Contributions of the group Mining Heritage

Oficina Salitrera Santa Laura

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 07:20:37 +0000

Gudrun has posted:

Humberstone and Samta Laura Saltpeter Works were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage in 2005 and immediately put on the list of world heritage in danger (until 2019) to get funds for preserving and stabilizing the remaining buildings.
There had been extensive damage partly due to earthquakes but also because of looting. The harsh desert climate in combination with wind and coastal fog (camanchaca) had left most surfaces covered with a mixture of sand and salt, corroding the metal parts.

whc.unesco.org/en/list/1178

Brodsworth

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 06:24:06 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Brodsworth Colliery commenced when two shafts were sunk between October 1905 and 1907 in a joint venture by the Hickleton Main Colliery Company and the Staveley Coal and Iron Company. The Barnsley seam which was reached at a depth of 595 yards and was up to 9 feet thick and after a third shaft was sunk in 1923, Brodsworth, was the largest colliery in Yorkshire and had the highest output of a three-shaft colliery in Britain. The colliery was consistently amongst those that employed the most miners in Britain, employing around 2,800 workers throughout the 1980s. It closed in 1990 and the site has since been cleared.

Donghaikuang Colliery

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 08:22:49 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Conveyor runs and associated coal processing buildings at Donghaikuang Colliery in the Jixi area of Heilongjiang, China. Judging by Google Maps all this has now been cleared away. Things change very fast in China.

Rope changing

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Wed, 13 May 2026 05:50:49 +0000

tarboat has posted:

The former shaft rope changing engine ex Agecroft No 4 pit now resides at the Lancashire Mining Museum at Astley Green. It was always run on compressed air at Agecroft.

Weizigou shunt

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Mon, 04 May 2026 10:46:09 +0000

tarboat has posted:

SY 1299 shunts at the Weizigou coal mine and washery on the Nanpiao Coal Railway.

Winding Enginehouse

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sun, 03 May 2026 06:33:33 +0000

tarboat has posted:

The Florence ironstone mine near Egremont continued in use until 2008. It was the last working deep iron ore mine left in Western Europe and produced ore, products for the cosmetics industry and high quality haematite for jewellery. Production ended when BNFL ended the contract for the mine to supply water and the cost of pumping rendered the mine uneconomic.

Upcast

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 06:44:07 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Upcast shaft headgear at the preserved Pleasley Colliery, Derbyshire.

Humberstone - Hospital Porch

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 08:09:52 +0000

Gudrun has posted:

Situated in the Atacama desert and deserted since the mid 20th century the former saltpeter works of Humberstone and Santa Laura were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage in 2005 and also placed on the list of World Heritage in danger (from 2005-2019) to help mobilize money for their preservation (difficult climate, earthquake damage).

HFF!

whc.unesco.org/en/list/1178

Church Farm Enginehouse

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 10:52:32 +0000

tarboat has posted:

The Church Farm Deep Pit worked two seams at depths of 215ft and 229ft. The pits stopped work in 1815 and it wasn't until 1875 that reopening was begun. A 50 inch Cornish pumping engine was installed in this house in 1880-81 and srained the colliery until it was finally abandoned in 1891. One of several extant enginehouses visited during the recent Early Engines Conference in Bristol.

Hulme's Pit

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 06:38:55 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Hulme's Pit alongside the river Tame in Denton. It is reputed to have opened in c.1730 but it is known that it was operated by the Fletcher family (Denton Colliery Company) who eventually used it as a pumping station to drain water from their mine workings. A beam engine was installed here before 1834, prior to the pit being taken over by Denton Colliery It was used for both winding (men and coal) and pumping. It raised water from a depth of 420 feet at a boiler pressure of five pounds per square inch. Steam was supplied by two Cornish boilers. In the early 1920s it was recorded that it removed eight gallons of water per stroke at six strokes per minute. It worked 4½ hours a day, 7 days a week and it consumed three tons of coal per week. This means that it raised 4,730,400 gallons of water from the workings of Denton Colliery every year for a coal consumption of 156 tons. The pit closed in 1929/30, at the same time as Denton Colliery, and the beam engine was scrapped in the early 1930s. All the buildings associated with the pit were subsequently demolished but the surviving stone foundations of the pit were excavated in the 1970s.

Haig Pit

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 06:49:43 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Haig Pit at Whitehaven was sunk in 1914 and closed in 1986. The surviving buildings at the pithead were incorporated into a mining museum but this closed in 2016.

Hyttelva

nobody@ipernity.com (Gudrun) — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 12:52:31 +0000

Gudrun has posted:

Røros town and copper mines were founded in 1646 and operated until 1977, in 1980 the mines and town were declared UNESCO World Heritage. On the right is smelthytta (copper smelter) which today houses the museum, left are the slag heaps.

whc.unesco.org/en/list/55

HFF!

Winding drum

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 07:30:31 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Robey winder at the Florence ironstone mine at Egremont in Cumbria.

Upcast shaft

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 09:11:59 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Top of the upcast shaft at Clipstone Colliery. When the pit closed in 2003 the shafts were 1006 yards deep.

Annesley

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 06:42:58 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Sinking Annesley Colliery commenced in January 1865 with two 13ft diameter shafts reaching the Top Hard seam at a depth of 420 yards in 1867. During the First World War the shafts were deepened to the Deep Soft/Deep Hard seams at 580 yards. It became part of the Annesley-Bentinck complex in April 1988 and the early 1990s saw record output from the Blackshale seam. Despite being highly profitable it was put on care and maintenance in 1994 and was restarted having passed to Coal Investments in 1995. That company went into liquidation in 1996 and from then until closure it was operated by Midlands Mining Limited. Demolition was well underway when I photographed the No.2 headstocks over the upcast shaft in 2008.

Around the back

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 07:05:15 +0000

tarboat has posted:

At the back of the upcast shaft and coal screening plant at Thoresby Colliery just one week before closure.

Ackers, Whitley

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 10:34:36 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Letterhead for Ackers, Whitley and Company Limited, Bickershaw Collieries, Leigh, Lancashire. The signature is that of the manager F H Wilson. In 1931 the colliery employed 1,549 underground and 338 on the surface.

Opencast steam

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 08:56:59 +0000

tarboat has posted:

With temperatures hovering around -40C the opencast coal mine at Jalainur was filled with the exhaust steam from the fleet of SY class locomotives that worked there.

Sutton Manor Collieries Limited

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 15:37:24 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Sutton Manor Collieries Limited was floated in 1904 to bore for and work coal on the Sutton Manor Estate. Shaft sinking commenced in 1906 with No.1 shaft initially reaching 1824 feet and the No.2 shaft completed to 2342 feet. At the time of this lettter the colliery was working eight different seams. The shafts were later deepened and a further eight seams worked before closure in 1991.

Last mine

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 07:50:22 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Conveyor beneath the coal washing and screening area at Ayle Colliery. This is the last full-time colliery operating in England.