>My conclusions were the practicalities of this method of working were non
existent. Not that I am saying it never took place, rather if it did it was
not because mining had not evolved beyond this practice, rather for other
reasons and I believe the practice could only be isolate,certainly amongst
shales at any rate. - Clive Seal
I was fortunate enough recently to be able to take advantage of a contact
who has a microlight. We flew over (and I photographed) a field in Cromhall
which had been ploughed where there are a number of circular black marks
close together. The pattern of these is clear from the air as being much
like a chess board. These are only a matter of yards from the edge of the
outcrop and the depth to the coal can therefore only be a matter of feet.
It would appear to me that these are what we would refer to as bell pits. I
have assumed that these are early workings (there are refernces to early
workings in the area (see previous email). A short shaft probably unlined
follwed by working the seem (only a few feet thick) in each directionThere
are deeper shafts nearby (further in from the outcrop), which are 18th/19th
century in origin. It is possible that the same company could also have
been working coal at the outcrop if it hadn't already been exploited and if
engines were being use to dewater those shafts it would have made coal which
would previously been unaccessible now available. The "bell pits" could
therefore actually be later than I have assumed.
The difficulty (as Clive points out) is that these workings would have been
very short lived. Using the excavation rates he talks of each could have
been dug and backfilled in a matter of days. The whole field would have
been little more than a few months work perhaps one summer. For such a
shortlived exercise it is perhaps not surprising that there are no records.
regards
David Hardwick
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