	Weetslade Colliery	Index	Weetslade Colliery

Weetslade Colliery

Location:

Weetslade
5½ miles [8 km] N of Newcastle

Map Ref:

(Sheet 88) NZ258722, 55° 2' 37" N, 1° 35' 46" W

Maps:

1951 map from the Guide to the Coalfields (Colliery Guardian)

Opened:

1903

Closed:

10 Sep 1966

Pits:

Lizzie Pit, locn: (Sheet 88) NZ259721, sinking: 06 Aug 1900, closed: 1966

Shaft details for Lizzie Pit

Owners:

1910s - Burradon & Coxlodge Coal Co. Ltd.

1940s - Hazlerigg & Burradon Coal Co.

1947 - National Coal Board (N.C.B.)

Output:

1947 - Coal: Household, Manufacturing, Steam. (160,000 tons)

1950 - Coal: Household, Steam.

1955 - Coal: Household, Steam.

1960 - Coal: Household, Steam.

1961 - Coal: Household, Steam.

1964 - Coal: Household, Steam.

1965 - Coal: Household, Steam.

Employment:

Year	Total	Below	Above
1940	1,170	825	345
1940	Burradon and Weetslade combined
1945	483	309	174
1947	521	350	171
1950	555	379	176
1955	612	439	173
1960	638	488	150
1961	638	488	150
1964	896	780	116
1965	1,066	917	149

NCB Employment Figures

Colliery Management (prior to 1970)

Seams Worked:

1950 - Bensham

1955 - Low Main

1960 - Low Main

1961 - Low Main

1964 - Beaumont, Low Main

1965 - Beaumont, Bensham, Low Main

Description

Weetslade Colliery is situated about seven miles to the North of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and adjoins Burradon Colliery, with which its workings are connected, but the two mines have separate systems of ventilation and are separately managed. Sunk in 1903, it is served by a shaft and a surface drift which are 200 yards apart. The former, which is the downcast, is 12 feet in diameter and is sunk to the Beaumont Seam at a depth of 1,140 feet, the coal winding level being at the Bensham Seam inset at a depth of 800 feet. The surface drift, which is the upcast, is provided with an Aeroto Fan passing 67,750 cubic feet of air per minute at a water gauge of 44 inches.

Mines Inspectors Report into an accident in 1951

Disasters (5 or more killed)

1st

Oct

1951

Explosion, firedamp, ignition caused by fusion on the shuttle car battery, 5 lives lost (Show Names)

Names of those killed at this colliery

Please note that this collection of names is by no means complete!

						Armstrong, Frederick, 28 Aug 1946, aged 56, Hewer, killed by a fall of stone
						Ashurst, James, 26 Dec 1945, (accident: 03 May 1940), aged 60, Deputy, Silicosis
						Charlton, Matthew, 01 Oct 1951, 6:45 a.m., aged 30, Loader Operator, killed in the 1951 explosion (ignition caused by fusion on the shuttle car battery) [More information ...]
						Collins, T., 09 Sep 1974, aged 75, Retired, Pneumoconiosis
						Davison, John, 01 Oct 1951, 6:45 a.m., aged 58, Pumpman, killed in the 1951 explosion (ignition caused by fusion on the shuttle car battery) [More information ...]
						Dunn, John George, 09 Aug 1946, aged 47, Shuttle Car Driver, crushed by shuttle car, Buried: Dudley Cemetery
						Fisher, John, 01 Oct 1951, 6:45 a.m., aged 33, Driller, killed in the 1951 explosion (ignition caused by fusion on the shuttle car battery), Buried: Benton Cemetery [More information ...]
						Gourley, Isaac, 10 Jan 1940, aged 38, Stoneman, killed by a fall of stone
						Hankin, Nelson, 14 Feb 1942, aged 31, Stoneman, Fall of Coal
						Harrison, J., 15 Nov 1970, aged 58, Retired, Pneumoconiosis
						Hine, James, 28 Jan 1953, aged 50, Miner, died instantly of coronary thrombosis outside the canteen after finishing his shift
						Littlemore, J. W., 22 Mar 1962, (accident: 1948), aged 69, Datal, Pneumoconiosis
						Martin, William Craig, 07 Feb 1941, (accident: 06 Feb 1941), aged 15, Landing Lad, Caught by Tub
						Mason, Nichol, 1934, [approximate date]
						Paterson, Thomas, 01 Oct 1951, 6:45 a.m., aged 54, Timberman, killed in the 1951 explosion (ignition caused by fusion on the shuttle car battery), Buried: Benton Cemetery [More information ...]
						Sales, Henry James, 20 Jun 1941, aged 42, Stoneman, Shot Fireing Accident
						Smith, James William, 09 Feb 1904, aged 31, Wagon Driver, owing to a congestion of wagons deceased was using his horse to draw three empty chaldron wagons down a slight decline back on to the main line along which they had come; when nearly far enough, and at a point where two rails crossed, he was in the act of unhooking the horse's chain when his foot was caught in the angle formed by the junction of the two rails and he was knocked down by the first wagon and it and the one following passed over his leg. The angle between the rails was not filled up, as is desirable by a wood block; he was sent off to the Newcastle Infirmary but died on the road
						Theobold, J. E., 22 Sep 1976, (accident: 14 Sep 1976), aged 57, Platelayer, struck by wagon
						Whitney, Thomas, 01 Oct 1951, 6:45 a.m., aged 56, Deputy, killed in the 1951 explosion (ignition caused by fusion on the shuttle car battery), Buried: Benton Cemetery [More information ...]

						19 names found

If you know of any fatalities missing from the above list then please contact us with the details and we will add them to our database.

For those names marked the text of the Mines Inspectors report into the incident is available online. Click on the icon to display the report.

Those names marked with , have a web page providing individual details of the accident, the page may also include a photograph of the deceased. Click on the symbol next to the name to see the web page.

Some of the names of mining fatalities on this web site have been kindly provided by Ray Ditchburn from his research into fatalities in Northumberland and are marked with .

more information on some of the fatalities shown above

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Weetslade Colliery

list of collieries/pits etc. near to Weetslade Colliery

Credits

Sources:

Mines Inspectors Report into an accident in 1951 (Cmd. 9614)
1904 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 2506), Newcastle District (No. 3) by J. B. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1940 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory published by Louis Cassier Co. Ltd.
1945 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1947 The Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1950 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1955 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
1960 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
1961 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
1964 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
1965 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
An Account of the strata of Northumberland & Durham as proved by Borings & Sinkings, Supplement, published by the North of England Institute of Mining & Mechanical Engineers, 1910
Contributions by members of the Public
Contributions from Ray Ditchburn from his research into mining fatalities in Northumberland
Headstone(s) in Benton Cemetery
Headstone(s) in Dudley Cemetery

Further Research:

Research Notes for Weetslade Colliery

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