Woodside - Opened 1889 Closed 1966.
Woodside Colliery by 1991, not much remained i.e. the Piper Winder/infrastructure, was in use as a minewater pumping station. The crane to the left was involved in bringing up the huge submersible pumps for maintenance, the work being carried out jointly by contractors and British Coal staff from Annesley Bentinck mine. After privatisation, RJB Mining (now UK Coal) demolished the supposedly preserved headstocks in what can only be described as an act of vandalism. Philip Healey, Ilkeston Mines Rescue, assisted in the installing of the pumps. The pumps moved 3000 gallons a minute but since the local mines closed the pumps are no longer required.
The winding wheels were sold to another ex-mining area (Bassetlaw, I believe). These were the smaller wheels fitted for the pumping operation, not the original cage winding wheels that had been removed years previously.
To this day, UK Coal continue to blame the Coal Authority for the demolition, basically because it turned out to be a major P.R. blunder, now that they want to start opencasting in the area again.
100 years of local mining history gone.
Ironically, the pumps have had to be switched back on (and will have to for the forseeable future), and now there is no winding gear to assist in their maintenance.
Photo from John Hill Nov 2016
Changing pump at Woodside Pit.
Ex-British Coal men, Tony Lee, John Hill and Mick Taylor. Working for ECS
Shipley Woodside Colliery Jan 2010
The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust have purchased 182 acres of Shipley Park from Derbyshire County Council.
Their vision is to create the largest nature reserve in Derbyshire outside the Peak District National Park. |