1923 - Page 2

Westthorpe

J and G Wells sank Westthorpe as a ventilation shaft for Holbrook in 1923. 

Company Name Changed

Stanton Iron Works Co was now known as Stanton Ironworks Co Ltd.

Pumping

Coton Park (Moira Colliery Co Ltd) de-watering shafts at Castle Gresley, 9/109 in South Derbyshire and pumping continued at Campbell old pit 2/2 in North Derbyshire.

Colliery Sold

Ashgate colliery (Ashgate Collieries Co) at Chesterfield was sold for £3,000.   

Price Of Pit Ponies

The price of pit ponies had now dropped to between £26 and £16 in some areas following the recovery after the end of the Great War.

The Following Pits Were Closed in 1923

• Allpits New colliery (Manor Collieries Ltd) Blackshale and Yard seams, dip 1in4, met old works, December 1923 Surveyor JF Tankard
• Ashgate (Ashgate Collieries Co) Chesterfield, 49 Silkstone, 18 s/f, Manager: George Farmer (1571)
• Ballarat (G Dunlop), New Whittington, Tupton Threequarters and fireclay, discontinued
• Bond’s Main (Staveley Coal and Iron Co Ltd) Silkstone and Deep Soft abandoned 8 Aug 1923,
  Undermanager: T Simmonds (2nd), Surveyor Joshua Edwin Leek (310), at Calow Footrills, (Calow Colliery Sidings 2 footrills and a shaft, 8 Aug 1923)
• Brimington (Walter Gibbons and Sons) closed temp Oct 1922, abandoned 25 Mar 1923, probably Mickley seam – Jacks 2” (0.05m), coal 1’ 5” (0.43m), holing dirt 9” (0.23m), drift entrance and shaft 20 yards (18.25m) deep,
  Surveyor Hubert Blackshaw
• Brockwell (Brockwell Clay and Coal Co), Newbold, Tupton and fireclay, discontinued May 1922, abandoned
• Frith Wood (TA May), Dronfield, 1in3 adit abandoned due to water, did not reach Silkstone, and scoured out old shaft to 58 yards (53m) which was connected, 20 Dec 1923, Manager and Surveyor: Levi Robinson
• Gun Lane (JT Bollington) Nether Heage, 2/2, Norton or Alton or Belper Lawn, batt roof 1’ 0” (0.30m), coal 11” (0.28m), dirt 3” (0.08m), coal 1’ 6” (0.46m), footrill at 1in2½  through old workings at 1in4, found more old works and shaft and footrill, Undermanager: JT Bollington (689 / 2nd), Surveyor Steve G Lee
• Highfields (SE Redfern Ltd or Manor Collieries Ltd), Chesterfield, Deep Hard, 30th June, Undermanager: W Walker (no cert)
• Hill Top (Hill Top Collieries Co), Eastwood, Top Hard and Coombe 6/3, abandoned 2 Jun 1923, Manager: AE Jones (533), heads 1in10 met old works (no record), Surveyor JW Whittaker
• Holmley Lane (JB Dawson), Blackshale: bags 5” (0.13m), coal 2’ 11” (0.89m), dirt 6” (0.15m), coal 1’ 9” (0.53m), 4 day holes, one shaft 9 yards (8m) deep, but not to seam, unprofitable, Surveyor: EG Scott for A Smith Dawson and Co
• Lower Hartshay (Butterley Co Ltd), Main Soft coal (Deep Soft) 3’ 6” (1.07m), bat 3” (0.08m) unprofitable, abandoned 28th Apr 1923, Deep Hard abandoned also, Pumping shaft – 15gpm feeder at 38 yards (34m), 25gpm from feeder in Soft coal, 95 yards (86m) and water running off old level, 135 yards (123m) to stone head pit bottom, shaft 9” brickwork, 163 yards (149m) – not lined at all, large feeder in roof of Low Main, John Holbrook Surveyor, Joseph Bircumshaw Agent
• Moor Edge (Pickford, Holland and Co) Totley, Halifax Hard stood, Undermanager: Isaac Salt
• New Aukland (Abbott, Bradley and Hamblin), Newthorpe, Top Hard or probably 2nd Waterloo, met old waste, outcrop coal  2’ 10” (0.86m), 31 Dec 1923, Walker ET Hartley Surveyor, abandoned 1924
• New Broadfields, (Arthur Annable and Co), Horseley Woodhouse, Mickley abandoned
• Oakwell No3 (W Horsley), Ilkeston, Tupton, Footrill, fin 30 Jan 1923, inferior coal and outcrop, Surveyor Frank A Taylor (784)
• Paddock (Elijah Wheatley and Co), Horsley, Kilburn 5/3 and inc Wheatley pit, Wheatley No2 pit, Springfield only worked for a short period then closed for good
• Stanton (Nadin’s) (South Derbyshire)
• Stone pit and Peat’s pit, 10º dip, met old hollows, 9 Feb 1923, Surveyor GK Burrows (365)
• Sloads Farm (Rhodes Bros) Dronfield Woodhouse, Ashgate.  
  (16)

