James,
What you say ties in with what I already know about Malago Vale -
there's a fairly detailed description of the colliery in the official
report into tan explosion which occurred there in (I think) the 1890s.
Malago and Argus appear to have been two separate pits which were
combined to comply with safety legislation requiring collieries to have
two shafts.
The Ashton Vale Iron Company's works at South Liberty Lane continued
producing bricks until the 1960s when the company was wound up. South
Liberty Colliery had a Newcomen engine which was installed c1750 and
continued in use until it closed in 1925. Was it at all unusual for an
engine to have continued in use for such a long time? Incidentally, a
series of photographs of the engine in operation were published in the
1890s - if anyone is interested, I'll see if I can find the reference.
Robert Hunt's "Mineral Statistics" for 1855 show that Coal Barton
colliery was owned by John Fussell, although it appears to have closed
by 1856. Vobster colliery is shown as owned by the executors of T
Fussell from 1855 to 1860 (the next copy I've seen is for 1866, by which
time it had changed hands).
Keith Ramsey
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