neil
Trainee
Posts: 1
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Post by neil on Jan 9, 2011 16:08:33 GMT -5
my dad worked at that pit alan machin he still alive he is 75
is nick name was sam e was at pit with dingy tanton brian cuipit
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Post by John on Jan 9, 2011 16:15:09 GMT -5
my dad worked at that pit alan machin he still alive he is 75 That name rings a bell!! I'm 64 this year. I need more input to picture him. I have tons of info on Clifton but need more for the main historical mining website. I'd really appreciate it, if you could get him to put pen to paper about his knowledge of the pit!! I'll give full acknowledgment to him. If you go to the links section, the website should be the first in the links. I'm in the process of rebuilding the site, a long and tedious process. |
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Post by alupin1 on Oct 24, 2014 17:44:01 GMT -5
Some memories of Clifton 1963 / 67 that my be useful.
A brand new set of Westfalia powered supports were delivered in wooden crates to the compound where we assembled them. I think they may have gone to 51's. I think they had problems as I remember working much overtime changing valve spools on the chocks. Had to carry new in and old out and sometimes the rope manrider was not working, a long walk.
I think my regular face may have been called 40's. It had 2 AB Shearers and Dowty supports powered by mineral oil which was to be soon replaced by an oil / water emulsion. It was 4 gate belts inbye of a bunker where i think 51's may have joined.
Used to wait until the next shift took us off, which on nights ment 4 hours overtime.
The bunker at the botton of the drift was a moving plate type.
The bunker inbye I think was on rails and moved by an hydraulic haulage. Could have been the Cowlishaw Walker bunker that ended up at Linby.
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Post by John on Oct 25, 2014 6:16:58 GMT -5
Some memories of Clifton 1963 / 67 that my be useful. A brand new set of Westfalia powered supports were delivered in wooden crates to the compound where we assembled them. I think they may have gone to 51's. I think they had problems as I remember working much overtime changing valve spools on the chocks. Had to carry new in and old out and sometimes the rope manrider was not working, a long walk. I think my regular face may have been called 40's. It had 2 AB Shearers and Dowty supports powered by mineral oil which was to be soon replaced by an oil / water emulsion. It was 4 gate belts inbye of a bunker where i think 51's may have joined. Used to wait until the next shift took us off, which on nights ment 4 hours overtime. The bunker at the botton of the drift was a moving plate type. The bunker inbye I think was on rails and moved by an hydraulic haulage. Could have been the Cowlishaw Walker bunker that ended up at Linby. 51's had Westphalia chocks as did 43's, 41's not 40's was the last deep hard face on the south east side of the pit, it had oil powered Dowty Roofmasters right up until it finished. It had an AB16/125 shearer with an AB15 precutter for a long time, mounted on a bed frame coupled in front of the shearer. Can't recall when we pulled it off, but at least a year before the face finished. You're right about the distance, it did have four tandem belts, No1 fed onto 1's No5 belt which fed the rail mounted inbye bunker, that bunker site was in a major fault, so the bunker was continually being levelled as the fault was on the move all the time. 43's was lost due to bad roof, it was installed with Westfalia roof supports and an AB16/125 which was changed out over a weekend for a field trial conveyor mounted double ended trepanner, the first in the No6 Area. 43's was lost due to the roof and the trepanner was installed on 51's face after the AB16/125 shearer was dismantled. You should remember the old "cattle truck" manrider in the returns and the belts that followed on, short walk and you came out at the inbye bunker. They were replaced by the rope hauled manrider down 15's centre gate. Yep the outbye bunker was a Butterly Plate Belt Bunker that fed a Crawley stage loader that fed the Cable Belt. One of the chock fitters, Reg 11, his Dad was one of the Onsetters name of Sylas..... Can't recall his last name, but the chock fitter John something or other was nicknamed "Young Silas" he suffered hypochondria real bad...LOL You could talk him into being ill within minutes, needless to say we got our butts chewed out many times doing it..I was in 15's T/G end one day shift, took my snap with me as I'd been stationed there because we had AFC problems. Snap time he sat down, started to eat a sandwich, his head started wilting, his chewing got slower and slower and he was gone!! Dead to the world. He woke up suddenly and carried chewing where he'd left off as if nothing had happened...This happened several times...I couldn't stop laughing. There was also another fitting apprentice I remember, Mick  Lived at Clifton Estate, his Dad was a chock fitter. Last faces were 51's, 52's and 53's in the Tupton seam, 52's and 53's had Gullick 5 leg Seaman chocks if my memory is right with an AB 16/125 shearer on each face. I think 41's started in the late 1950's, so shearers were a fairly new innovation at that time, I think it was Cliftons first fully mechanised face too, probably the reason for the pre cutter. I'll dig the abandonment plans out later and check the surveyor date of start up and sign off which should be somewhere around 1966. |
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Post by John on Oct 25, 2014 6:20:45 GMT -5
Bit more on 41's, the mech/elecs on that face were Bill Shaw, Alan Starr, can't recall the third man, or who took Alan's place after he got killed on his motor bike.
