The Mining Industry in the Huddersfield District
By D. A. Wray

COAL MINING IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

The great industrial expansion which characterized the earlier part of the nineteenth century, and in which coal and iron played so conspicuous a part, almost certainly synchronized with the maximum development of the coal industry in this district. All the profitable seams occur at a comparatively shallow depth, and at a very gentle and regular inclination; factors which greatly facilitated exploitation at this period.

The accompanying plan of a local colliery working, for which we are indebted to Mr. J.E. Armitage, admirably illustrates the various methods adopted at successive periods in the mining of the coal. The earliest method was to drive roadways locally known as bords or straightwark, into the seam, and then extract the coal over small areas as around A, leaving large rectangular pillars or panels or unworked coal to support the roof. At a later stage, however, the pillars or ‘postings’ were removed as at B. This wholesale extraction of the seam, particularly in places where the workings were shallow, led to irregular surface subsidences, and as a consequence it was only in special circumstances that this method of mining was at all extensively employed.

In the earlier days of mining, the ventilation of the workings presented considerable difficulties, and it was only on the introduction of the safety lamp in the early days of nineteenth century that extensive mining underground could be undertaken. The modern system, which is now almost universal in all large Yorkshire collieries, consists in driving a long straight heading in the seam, and removing the coal completely in a ‘long-wall’ face as at C. The advantages of the ‘long-wall’ system, in addition to the fact that it leads to more economical working, are that there is a considerable saving in timbering, while the subsidence of the overlying strata takes place more uniformly and regularly than when the coal is mined on the ‘post’ system. It has, however, been found more advantageous in the present area to continue in places the ‘bord and pillar’ system of working, especially where the seams lie at a comparatively shallow depth.

Excavations within recent years in the Huddersfield sports ground at Fartown revealed old workings containing upwards of thirty per cent. Of the seam left in. Similar prodigality marked many of the older and shallower workings around Emley, Flockton, Grange Moor and Lepton, opened out during the coal dispute in 1925. The actual extent of the workings around Huddersfield itself at the beginning of the nineteenth century may be gauged from the fact that at least twenty pits were known to be working in the Lower Holme valley between Holmfirth and Huddersfield; while none whatever is working in this area at the present day.

Gin, Denby Grange, showing horse-track.

An interesting relic of the methods of haulage and winding which were practiced in the early part of the nineteenth century is still to be seen in the old ‘gin’ (See pic above) at the Denby Grange Collieries, five miles to the east of Huddersfield. A long wire rope is connected to the tubs of coal to be withdrawn from the mine, and passes around a wooden drum; the latter rotating on a stout wooden vertical axis. A horse harnessed to shafts attached to the crossbeam draws it round in a circle, the horse-track being clearly seen in the accompanying figure. This gin, which was employed both for the haulage of coal and men is still in occasional use at the present day. The methods of pumping in vogue at this period are illustrated by the pump shown in pic below. The main beam of the pump can be seen to the left of the engine house. Pumping is done by a Cornish pumping engine using steam 5 lbs. Per square inch, and though apparently of quite a primitive form has been found to be most economical in working, and is still in use at the present day. In the extreme left is to be seen a ‘gin’ employed for the haulage of coal and miners, while in the foreground is a ‘capstan’ employed for the haulage of heavier materials, such as machinery, up or down the shaft. A horse is employed in driving both.

Engine House, Denby Grange Colliery, showing gin and capstan on left.

The gin referred above with the wire rope around the drum, and the shafts by means of which the horse was harnessed to the main driving shaft is seen in the picture below. It is a remarkable feature to find, in the midst of our coalfield, where every advantage is taken of modern mining equipment, and at a colliery where electrical power is utilized, these simple devices still in active use at the present time, and serving their purpose both effectively and economically.

Gin, with rope and shafts, Denby Grange Colliery

Minor explosions due to firedamp, and often attended with fatal results, were not infrequent in the early part of the nineteenth century. The underground workings were becoming more extensive, and much attention was devoted to preventive measures to cope with the dangers of firedamp. Between 1840 and 1850 minor explosions took place at Lockwood and Kingsmill near Huddersfield, Briestfield and Emroyd near Middlestown, the Ainleys near Elland, and in the Holmfirth district. The total loss of life was not great, but a very high percentage of the victims were children under fourteen years of age. The only serious explosion in recent years within the present area took place in July, 1893, at the Combs Colliery, Thornhill, resulting in the loss of 139 lives.

It was largely the result of the explosions due to firedamp that diverted public attention to the subject, and in 1842 Parliament passed the necessary legislation to prohibit the employment of women and children in underground workings. Prior to that period both had been extensively employed underground, and probably the last local reference to the subject is the record of a Holmfirth coal-owner working the Hard Bed Coal, who in 1844 was fined at Huddersfield for employing four girls aged respectively 12, 13, 15, and 17, as hurriers in his pits at Wooldale.

In 1850 State inspection of coal mines was instituted, and with this the compilation of more exact and reliable data as to the state and extent of the coal industry. Thus from a perusal of the Mining records published by the Geological Survey and Museum in 1859, seventy years ago, we learn that there were no fewer than 116 separate coal pits in the immediate vicinity of Huddersfield, Halifax, Dewsbury and Holmfirth; while the production of coal from the same area was about one-forth of that of the whole country. At the present day the total number of working pits within the corresponding area is under forty; as the majority of shallow seams have been worked out, and each modern colliery works over a far more extensive area.

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