Bond's Main Re-Opened

Bond's Main, which was closed by Staveley Coal and Iron Co following the 1921 stoppage, when it was run down, finally closing in 1923, was re-opened by the Clay Cross Co.
The pit was situated at Temple Normanton, (Derbyshire).
Seams worked: Silkstone, Deep Soft, and Deep Hard.

Agents: Staveley Coal and Iron Co Ltd:

• RW Cuthbertson 1909-1918
• W Waplington (501) 1918-1920
• Denis N Turner 1920-
• John Hunter (414).

Managers

• William Bunting (839) 1896-1905
• RW Cuthbertson (2266) 1905-1909 (to Agent and in charge of Campbell pumping pit)
• Tom Richardson (821) 1909-1911
• RB Hewitt (2505) 1911-1912
• GR Cowley (3055) 1912-1915
• W Waplington (501) 1915-1920 (also for Barlborough for 1916)
• FG Weller  (777) 1920-1921
• T Simmonds (385 / 2nd) Undermanager in charge 1921-23.

• E Moxon (1920) -1903
• L Wright (809 / 2nd) 1903-1915
• A Horner (106 / 2nd) 1915-1916
• T Simmonds (385 / 2nd) 1916-1923.

Manpower: Staveley Coal and Iron Co:

• 1896: 36 sinking, 92 s/f
• 1897: 96 sinking, 100 s/f
• 1898: 70 Silkstone, 68 surface
• 1899: 175 u/g, 57 s/f
• 1900: 175 u/g, 75 s/f
• 1901: No1: 391  Silkstone, 102 s/f, No2: 49 Deep Hard, 3 s/f
• 1902: 491 S, 270 s/f, 43 DH, 5 s/f; abandoned
• 1903: 485 Silkstone, 209 s/f
• 1904: 546 S, 176 s/f
• 1905: 427 S, 154 s/f
• 1906: 401 S, 140 s/f
• 1907: 666 S, 181 s/f
• 1908: 680 S, 180 s/f
• 1909: 734 S, 221 s/f
• 1910: 700, 215 s/f
• 1911: 651 S, 209 s/f
• 1912: 430 S, 113 s/f
• 1913: 488 S, 115 s/f
• 1914: 389 S; 189 s/f
• 1915: 381 S, 106 s/f
• 1916: 460 S, Deep Soft 119 s/f
• 1917: 488, 124 s/f
• 1918: 440 S, DS, 116 s/f
• 1919: 549 S, DS 148 s/f
• 1920: 558 S, DS 146 s/f
• 1921: 21 S, DS 18 s/f
• 1922: 11 S, DS 12 s/f
• 1923: 10 Silkstone, 12 s/f, abandoned. Deep Soft seam worked from Calow Footrill and shaft 18 yards (16.5m) to Blackshale abandoned 8 Aug 1923.
  Surveyor Joshua Edwin Leek -1923
  Colliery re-opened 1923.
  Agent Clay Cross Co Ltd: George W Dickinson (113) 1923-1934.
  Fatal accidents: see closure date 1949.

