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October, 1945
Northumberland and Cumberland Coalfields Report
The Northumberland and Cumberland Coalfields Survey Report, the seventh of the series, has now been published. This Report is the work of a Committee set up in July, 1944, under the Chairmanship of Col. F. C. Temple, C.I.E., the Regional Controller of the Ministry of Fuel and Power responsible for the Northern "A" Region. The Committee were specifically asked what -measures, including sinking of new pits and the further development of the coalfields, should be taken to enable the fullest use to be made of the Region's reserves, and what provision of housing and other services would be required for the welfare of the mining community. The report contains a careful and exhaustive review of the estimated reserves in the coalfield, and lays stress on the following salient points:–
| (i) |
The total reserves of coal in Northumberland, i.e., contained in proved seams and capable of being worked under present conditions, amount to more than 1,760 million tons. In Cumberland, where the main reserves are undersea, their estimate of proved and "substantially proved" workable reserves is 583 million tons. They think it reasonable to assume that coal will eventually be worked to a distance of at least 10 miles to seaward.
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| (ii) |
Cumberland's reserves of coking coals are likely to prove of major importance in the future, in view of the shrinkage of such reserves in other districts.
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| (ii) |
Increased attention is recommended to the cleaning and preparation of coals in both coalfields.
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| (iv) |
The estimated future output of the Northumberland district is put at 12½ million tons a year — a figure which could, in the Committee's view, be achieved without serious difficulty by reorganisation and the use of capital expenditure. The corresponding figure for Cumberland is 2½ million tons.
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| (v) |
The length of time spent by the men in walking to and from their working places is regarded as excessive, and the Committee recommend that it should be reduced to a minimum as soon as possible.
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| (vi) |
The Committee believe that the need for securing a higher productivity per manshift is vital to the future of the industry. Special attention is recommended to the introduction of intensive mechanisation, with accompanying improvements in loading and transport arrangements. In view of the proportion of reserves contained in seams below 3 feet in thickness, the development of suitable equipment for loading and transporting coal in the thinner seams is urged. This calls for research on an extended scale.
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| (vii) |
As regards housing, the Committee recommend that the Local Authorities should be encouraged to make provision as soon as possible for the number of houses (between 7,000 and 8,000) required to make good the present deficiency in miners' homes.
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Article reproduced from a copy of the magazine held at National Mining Museum Scotland, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
Contains public sector information licensed under the 
