Northern United was the last of the
gales formed under the 1904 Dean Forest (Mines) Act to be developed.
The Northern United, or No. 2 Area, gale was formed of the New Bowson,
East Dean Deep, Holly Hill United and Richard Whites gales. As already
seen at New Bowson (page 000) the early attempts to work the deep measures
were beset with problems and it was not until the gale passed into the
hands of Henry Crawshay & Co. Ltd. that work began in earnest.
The gale was purchased from the
Lydney & Crump Meadow Collieries Co. Ltd. mainly at the instigation
of Crawshay's managing director Arthur Morgan J.P. As well as there
being an undoubtably sound financial reason for the purchase it was reported
locally that there was also a touch of the companys' care for its workmen
in the deal. During the late 1920s and early 30s the companys' Lightmoor
Colliery was several times threatened with closure and the opening of Northern
United would provide continued employment for the men displaced at Lightmoor.
As things turned out Lightmoor did not in fact close until 1940 but the
closures of Foxes Bridge and Crump Meadow collieries were made easier by
the employment to be found at Northern.
To purchase the gale, which contained
about 1,698 acres which, it was estimated would yeild some 10 million tons
of coal, Crawshays had to find the purchase price of £27,000 together
with a further £60 - 70,000 for its development. By July 1932
preparatory work had started under the management of Mr. Joseph Morrison,
late of Foxes Bridge Colliery. The object was to open up the old
Hawkwell Colliery (see page 000) prior to sinking a new shaft on the Bowson
gale. This was to be done to the west of the original site and was
probably decided upon to avoid the heavily watered area which had been
the downfall of the original venture in the 1860s. It was hoped that
the sinking of the new shaft would commence within a couple of months and
that within a year or so employment would be found for between 1,000 and
1,500 men at an average wage of £2 per week.
In mid-May 1933 it was reported
that the substantial concrete winding engine house, built by Messrs. Hoboroughs
[?sp] of Gloucester, was almost complete together with other buildings
around the colliery yard which were executed in red brick. The steel
headframe was brought from the old Bowson shaft having been put there by
the Lydney & Crump Meadow Co. A large electrical transformer
had been installed nearby by the West Gloucestershire Power Co. to provide
the electrical power which was to be used throughout the pit. A deep
cutting had also been made to provide a convienient route for the loaded
wagon road out of the screens. The Dean Forest Mercury reported on
the scene as follows:
'The spot has a typical Forest setting,
and on a warm mid-May morning, the surrounding woodlands were beautiful
in their fresh spring-time garb. The grey of the huge concrete building,
and the bright red brick of other erections, and, it may be said, the not
un-picturesque character of the big transformer and other electrical apparatus
for the uses of electric light and power, in no way spoils the general
view.'
At Hawkwell the shaft was being
de-watered using electric pumps but a large quantity of sludge had been
met whilst underground it was found that they could not use the old roadways
towards the new shaft for the whole distance and so a new heading would
have to be driven.
On Thursday 25 May 1933 about fifty
eminent persons gathered at Northern to witness the cutting of the first
sod in the shaft sinking. This ceremony was to be performed by Miss
Lisa F. Crawshay and after it was completed the party adjourned to the
newly completed fitting shop where a cold luncheon had been prepared by
the proprietors of the Speech House Hotel.
It was anticipated that it would
take six or seven months to sink the shaft over 200 yards and that to line
the shaft would take about 500,000 bricks. The contractors for the
work were the Francois Cementation Co. Ltd. of Doncaster. After the
completion of the shaft it was estimated that it would take another two
to three years to open out pit-bottom and the main roadways underground
before full production could begin.
In August the shaft sinkers had
gone down twenty-five yards, or one-eigth full depth, and the the building
of the permenant wall round the shaft had commenced. No problems
had been encountered with the sinking passing through blue limestone shale.
By the end of december a depth of 160 yards had been reached and on the
9 February 1934 it was reported in the local press that coal had been struck
in the shaft, at a depth of 230 yards, during the evening of Thursday the
8th. By breakfast time next morning coal was being brought to the
surface. Fortunately during the sinking operation there were no fatalities.
The roadway from the Hawkwell shaft
broke through in October 1934. One of the Hawkwell shafts was to
be used as an emergency way out and a new winding engine was installed
in the old engine house which was altered to suit. The top of the
shaft was covered by a lid two inch boards which lifted when the cage was
raised. This normally hung in the shaft. The second shaft was
to be un upcast shaft to aid ventilation and a 91 inch diameter Sirocco
double inlet fan was installed to further increase the draught.
Whilst development continued underground
the surface works were also put in hand. Sidings were provided by
the Great Western at a cost of £1,196 which was to be borne by Henry
Crawshay & Co. but refunded over a period of ten years by a rebate
of 2d. per ton on every ton above 187,627 conveyed yearly from both Northern
and Eastern United Collieries. Crawshays were to provide some of
the sidings themselves together with weighbridges and offices.
The erection of the screens themselves
was started in May 1935 with the first coal being put through in late August.
The sidings were first used on 4 September 1935 although the two single
lever groundframes controlling them had been brought into use on the 25
March. The private siding agreement itself had been signed on 18
May. The sidings gave accommodation for 60 empties although the colliery
company agreed to continue tipping waste material in order to provide space
in order to extend the empty wagon sidings if future traffic needs warrented
it.
The operation of traffic to and
from the colliery required the use of two guards with the train being propelled
along the Churchway branch from Bilson. The leading vehicle had to
be a brake van with the veranda end leading and the guard had to carry
a horn to warn any person of the approach of the train. He also had
to be prepared to to stop the engineman by exhibiting a red flag
or light if necessary. On arrival at the colliery the brake van was
placed at the end of the Churchway branch, clear of the colliery sidings.
The empty wagons were then propelled up the gradient into the empties sidings
with a man walking in front.
Once the wagons were berthed the
engine returned to collect the brake van which was taken to a point just
above the loaded road connection. Here it was left while the loadeds
were drawn out. These had been gravited down through the screens
and clear of an overbridge which was of insufficient height to allow an
engine to pass. Because the line fell away to Bilson Yard at 1 in
41 the wagon brakes were pinned down before any movement took place.
The maximum permitted load for uncoloured engines was 15 empties from Bilson
to Northern and forty loadeds on return.
The average output during early
1937 was 25 wagons per day which meant that the siding accommodation was
ample but by June things were getting a little tight with empties being
kept at Bilson until required. As the colliery then requested specific
wagons it entailed extra shunting. The increase in empty wagon storage
space at the colliery was almost completed and gave room for an extra 20
wagons, although tipping continued for even further siding extensions should
this prove necessary. This extra space alleviated the problem at
Bilson.
1956 Coal washery opened.
Northern United closed on Christmas
Day 1965 making 700 men and boys unemployed. In the previous week
1,120 tons had been raised. Northern was the last of the large collieries
to close in the Forest.