Harworth Colliery
Harworth Colliery in December 2009
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| Location | |
|---|---|
| Location | Harworth, Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire |
| County council | Nottinghamshire |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 53°24′54″N 1°03′40″W / 53.415°N 1.061°WCoordinates: 53°24′54″N 1°03′40″W / 53.415°N 1.061°W |
| Production | |
| Products | Coal |
| History | |
| Opened | 1913 |
| Closed | 2006 |
| Owner | |
| Company | UK Coal |
Harworth Colliery was a coal mine in the Bassetlaw area of north Nottinghamshire.
It was abandoned in 2006 due to troubles at the seam. UK Coal, who owned and maintained the mine, were waiting for a contract to make it worth investing money to open up a new seam. Bassetlaw has at the moment no working pits; the nearest was Maltby Main Colliery in South Yorkshire which closed in 2013.
The mothballing of the pit in 2006 brought an end to 86 years of mining in Bassetlaw.
Work began on sinking the shaft in 1913, when the Northern Union Mining Company was set up. This was with an investment in German equipment and men, but with the start of the First World War (1914-1918) the German workers were interned and the company's assets were impounded by the Government, and so construction was halted.
Later in 1917 the pit was bought by Messrs. Barber, Walker & Co. for £80,100, becoming full owners in 1921 after the war repayments scheme. The sinking of the shafts was started with preliminary works in 1919, but the first real sinking started in 1921. Water problems were encountered but this was overcome with the solidification of the ground with liquid cement grout. On 29 October 1923 the shaft sinkers eventually reached the Barnsley seam at 848 metres (2,782 ft) although there were problems with underground faults. The second shaft also reached the Barnsley seam on 15 November 1923.
In 1924 the colliery was connected with a 4.2 km railway line to connect with the LNER-owned East coast main line. The main structure on the line was the 256 ft (78 m), 6 span 26 ft (7.9 m) high viaduct across the River Ryton. The ECML became very congested and a connection the South Yorkshire Joint Railway was considered, also linking the new Firbeck Colliery (sinking started in 1923) near Carlton in Lindrick. A triangle junction would lead to another triangle junction near Styrrup with lines going to Harworth and another going through Oldcotes and Langold to reach Firbeck. The forecast for Harworth was 5000 tons per day; this would have meant more congestion, so the opportunity was taken by the new owners on the SYJR (LNER and the LMS) to build the line to connect both collieries. This was completed in 1928.
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