Kellingley Colliery. Knottingley.
Somewhere I’ve been looking forward to having a prod at since news of closure some time ago. Cregg, George and I spent a good 7 hours picking and clambering our way around this enormous, filthy site, wading shin deep through slurry, mud and all sorts.
The history of the site has been extremely well covered by The Amateur Wanderer here and here, so no need to go over that one again. Also, if you haven’t already, have a look at the report as it is a great read. Also some top end photos from AndyK here.
Our day was a little different, we got on the site in the dark and I was hoping that we’d be able to get the indoor parts covered before it got properly light, when we’d then have a go at the Coal Washery, which I hadn’t seen any photos of yet. Really enjoyed this part, still complete and really fucking mucky.
We started off in the conveyors to try and circumnavigate the ponds of mud and also to keep out of view, our first port of call was the extraction headstock, with fans still at full tilt and airlocks shut, it seemed a bad idea to open them not knowing what the pressure change could do, or what it could alert so we left that one alone and headed under cover over to the personnel headstock. This is where ‘the muddening' happened…
Anyway, we climbed the headstock, took photos of the winding gear and controls then headed over to the baths, which seemed to have been locked off at the midpoint meaning we couldn’t get through to the bigger shower and locker areas and didn’t want to push it too hard in the open as it was mid-morning by this point… Had a little look in some of the lockers, there were some fairly poignant items especially the ‘attack the black’ statement written inside one of the Mine Rescue staff’s locker.
Re-tracing our steps back to the coal washery, we climbed to the top following the process right up to the main feed conveyor, then back down and home via Wetherspoons for a well earned all day breakfast.
Here are some photos, probably too many but don’t care, it’s not every day you have the opportunity to see something like this:
Maintenance and spares.
Check yourself before you wreck yourself.
Lamps.
Big K
Around and about.
On the way back to the coal washery
Screening
Slurry coated delights.
At the top
Main conveyor
Many thanks for your perseverance if you got this far.
J.
Somewhere I’ve been looking forward to having a prod at since news of closure some time ago. Cregg, George and I spent a good 7 hours picking and clambering our way around this enormous, filthy site, wading shin deep through slurry, mud and all sorts.
The history of the site has been extremely well covered by The Amateur Wanderer here and here, so no need to go over that one again. Also, if you haven’t already, have a look at the report as it is a great read. Also some top end photos from AndyK here.
Our day was a little different, we got on the site in the dark and I was hoping that we’d be able to get the indoor parts covered before it got properly light, when we’d then have a go at the Coal Washery, which I hadn’t seen any photos of yet. Really enjoyed this part, still complete and really fucking mucky.
We started off in the conveyors to try and circumnavigate the ponds of mud and also to keep out of view, our first port of call was the extraction headstock, with fans still at full tilt and airlocks shut, it seemed a bad idea to open them not knowing what the pressure change could do, or what it could alert so we left that one alone and headed under cover over to the personnel headstock. This is where ‘the muddening' happened…
Anyway, we climbed the headstock, took photos of the winding gear and controls then headed over to the baths, which seemed to have been locked off at the midpoint meaning we couldn’t get through to the bigger shower and locker areas and didn’t want to push it too hard in the open as it was mid-morning by this point… Had a little look in some of the lockers, there were some fairly poignant items especially the ‘attack the black’ statement written inside one of the Mine Rescue staff’s locker.
Re-tracing our steps back to the coal washery, we climbed to the top following the process right up to the main feed conveyor, then back down and home via Wetherspoons for a well earned all day breakfast.
Here are some photos, probably too many but don’t care, it’s not every day you have the opportunity to see something like this:
Maintenance and spares.
Check yourself before you wreck yourself.
Lamps.
Big K
Around and about.
On the way back to the coal washery
Screening
Slurry coated delights.
At the top
Main conveyor
Many thanks for your perseverance if you got this far.
J.
