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Post by Wheldale on Nov 12, 2012 16:04:45 GMT -5
I recieved a booklet today about West Yorkshire history. It had an article about Wheldale Colliery. It said that during the winter of the 84/85 strike that miners at Wheldale built a snowman. A police inspector tried to knock down the snowman with his Range Rover but failed as the snowman was built around a concrete fence post.
Ive heard this story before but at Silverwood colliery, I was wondering if the Wheldale article was wrong or if stuff like this happend alot during the strike?. I was only 9 at the time but was wondering if anyone on here knew the true facts about the snowman incident and where it happend?
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Mick
Shotfirer.
Posts: 163
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Post by Mick on Nov 13, 2012 5:07:07 GMT -5
Hi don't think it happened at Wheldale,but i do know for sure the lads pulled all the street lights down on Wheldon Lane upto the pit . Mick.
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Post by John on Nov 13, 2012 8:31:25 GMT -5
That incident was brought up by Dave Douglass, in one of his books, I think it was fictitious, but a funny incident anyway. Dave relates some of his stories on the picket line as a lodge official.
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Post by Wheldale on Nov 13, 2012 12:51:37 GMT -5
Ive read a couple of Daves books. I've heard him on the radio a few times on the Jeremy Vine show on radio 2. Yeah I didnt think the snowman incident happpend at Wheldale, I'm sure my dad would have mentioned it to me. It sounds really funny, I wonder if it really did happen?
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Post by John on Nov 13, 2012 13:29:26 GMT -5
Ive read a couple of Daves books. I've heard him on the radio a few times on the Jeremy Vine show on radio 2. Yeah I didnt think the snowman incident happpend at Wheldale, I'm sure my dad would have mentioned it to me. It sounds really funny, I wonder if it really did happen? Here's the story, but I think it was made up to be honest, only the fellers at Silverwood Colliery who were on picket duty could confirm it or deny it. This is the advert on the Miners Advice site. To the spirit of the rebel snowman The Miners of Silverwood, having been told they were confined to six pickets only, built themselves a seventh comrade in the shape of a large snowman,wearing for good measure a plastic policeman's helmet. Next morning, Chief Inspector Nesbitt appears on the scene and seeing the jeering miners and their steely eyed companion, ordered the constables to knock it down . This order brought rebellion to the police ranks as PCs declined to, "look so f**king stupid knocking down a snowman". "Very well," shouts the irate Nesbitt, jumping in his Range Rover and charging off to demolish the snowman, as pickets ran laughing for cover. Maybe it was a trick of the light, or maybe a twinkle glistened in the icy countenance on the snowman's fixed expression - we shall never know, as the Range Rover made contact and came to a dead stop, smashing front grill, bumper and headlamps and hurling the shocked Nesbitt into the steering wheel. PCs found excuses to walk away or supress body shaking laughter while pickets fell about on the ground with side splitting mirth. The snowman had been constructed around a three foot high two foot thick concrete post! Dave Douglass - All power to the imagination! Published by The Class War Federation 1999 £5.00 + p&p
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Mick
Shotfirer.
Posts: 163
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Post by Mick on Nov 13, 2012 14:05:09 GMT -5
I remember are team taking a dog down Wheldale on afters,we got as far as the paddy and big Trev Smith who was are overman stopped us taking it up to the district . Mick.
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Post by Wheldale on Nov 13, 2012 14:29:21 GMT -5
I remember are team taking a dog down Wheldale on afters,we got as far as the paddy and big Trev Smith who was are overman stopped us taking it up to the district . Mick. Was Trev Smith a Technical Assistant? Name rings a bell from chats with my dad years ago. So Mick, why did you take a dog with you? And what happend to the dog when you couldnt take it on the district?
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Post by Wheldale on Nov 13, 2012 16:48:58 GMT -5
I remember are team taking a dog down Wheldale on afters,we got as far as the paddy and big Trev Smith who was are overman stopped us taking it up to the district . Mick. Was Trev Smith a Technical Assistant? Name rings a bell from chats with my dad years ago. So Mick, why did you take a dog with you? And what happend to the dog when you couldnt take it on the district? Mick, was the dog you took underground a Pit Bull?? ;D
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Mick
Shotfirer.
Posts: 163
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Post by Mick on Nov 13, 2012 16:57:21 GMT -5
Big Trev was a overman,and yes your dad would have known him,Trev was very well known he never asked a bloke to do something that he would not do himself a real pit man. Now back to the dog it followed us to the bank so the lads put it on the cage with us,2 timber lads went back out with it when Trev found it walking round the pit bottom. Mick.
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Post by Wheldale on Nov 14, 2012 5:56:22 GMT -5
Big Trev was a overman,and yes your dad would have known him,Trev was very well known he never asked a bloke to do something that he would not do himself a real pit man. Now back to the dog it followed us to the bank so the lads put it on the cage with us,2 timber lads went back out with it when Trev found it walking round the pit bottom. Mick. Mick I could ask many questions now about the dog incident but I think its best to let sleeping dogs lie!! ;D
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Post by dazbt on Nov 14, 2012 13:15:51 GMT -5
"2 timber lads went back out with it when Trev found it walking round the pit bottom."
suppose they then came under the Mechanical PM daily inspection after that ................ ?
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Post by cortonwood on Nov 18, 2012 16:02:11 GMT -5
as far as I know the snowman was built at cortonwood,it was hot topic when we went back to work after the strike.