Manpower Figures

The manpower figures at Pinxton Collieries pits in 1923 were: -

• No1 pit 280 men
• No2 pit 419 men
• No3 pit (Plymouth) 390 men with 314 surface men giving a total of 1,403.
• Bestwood (Bestwood Coal and Iron Co) The manpower reached 2,271 with 1,938 (working Top Hard and High Main).
• Teversal (Stanton Ironworks Co) the maximum ever manpower reached 952 (Top Hard seam)
• Sutton (Blackwell Colliery Co) the maximum reached was 1,193 (working Top Hard, Deep Hard, Low Main and Piper seams).
• Rufford (Bolsover Colliery Co, working Top Hard seam) the manpower reached 2,414, including over 600 surface men. 
• Radford (Wollaton Colliery Co) the maximum manpower reached 616.
• Gedling (Digby Colliery Co) the maximum ever manpower reached 3,746(working Top Hard) and with over 650 men on the surface. This pit would average 3,400 men for the six years 1920-1926.

New Housing Built

Around this period the various colliery companies, built semi-detached housing for their extra workforce, for example at Teversal/Silverhill and extra terracing at Newstead.

A List Of Fatal Accidents For The Year 1923
From The Inspector's Records And Other Sources

• Alfreton, Reg HH Allsop (14) crushed by wagons on surface 4 Jun 1923
• Arden, Sidney Sayer (34) fall in a roadway 21 Sep 1923
• Blackwell A Winning, Edward Polkey (55) fall of roof 15 Mar 1923
• Blackwell A Winning, Fred Polkey (17) crushed by wagons on surface 4 Aug 1923
• Blackwell B Winning, Wilfred Polkey (23) crushed by wagons on the surface 28 Mar 1923
• Bolsover, Frank Wagstaffe (51) fall of roof 27 Jan 1923, died 30 Jan 1923
• Bolsover, Fred Kill (31) fall in a roadway 17 Feb 1923
• Bolsover, Francis Beardsley (30) electrocuted 9 Sep 1923
• Bonds Main, Walter Round (22), fall 20 Aug 1923
• Clay Cross, Joseph Kirkman (36), fitter, fall 26 Aug 1923
• Coppice, William Riley (53), fall 29 May 1923
• Coppice, George W Harrison (49) run over by tubs 21 Feb 1923
• Coppice, Ernest Humphreys (18) run over by tubs 24 Nov 1923
• Cotes Park, William Vardy (53), fall 24 Jul 1923
• Creswell, Thomas Lomas (48), fall 3 Mar 1923
• Creswell, William Kaye (44), fall 16 Dec 1923
• Denby, John Whiteman (67), fall 29 Sep 1923
• Denby, Thomas Henry Radford (48) crushed by tubs 20 Apr 1923
• Denby, Norman Edwd Douglas (40) scalded when a pipe burst 7 Nov 1923
• Denby, George Cresswell (65) fall of roof 7 Dec 1923
• Denby Hall, Ben North (37), fall 17 Nov 1923
• Glapwell, John Thomas Thompson (48), fall, died later 22 Feb 1923
• Glapwell, James Kelly (27), fall 19 Mar 1923
• Glapwell, Anthony Dooker (55), fall 10 May 1923
• Glapwell, George Robinson (37), fall 23 Oct 1923
• Glapwell, John Breslin, (33), sinker, fall 11 Dec 1923
• Glapwell, Herbert S Wakelam (23), fall 16 Dec 1923
• Grassmoor No4, Michael Burns (59), fall 23 Sep 1923
• Grassmoor, William Darker (68) fell over on 23 Sep 1922, died 25 May 1923
• Grassmoor, Reg T Hudson (17) run over by tubs 14 Jul 1923
• Hartington, John Fretwell (58), fall 25 Aug 1923
• Hartington, Joshua John Green (50) fall of roof 22 Feb 1923
• Heage Naughton, John James Mellors (40) fall of coal 22 Oct 1923
