JS2021 Posted December 3, 2023 Share Posted December 3, 2023 What does "main" mean in a colliery name ? e.g. Manvers Main I had always assumed it was when two (or more) collieries were linked underground and the remaining one then became "main", but is that true ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winco1960 Posted December 3, 2023 Share Posted December 3, 2023 My wife used to work for the coal board at Queens House in Sheffield dealing with accident claims during the eighties. Until the miners strike there were 56 collieries in Yorkshire. Only 6 had the word "Main" in the title. Barnsley, Hickleton, Houghton, Manvers, Markham and Yorkshire ( Doncaster ). From her recollections she believes these sites had multiple shafts and were linked. For instance Manvers was linked underground with Wath, Barnburgh and Kilnhurst but all the coal mined in these pits were all raised at Manvers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busmansholiday Posted December 3, 2023 Share Posted December 3, 2023 3 hours ago, winco1960 said: From her recollections she believes these sites had multiple shafts and were linked. Yes, I believe it's to do with the fact that the pits are all removing coal from the same seam (layer) of coal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
History dude Posted December 3, 2023 Share Posted December 3, 2023 Coal is found at different levels in the ground. And in different seams. The main seam would be the biggest deposit of coal in a seam. The seams were given names like Parkgate and Silkstone etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmund Posted December 3, 2023 Share Posted December 3, 2023 The use of "Main" dates back as far as the mid 1700's. The unwritten rule of thumb was that the first colliery in a town would be known as (name of town) Main. Not all colliery owners followed this principle as some preferred to use the name of a wife or daughter such as Isabella or Victoria, while others would use the location with the name of the most important seam. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopman Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 I've also seen it in the names of football clubs i.e. Rossington Main and Maltby Main. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponytail Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 Referring to Maltby Main F.C. when they were formed about the time WWI all the players worked at Maltby Main. Other Collieries and Steelworks had their own sports teams and brass bands, some kept the traditional names when the Pit or the Works closed. They changed the name to Maltby Miners Welfare in 1959 but returned to the original name 1996. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponytail Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 Maltby Colliery, formed as Maltby Main Colliery Co. Ltd. 1907. https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/yorkshire-coalfield/sheffield/maltby-colliery/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponytail Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 Markham Main Colliery. https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/yorkshire-coalfield/doncaster/markham/ Houghton Main Colliery. https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/yorkshire-coalfield/barnsley/houghton-main-colliery/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponytail Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 Hickleton Main Coal Co. https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/yorkshire-coalfield/doncaster/hickleton/ Manvers Main Colliery. https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/yorkshire-coalfield/doncaster/manvers/ Yorkshire Main Colliery. https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/yorkshire-coalfield/doncaster/yorkshire/ Rossington Main Colliery. https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/yorkshire-coalfield/doncaster/rossington/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponytail Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 Barnsley Main Colliery. https://industrialtour.co.uk/barnsley-main-colliery/ Barnsley Main Colliery Explosion 1947. https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/accidents-disasters/yorkshire/barnsley-main-colliery-explosion-barnsley-1947/ Also: Darton Main Colliery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponytail Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 Rotherham Main Colliery. https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/yorkshire-coalfield/sheffield/rotherhammain/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_Main_Colliery Rotherham Main Colliery at Canklow. Dalton Main Colliery Ltd. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalton_Main_Collieries_Ltd. Aldwarke Main Colliery https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldwarke_Main_Colliery Aldwarke Main Colliery Explosion 1875. https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/accidents-disasters/yorkshire/aldwarke-main-colliery-explosion-rotherham-1875/ Aldwarke Main Colliery Accident 1904. https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/accidents-disasters/yorkshire/aldwarke-main-colliery-accident-rotherham-1904/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponytail Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 As discussed the first pit sunk in the town was often called Main. Never considered it before, was there ever a Sheffield Main Colliery? Sheffield Collieries at Work 1869. https://www.chrishobbs.com/sheffield/1869shefpits.htm https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_Coal_Company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponytail Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 Some 20 or so years ago I remember someone working on a project of the various Collieries in South Yorkshire Records; at that time the project was called "Shafts of Light" The name probably was changed and it's quite possible the cataloguing came under the umbrella of the posts made earlier "nmrs" Northern Mines Research Society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lysanderix Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 I never realised we had so many collieries. I remember once reading that Dore had once had a coal mine with its HO in the Devonshire Pub. * I had the cutting framed and placed behind the bar. It caused some amusement amongst the old villagers for some to think they were drinking in a miners pub…others , mainly newcomers, thought it far from amusing. * a thin ,shallow seam of readily accessible coal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponytail Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 1 minute ago, Lysanderix said: I never realised we had so many collieries. I remember once reading that Dore had once had a coal mine with its HO in the Devonshire Pub. * I had the cutting framed and placed behind the bar. It caused some amusement amongst the old villagers for some to think they were drinking in a miners pub…others , mainly newcomers, thought it far from amusing. * a thin ,shallow seam of readily accessible coal. Quite honestly Lysanderix, neither did I until I looked up the "Main Collieries" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponytail Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 Denaby Main Coliery. https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/yorkshire-coalfield/doncaster/denaby/ Cadeby Main Colliery https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/yorkshire-coalfield/doncaster/cadeby/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponytail Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 Dinnington Main Colliery https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinnington_Main_Colliery People at Dinnington Main Colliery. https://dinningtonheritage.weebly.com/people-at-dinnington-main.html Dinnington Colliery deaths. List of names with other details. https://dinningtonheritage.weebly.com/colliery-deaths.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lysanderix Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 My finding of the Dore Colliery came about whilst I was researching the early days of the NCB….and Dore was listed in an official publication detailing all the coal mining companies, including those which were dormant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
History dude Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 You only have to look at the OS maps of Sheffield in the 1860s to see all the coal mines. Even today, the odd green space on an estate could be the location of an old mine shaft that they couldn't build on. But if you went back millions of years, Sheffield would have been a steamy swamp with giant Centipedes and MASSIVE Dragonflies. Which has left us with the coal. While in other parts it was a sandy beach that has left us with outcrops of sandstone rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lysanderix Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 Over geological times our piece of a tectonic plate has moved around the globe experiencing all manner of weather patterns and as a result differing depositions of sediments , plant life , etc as it did so….hence the mixed geology of these islands……which puts into question ,in some minds ,the current fear of global climate change due to humankind’s activities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmund Posted December 24, 2023 Share Posted December 24, 2023 On 03/12/2023 at 18:59, Edmund said: The use of "Main" dates back as far as the mid 1700's. The unwritten rule of thumb was that the first colliery in a town would be known as (name of town) Main. Not all colliery owners followed this principle as some preferred to use the name of a wife or daughter such as Isabella or Victoria, while others would use the location with the name of the most important seam. It appears that the tradition of naming collieries as "Main" originated in the North East at an early date. The "Main" seam coal was so attractive that even collieries that did not extract coal from the Main seam began to use the name, and "Main" became synonymous with Mine" : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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