COLLIERIES OF SOMERSET AND BRISTOL by John Cornwell 2001 112 pp, 86 B&W
photos, maps etc. HB DW Landmark Publishing Company, Ashbourne Hall,
Cokayne Ave, Ashbourne Derbyshire DE6 1EJ at £14.95 Mike Moore can also
supply.
When considering coal mining areas there is a tendency only to think of
Wales and Yorkshire, so that one fails to appreciate the significance of
such outlying areas as those detailed in this book. Smaller than the
main areas, nevertheless in their time the mines in Somerset and Bristol
provided work for many and were of major importance in the economy of the
region.
I lived in Bristol for over thirty years and although I knew a little of
the coal mining history I did nothing in the way of making records for
posterity. Even on an illicit evening trip down the Harry Stoke Drift
Mine at Filton I omitted to take a camera! Well this book more than
compensates for my inactivity.
The volume presents a historical record of 13 pits which are no longer in
existence. For each colliery there is a brief historical account, date of
sinking, and details of ownership (all collieries before
nationalisation 1947 were in private ownership), . Depth of shaft,
owners, number of men, production figures are all given together with
large scale OS maps and some superb photographs of both men and machinery at
work underground and on the surface.
Harry Stoke was one of the last mines to open in 1954 and finally closed
in 1963 as uneconomical. It was planned to work the Kingswood Great Vein
which was last worked by the Speedwell Pit in 1936. John’s photographs are
now the only records of this mine as the surface remains were obliterated by
landscaping in the 1990s.
The Somerset mines were unusual in that naked flame lamps were permitted. I
believe that the Forest of Dean is the only other mining area in the UK
where the explosive gas methane is absent. When the mines were nationalised
in 1947 the National Coal Board applied its regulations nationally and naked
flames were banned in all Somerset mines. This is my excuse for not taking
photos in Old Mills Colliery during a visit with the Wessex Cave Club in
1964. My flash gun was not flame proof!
We should be indebted to those such as John Cornwell who have taken the
trouble to collect and reproduce photographs of this recent part of our
heritage, which alas is now no more.
This is a superb collection of photos that I will treasure.
TO
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