Rotherham - Coal Town
Coal Mining
There are few areas in the borough of Rotherham that have not been blighted by the extraction of coal at one time or another. Most of the borough is situated on top of both shallow and deep seams of coal. What can you say about the pits - centuries of filthy backbreaking toil, low wages and exploitation? Then a few brief years of reasonable affluence now slipped into the dark seams of time. There is a long list of the disappeared: pits, miners, prosperity and all, but I won't bore you with the whole sorry tale. I've often considered the many, many millions that must have been made out of coal mining and wondered where it has gone because there is precious little sign of it around Rotherham these days.
For those of you who know nothing about mining there were several words in use - colliery, pit, mine and most commonly used around here 'Main'. Espondents have two theories about the origin of this term: some think it is a local pronunciation of 'mine' whilst other consider that it is named after the main shaft of the pit.
Closely associated with coal mining were the coking plants and their unmistakable smell and aura. The improvement in air quality across the borough has been quite remarkable since they all closed.
Colliery waste tips containing all the matter dug up that was not coal, spoil heaps created as a result of washing raw coal and the associated slurry ponds were for along time blots on large areas of South Yorkshire. Foul and containing toxic chemicals they were extremely nasty. Most of these areas are now in the process of being reclaimed and covered with housing, trading states and light industry.
Many of the old mine workings still exist although shafts and galleries have collapsed. Water and gas deposits (firedamp and chokedamp) still build up and there are venting shafts and pumping stations to release the pressure. These can be found in many parts of the borough. This pumping station is at Parkgate. It was built about 1828 to pump from Newbiggin Colliery and appears to be in use today.
Links to Other Websites
If you are interested in digging up more information about coal mining you can find links to sites at:–