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At 00:17 25/06/00 +0100, you wrote: >Hi Group > >Thank you to all who sent me details of headgears - either direct or via >this newsgroup. I have collated this information into a table which is >attached to this message in a Word document. > >Over 100 sounds a lot but how many will still be there in 10 years? >Anybody out there who fancies doing a photographic record of the ones >left today? And maybe I should contact English Heritage (and the >Welsh/English equivalents) to see if we can more of them listed. > > >Adrian > Ooops, dangerous word definitive! Here are a few Scottish additions and clarifications: - 1. Headgear at Lochore Country Park is the Mary Pit headframe (closed 1966) - I've a sneeking suspicion that it was the first concrete constructed headgear in the UK 2. Barony Pit. Auchinleck, Ayrshire - Pit closed in 1989 the last deep mine in Ayrshire. Very distinctive A Frame headgear on No.3 shaft still in place. No.2 shaft collapsed in 1962, followed by damage to No.1 shaft, when attempts were made to proetct No.2 by using infill from the tip the stoppings underground collapsed resulting in an inrush that caused the death of four men. Shortly after No.2 shaft and headgear collapsed. 3. Highhouse Colliery, Auchinleck, Ayrshire - Pit closed in 1983. Headframe frame still in position in the Highhouse Industial Estate. Again scene of disaster in 1908 when a fire in the egine room of No.1 shaft resulting in the headgear collapsing. The fire spread to No.2 shaft, but the engine man continued to wind men out of the pit, until the red hot wire snapped sending the fortunately empty cage to the bottom. The men at pit bottom were able to extinguish the flames transferred underground. After the fire was extinguished the men underground were hand wound to the surface via No.1 shaft without loss of life. 4. Micheal Colliery, East Weymss, Fife - Despite suffering a catostrophic fire in 1967 resulting in the death of 9 men the shaft and headgear were retained for pumping Francis pit. The headgear was there until five years ago, but since the pumps were switched off by the Coal Authority I am not sure whether was knocked down by them. 5. Solsgirth and Castlehill Collieries, Fife - While strictly not headgears, both retain the distictive "headgear" associated with a modern reconstructed drift mines. Both are part of the Longannet Colliery Complex. I believe that Castlehill is now closed, but Solsgirth is still used for access to the current Scottish Coal Longannet operations. As Scottish Coal develops it's Kincardine reserves the complex head at Longannet will also act as an access the workings and Castlebridge will begin to become redundant. In addition I have frequently noticed driving north of Sheffield on the M1, on the opposite side of the road from Tankersly (?) Golf Course what appears to be an old headgear in woodland adjacent to a farm (strangely reminscant of the "castle" where Casper finds the nest of the Kestral in Kes - incicidently which pit did Casper's brother work at in the movie?) Quite apart from the headgear what about a definative list of colliery buildings.....more of a challenge! Cheers Graham . **************************** * Graham Owens * * [log in to unmask] * * 01577 864721 * **************************** %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%