Bradford Colliery Remembered.

Subscribe to my youtube channel for 280+ coal mine tributes and counting. A coal mine in Bradford, Manchester, England. The Bradford Coalfield is crossed by a number of fault lines, principally the Bradford Fault, which was reactivated by mining activity in the mid-1960s.Coal had been mined at Bradford since at least the early 17th century, when the area around the pits was largely rural; it became increasingly built-up and industrialised as nearby Manchester expanded during the 19th century. Coal was transported from the colliery by canal and railway, but most was consumed locally by the adjacent Bradford Ironworks. In the mid-20th century a 420m tunnel was dug to supply coal directly to the Stuart Street Power Station.Damage to buildings in the area around the colliery caused by subsidence led to it becoming uneconomic despite its sitting on large reserves of high-quality coal, and it was closed in 1968.
Geology.The Bradford Coalfield is isolated from the rest of the Manchester Coalfield; its coal seams, laid down in the Carboniferous period, dip at an average of 1 in 3 towards the south and correspond more closely with those of the Oldham Coalfield. The Two Foot, Doctor, New, Yard, Bradford Four Foot, Three Quarters and Charlotte mines, above the Parker mine, are known as the Bradford Group; the Charlotte mine is closest to the surface. The Openshaw mine, above the Charlotte, was worked for fireclay. Below the Bradford Group and the Parker mine are the Top, Middle and Deep mines, and 18m below them, the Roger mine. The Top, Middle and Deep mines correspond to the Major, Bland, and Ashton Great mines in the Oldham Coalfield. The Crombouke mine in the western coalfield corresponds to the Roger mine at Bradford Colliery.In total the workable seams contained 310 million long tons of coal.
In 1935 the colliery was acquired by Manchester Collieries. It had large reserves of high-quality coal in the Roger mine below the seams already exploited, and although the mines dipped steeply, was a dry and relatively gas-free pit. Manchester Collieries initially improved coal screening but had plans to develop the colliery and maximise output to 4000 long tons per day, involving the complete replacement of the surface works. The Parker shaft was deepened to 873m between 1944 and 1948, and winding installed to accommodate 12-long ton (13.44-short ton) capacity skips. The transport of coal underground was improved by the installation of three-ton mine cars hauled by a battery-powered locomotive and a system of conveyors. A 61m reinforced concrete winding tower was built to house a Koepe-type friction wheel built by Metropolitan-Vickers.
A new headgear and winding engine were built at the Deep pit shaft. After 1947 a 420m tunnel 50m below ground level was driven to the Stuart Street Power Station, to provide coal direct from the colliery. A conveyor within the tunnel delivered 200 tons of small coal an hour to the power station's bunker. Most of the developments begun by Manchester Collieries were completed after nationalisation in 1947 by the National Coal Board. After modernisation and reconstruction, coal was extracted by longwall mining using coal-cutting machinery and conveyors. At Bradford, which had no spoil heap, the goaf was infilled with spoil or waste. As there was insufficient spoil to fill the void, some was brought from other pits. The NCB incorporated the takes, or coal reserves, of Moston and Ashton Moss Collieries into the redeveloped Bradford Colliery. Moston was closed, but the shafts of Ashton Moss were retained for winding men and equipment.
Closure
By the mid-1960s it was apparent that considerable subsidence was being caused by mining in the built-up area of Manchester around Bradford Colliery. Many buildings were affected, particularly in Bradford and Miles Platting, where in 1962 eleven council houses were so severely damaged they had to be demolished.The government approved an order restricting mining operations and ordered an enquiry to determine whether mining should continue unhindered, and if not whether compensation for loss of production should be paid; for the first time, the NCB required planning permission to mine under the city of Manchester. The NCB gave evidence to the enquiry in 1966 stating that for each ton of coal extracted from the colliery 5s 2d had to be paid out in compensation for surface damage – the highest for any pit in the region – contrasted with a national average of 6d per ton. Despite sitting on vast reserves of premium coal, Bradford Colliery was closed in 1968 as being uneconomic. In its final year of operation the 1500 workers employed produced 530,298 long tons of coal. The 17-acre site, renamed Eastlands, was cleared and its two deep shafts capped with reinforced concrete in a scheme costing £8 million before redevelopment.Part of the site is now occupied by the City of Manchester Stadium.