spit] pulled down the ROF and built their new shed, they found big "voids" in the earth. This was filled by vertue of pumpimg in fly ash [the residue of coal dust from power stations]. Even after this had been done, and the big concrete slabs had been poured for the new factory floor, where the big chuncks butted up against each other, they sitll didn't lay flat, riding up against each other over time.