British Opencast Coal: A Photographic History 1942-1985

Keith Haddock

• Publisher: Old Pond Books
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781910456392
• Topic: Technik & Maschinenbau
• Subtopic: Bergbautechnik

British Opencast Coal is an illustrated history of coal mining by surface methods from 1942 to 1985. Written by Keith Haddock, a leading authority on the subject, this book details the origins of the industry and documents the types of earthmoving machines employed during the first 40 years. The book highlights the importance of surface coal mining operations and site restoration and their necessity for the British economy.Meticulously researched, the facts, figures and data covered are taken from Keith's extensive collection of magazine articles, newspaper cuttings and manufacturers' machine brochures and specifications. They are also drawn from publications by the National Coal Board Opencast Executive and Keith's own research conducted on numerous site visits. The sites included represent a cross section of geologically different locations in England, Scotland and Wales, and those employing the most interesting variety of earthmoving machines, such as Maesgwyn in South Wales, Newman Spinney in Derbyshire, Radar North in Northumberland and Ox-Bow in Yorkshire.The book's 364 historical photographs, many taken for the National Coal Board or British Coal Opencast, provide a nostalgic look at obsolete earthmoving and heavy construction equipment, and form an excellent historical resource for the student, researcher or enthusiast.

CHAPTER ONE

The Early Years

Mechanized surface excavation for coal, ‘opencast’ coal-mining, began in Britain in 1941 precisely. Certainly it is believed that surface coal was mined by hand in historic times, but actual excavation using ‘modern’ earthmoving equipment for mining is accurately documented as starting in 1941 as a wartime measure. During the early years of World War II there was a significant drop in vital coal production from underground mines due to an acute manpower shortage. It was publicly stated that adequate production of food and coal was essential to winning the war, but by early 1941 the situation had become a national emergency.

Members of Parliament considered recalling trained colliers from the armed forces to the pits, but another solution came to the forefront when Albert Braithwaite, Member of Parliament for Yorkshire East Riding and director of contractors Sir Lindsay Parkinson & Co. Ltd., held a private meeting with the secretary for mines. Braithwaite suggested that civil engineering contractors, experienced in operating modern earthmoving equipment, should be given the opportunity to exploit ‘surface’ or ‘outcrop’ coal. The government accepted his idea but much work had to be done in an extraordinarily short time.

It was known that high-quality coal existed in many areas within 50 feet of the surface, but unfortunately this coal had not been properly explored and recorded. The Mines Department of the Board of Trade had no surveyed plans for mining here because it was too shallow to extract by underground methods. Although surface mining had been successfully established in America for several decades, this was a new idea for the UK. But, as expected under a national emergency, and with ‘wartime’ measures in place, activities proceeded speedily, on a schedule that seems unbelievable in today’s world of environmental concerns, licences, regulations and public hearings.

In a matter of weeks after the first mention of opencast coal to Parliament, drilling rigs had been sourced and dispatched all over the English and Scottish coal fields to prove and sample coal, necessary entry of land was gained, quantities of coal and overburden calculated, excavation equipment procured (with small capacity at first), coal handling and preparation arranged or plans for new facilities tendered, and contractors’ personnel skilled in earthmoving were recruited. Only pure coal seams without containments or partings, and three feet or more in thickness, were considered. The search for shallow coal began in earnest and, within a few months, dozens of suitable sites had been identified with prospect drilling completed.

The first sites

The government plan obtained Treasury approval and work on the first two ‘official’ sites started in the autumn of 1941. Both were developed and operated by Sir Lindsay Parkinson & Co. Ltd. Land entry was privately arranged through goodwill and agreement with landowners, as statutory powers and existing Defence Regulations did not cover opencast operations.

The first site was Bedgrave Wood near the village of Wales, just south-east of Sheffield. Site work commenced in October, and the first coal production was achieved by 27 December 1941. Production estimates for Bedgrave Wood forecast a total of 200,000 tons of coal to be achieved at a rate of 500 tons per day, and some 200 personnel would be employed.

Some of the first machines on site were a ½-yard Ruston-Bucyrus 17-RB dragline, a ¾-yard Smith 5-20 dragline, a Smith ½-yard shovel, a Caterpillar D7 with a six-yard scraper, five International TD-18 tractors with Euclid 27W dumping trailers, three TD-18 tractors with Ruston-Bucyrus S-90 scrapers and a Caterpillar D8 with a 12-yard scraper. The Smith excavators were manufactured not far away at Rodley, Leeds.