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Post by alupin1 on Oct 25, 2014 14:29:26 GMT -5
If I remember correctly the rope manrider had the material tubs pulled up inside it betwen the rows of facing seats.
The face teams rode on the first run inbye with the craftsmen and others later.
I think the rope chargeman was called George Campion, short man with a fiery temper.
If I remember correctly, after getting off the manrider passed thro some air doors on to a conveyor road. Left took you to the bunker and right to a transfer point. The conveyor came at right angles to this transfer point. I remember installing the belt drive and chute. This new face may have been 51's. Carrying straight on took me to an old face that was being salvaged by ripping along the faceline and pulling the chocks out. Spent a few night shifts on this face. Got bored waiting for the next chock to disconnect so used to help the rippers casting on to the panzer. They must have been on contract as they paid me for this.
When walking along the conveyor road towards the bunker I think you ducked under the belt thro some air doors which took you to the drift were the steps and old ski lift was. (as shown on a pic on another thread).
The roadway was covered with beetles called "black clotts"
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Post by John on Oct 25, 2014 16:27:23 GMT -5
If I remember correctly the rope manrider had the material tubs pulled up inside it betwen the rows of facing seats. The face teams rode on the first run inbye with the craftsmen and others later. I think the rope chargeman was called George Campion, short man with a fiery temper. If I remember correctly, after getting off the manrider passed thro some air doors on to a conveyor road. Left took you to the bunker and right to a transfer point. The conveyor came at right angles to this transfer point. I remember installing the belt drive and chute. This new face may have been 51's. Carrying straight on took me to an old face that was being salvaged by ripping along the faceline and pulling the chocks out. Spent a few night shifts on this face. Got bored waiting for the next chock to disconnect so used to help the rippers casting on to the panzer. They must have been on contract as they paid me for this. When walking along the conveyor road towards the bunker I think you ducked under the belt thro some air doors which took you to the drift were the steps and old ski lift was. (as shown on a pic on another thread). The roadway was covered with beetles called "black clotts"
When you got off the new manrider, you walked to the junction of 2's and either turned right up to 12's when it was running, or 51's which was just a few yards up the road. For 41's and 43's you turned left, road the belt to 8'sM/G for 43's, or right down to the inbye bunker sight for 41's. Half a dozen of one and six of the other really. 41's could be got to via 8's just as easily, probably 100 yards ride or walk...LOL
The old manrider, you went through some air doors at the bottom of Stone Head Drift, almost opposite the new Manrider engine house, long low "cattle trucks" as they were called. Jeeze they were old, and the Inspector was ready to condemn them, they must have been in use since the 1920's!! They serviced all the old coal faces of the 1920's to 1950's on the southeast side of the pit in deep soft and Piper seams.
The bugs you're on about were cockroaches, always puzzled me why we called them blackclocks. I found out blackclocks is a corruption of a German word that German colliers called them. I still cringe when I see the damned things, this is the cockroach capital of the world where I live now..LOL |
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