I personally didnt see it,but I have a book called 'Yorkshires flying pickets' which is based on a dairy written by Silverwood picket Bruce Wilson,and he says that on the 15th jan 1985 they went to Cortonwood to picket because of the scabs going in,there was a covering of snow and they noticed the snowman built around one of the concrete bollards. The pickets were apparently winding nesbitt up asking 'if he was going to take any prisoners',when he jumped in the range rover and drove it into the snowman and smashed the front of the range rover in. I heard loads of rumours about it in the years after the strike,even at the different pits I worked at as we were transferred from one pit to another with the closures. Silverwood was actually the last british coal pit i worked at,I was there when it closed on the eve of the privatisation of the industry.
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Post by Wheldale on Nov 18, 2012 16:48:14 GMT -5
Did Silverwood merge with Maltby? Wasnt it a million tonner pit?
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Post by cortonwood on Nov 18, 2012 16:57:24 GMT -5
silverwood was planned to merge with malby... they did 2 drifts from the swallow wood down to the parkgate and were heading out to join up with maltby. it was never completed and they shut silverwood,which was indeed a million tonne pit.
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Post by tygwyn on Nov 18, 2012 20:13:32 GMT -5
Did Silverwood ever encounter the problems that Maltby have with this oil in the seam,or is this in the other direction?
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Post by dazbt on Nov 19, 2012 7:35:30 GMT -5
Silverwood didn't work any faces in the Parkgate seam although as Cortonwood states they were in the process of accessing an 11million ton block of Parkgate coal intending it to be in production by 1995 but the pit was closed in 1994. Silverwood was about 10 miles north west of Maltby and Hickleton Colliery about 10 miles north of that, did work the Parkgate fairly extensively, where on one face at least they suffered badly from the ingress of oil and acidic water. I can't recall Hickleton suffering the gas problems associated with Maltby's condition, not to say that they didn't.
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Post by cortonwood on Nov 19, 2012 11:14:31 GMT -5
The parkgate seam was worked closer to silverwood by New Stubbin and Aldwarke Main collieries and i've never heard of problems with the ingress of oil.I dont think its a 'problem' with the seam,even at maltby,after all they've been taking coal from the parkgate for near on 20 years and as far as i know this is the first time its happened or a least where its caused a problem. The parkgate seam was worked extensively in the south yorks coalfied,manvers,kilnhurst,cortonwood,elsecar,barnburgh,cabeby,denaby all worked the pargate seam,in fact Silverwood was just about the only pit that didnt... I know that gas was causing problems in the parkgate at bentley colliery,they had several ignitions on a face caused with the shearer hitting sandstone intrusions that were intermittent in the coal. I did my deputies practical at bentley and they had an ignition while i was there.I was stood at the AFC gearhead waiting for the shearer which had about 30 chocks left to cut when i saw the shearer disc ignite which was followed by a flame that travelled nearly all the way back to the maingate.The coal face was on fire for about 20 chocks where it was feeding from gas issuing from the coal. ventilation had to be increased around the district after this incident and the shearer had to have a larger diameter water feed..
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Post by tygwyn on Nov 19, 2012 14:29:05 GMT -5
There`s a thread on the Welshcoalmines site on Maltby,i cannot do these links,but there are several Collieries in Yorkshire and Notts,that have had this oil problem,even mentions Bevercoates selling oil from the pit.
Worth a read.
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Post by John on Nov 19, 2012 14:48:36 GMT -5
Jim to post a link is easy, near the top of your browser, there is an "address bar" in the case of this thread it shows coalmine.proboards.com/index.cgi?board= etc etc... Place your pointer/curser over it, "left click" on it to highlite it, then "right click" on it and a drop down menu will appear, move your pointer/curser down to "copy" and "left click on it, then where you want to place the link, "right click" on the page where you're posting the link, then "select from the drop down menu "paste".
Now go to the post on the Welsh Mining forum and copy the address, and try to paste it here, you can't hurt either site. Once you've mastered it, I'll instruct you on how to post a "live link" Again, it's easy. Like I say, you can't hurt this site or the welsh site, practice makes perfect, before we've done we will have you building sites....
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Post by dazbt on Nov 20, 2012 7:12:32 GMT -5
I've also worked in quite few different collieries on Parkgate seam faces and never experienced problems of natural oil emissions, except at Hickleton where the it caused very real problems; “The Parkgate Seam at Hickleton Colliery, South Yorkshire had faces where 'raw' oil bled from the roof in copious quantities. It's a long time since but I think one of faces was Parkgate 33s where the working conditions were as bad as any I've had the misfortune to have had to work in, around 36" extraction the seam was quite deep and in general the districts as hot as Hell, but water and oil poured from the roof throughout the face length, the resultant mixture was extremely acidic, literally burnt the skin off you and caused almost unbelievable levels of corrosion to machinery. A complete "Catch 22" situation, too warm to wear protective clothing such as oilskins, but if you didn't you were completely soaked and burnt to bits. The pit had the highest incidence of dermatitis cases in the NCB and because of the working temperatures, dehydration was considered so serious a risk that each miner had to undergo a fortnightly medical review and was issued with daily salt tablets. Medicated orange juice that contained "electrolytic salts" (?) was supplied on tap and a clean laundered supply of underwear and socks were provided on a daily basis some years before the national provision of laundered workwear.”coalmine.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=dis&thread=571&page=1#3063Read more:
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