It is interesting to note that three decades later the former Bedgrave Wood site became engulfed by the much larger Meadowgate site operated by Shand Mining, which yielded some 1.75 million tons. In the process of restoring this site, the present Rother Valley Country Park was created.

The second opencast site to be developed was the Orchard site located at the old underground mine of Orchard Colliery Co. Ltd., near Dordon, Atherstone, Warwickshire. Coal was proved to be on this site following a German air raid in June 1941 when bomb craters resulted in surrounding fields littered with lumps of coal! Site preparations began on 3 November 1941, and eventually some 340,000 tons of coal were won, with excavations extended to 70 feet below ground level. Equipment included three draglines, one a two-yard Lima 802 loading into tractor-drawn wagons.

In March 1942, less than a year after Parliamentary approval, Albert Braithwaite was able to report that the first two sites were in production, and that at least 50 million tons of coal within 30 feet of the surface was available for surface mining throughout England and Scotland. Three months later, in June 1942, after only seven months of opencasting, he reported that 40 contractors were working on 22 sites, and a further 63 sites were already in various stages of the planning process.

Supervision of opencast production was placed under the Ministry of Fuel and Power, which was created in June 1942, but that engagement was short-lived. In December of that year it was transferred to the newly formed Directorate of Opencast Coal Production (DOCP), under its first director, Major General Kenelm C. Appleyard. Progress was so rapid that by 1944, 419 sites had been opened up and production had reached 8.6 million tons for that year.

So it is indeed Sir Lindsay Parkinson & Co. Ltd., the company that operated the first two opencast coal sites in Britain, and the driving force of director Albert Braithwaite with his Parliamentary connections, who hold the honour of initiating the opencast coal industry in Great Britain. This achievement is all the more remarkable when, prior to World War II, the British government held no plans whatsoever for future opencast coal production.

Plant and machinery shortage

The rapid increase in opencast production over a few short years resulted in a dire scarcity of heavy plant needed to undertake the immense earthmoving operations at a rate never before seen in the UK. The majority of excavators on the first opencast sites were of ¾-yard capacity or smaller, with only few reaching 2½ yards in size, and scraper capacities ranged only up to 12 cubic yards, clearly insufficient to meet projected coal production.

The acute shortage of equipment became more apparent as the government’s demands on the DOCP accelerated. In its first year of operation, the DOCP was tasked with achieving a target of five million tons of coal, and in the following years annual targets of up to 15 million tons were called for. It was obvious that if these outputs stood any chance of success, a new action plan must be achieved. Early in this start-up period, Albert Braithwaite took a visiting American opencast mining engineer onto a UK site. After reviewing the operations, the engineer summed up his comments by saying, ‘You are doing it with toys!’

Ken Appleyard, director of the DOCP, visited the USA in 1943 to ask the American government to help by providing extensive fleets of machines, larger than currently employed in the UK, to boost opencast coal production. These machines would be imported under the already established British/American Lend-Lease Programme. Large numbers of American-built tractors, scrapers and other machines had already been supplied under this programme and were working in the UK building air fields for the British and American Air Forces.

Appleyard was successful in securing a promise that all equipment that could be spared would be transferred to the UK. During his visit, he also met Leslie Jones, eastern sales manager for Bucyrus-Erie Company, who recommended three advisors – J. Robert Bazeley, Robert Bailey and Kenneth Youngs – who might be interested in such an assignment. These three gentlemen were steeped in the American surface mining business and subsequently offered their experience and guidance to support the DOCP and the British opencast effort in its early years.

Robert Bazeley was enthusiastic about British opencast coal development and acted as a consultant over a period of many years, making regular visits to the UK accompanied by his wife. He had operated major open pit coal mines in Pennsylvania’s anthracite region and, since the 1920s, had employed some of the world’s largest excavators. He passed on knowledge gained from his long experience, providing significant input to the initial planning and execution of the UK opencast industry to ensure its future success.

Within a few months, large numbers of second-hand earthmoving machines began to arrive from America and were distributed to opencast contractors. The variety of machines imported encompassed crawler tractors, scrapers, haul trucks, shovels and draglines. But when larger machines such as shovels and draglines started arriving, it soon became apparent that many had almost finished their working lives before leaving the USA.

Manufacturing data, serial numbers and machine condition revealed that some already had worked more than 20 years at mining and construction projects across America. A further problem was that spare parts availability for these American machines was almost non-existent, as their manufacturers had no established distributors in the UK. Once erected and put to work, these tired machines barely lasted the duration of just one site and then had to be scr...