I don't think there's a simple answer - the design of headgear was in
transition for decades before and after that time. A few steel
headframes were in use from about the 1880s, but timber ones were
still being built in the 1930s. Obviously steel would be more
efficient, but more expensive. I don't know of a history of headgear
(if I did, I'd buy it on the spot), but most general mining textbooks
have a few paragraphs on the subject. At the time your mine opened,
they often had a brief comment on the merits of timber and steel. E.
Henry Davies, Machinery for Metalliferous Mines (Crosby Lockwood,
London, 1894 vol. 1, p. 78) says: "The pit-head gear may be
constructed of wood or of steel, in which latter case it can be made
extremely light for transport, and at the same time enormously strong."
Peter Bell
On 02/07/2009, at 2:18 AM, Fiona Cross wrote:
> I am currently undertaking a short study of a coal mine in west
> Yorkshire. It was a relatively small mine (I think the maximum
> output was about 40,000 tons a year), and came into operation in
> 1912-13. The headgear was of timber construction - does anyone have
> a view as to whether this would have been standard practice at that
> time, for a mine of this size? Was metal headgear a post WW1
> phenomenon, or were the owners simply being thrifty or 'traditional'?
>
> Any thoughts would be appreciated, particularly a reference to a
> history of headgear, if such an arcane publication should exist.
>
> Thank you.
>
> David Cross.
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