• Holbrook, Thos William Hill (14) run over by tubs 15 Jun 1923
• Holbrook, Ernest Buxton (24) fall of coal 23 Oct 1923
• Holmewood, Colin Warren (39), fall 7 Apr 1923
• Ireland, William Vickers (53), fall 30 Nov 1923
• Ireland, Uriah Staton (17) run over by tubs 3 Jul 1923
• Ireland, William Hammer (21) fall of roof 3 Oct 1923
• Langwith, Walter Stacey (34) fall in roadway 25 Sep 1922, died 1 Jan 1923
• Langwith, Josiah Bradley (50) fall of roof 17 Mar 1923
• Langwith, Edward Wilson (58) crushed by tubs 21 Apr 1923
• Manners, Harold Bloodworth (17) fall of roof 5 Feb 1923
• Mapperley, John William Harvey (26) fall of roof 9 Jan 1923
• Markham, Sidney Rhodes (32) fall in a roadway 28 Dec 1923
• Markham No2, Walter Reddish (31), fall 30 Dec 1923
• Morton, Walter Whitmore (15) fall in a roadway 6 Jun 1923
• Morton, Alf Henry Spencer (34) fall of roof 20 Dec 1923
• Ormonde, William Lockwood (23) crushed by wagons on the surface 5 Jan 1923
• Ormonde, Arthur Lingard (62), fall 20 Nov 1923
• Ormonde, Harry Burt (25) run over by wagons on the surface 22 Sep 1923
• Pentrich, Herbert Wingfield (36) overcome by blackdamp 7 Sep 1923
• Pleasley, Alf Boot (28), fall 23 Jul 1923
• Pleasley, George Wilfred Powers (20) fall in a roadway 30 May 1923
• Pye Hill, Percy Murfitt (35), fall 23 Apr 1923
• Ramcroft, Edwin Waller (47) fall of coal 2 Mar 1923
• Ramcroft, Thomas William Walker (16) crushed by wagons on the surface 8 May 1923
• Ramcroft, Amos Machent (36) fall in roadway 11 May 1923
• Shirebrook, Francis JJ Parker (54) fall in a roadway 11 Jul 1923
• Shirland, Arthur Hill (29), fall 13 Mar 1923
• South Normanton, Leo Kirk (27), fall 4 Sep 1923
• Stanley, Thomas Wheatley (50) crushed by wagons on the surface 10 May 1923
• Stanley, Arthur Parnham (56) fall of coal 15 Oct 1923
• Swanwick, James Bradshaw (38) fall of coal 15 Aug 1923
• New Swanwick, James Fred Lodge (50) fall of roof 11 Sep 1923
• New Swanwick, William Miles (37) fall of roof 15 Nov 1923
• Tibshelf No1, Stewart Meakin (26), fall 1 Jan 1923
• Tibshelf, Henry Haynes (42) crushed by tubs 11 Aug 1923
• Upper Hartshay, James Wass (22) fall of roof 5 Jan 1923
• Upper Hartshay, James Key (41), fall 19 Nov 1923
• Warsop, Fred Arthur Newton (33), fall 8 Aug 1923
• West Hallam, Charles Sarson (28) fall of roof 12 Feb 1923
• West Hallam, Arthur Watson (46), fall 20 Feb 1923
• West Hallam, Francis Key (31), fall 25 Jul 1923
• Whiteley, George Parkin (24) fall in a roadway 19 Jun 1923
• Whitwell, William Walker (48), fall 22 Oct 1923
• Williamthorpe, Norman Marsden (25), fall 2 May 1923
• Williamthorpe, James Herbert Butcher (16) crushed by tubs 17 Jul 1923
• Woodside, Frank Jones (31) fall of roof on 26 Jan 1923, died 29 Jan 1923
• Woodside, Sam Fowler (57), fall 1 May 1923.

Safety Lamps

Throughout the country 403,000 Marsaut (continental) safety lamps were in use along with 176,000 Muesler lamps
(JE Muesler, a Belgian, 1840) and 6,000 of other designs. At the same time there were 328,000 Concordian electric (battery) lamps.

De-Watering Continued

In South Derbyshire at Coton Park (Moira Colliery Co Ltd) de-watering of the mine continued.