Ledston Luck Colliery, West Yorkshire, October 2019

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HughieD

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1. The History
Ledston Luck Colliery was a coal mine between Castleford and Micklefield. The pit was sunk in the 1870's and later formed part of the super-pit of interlinked workings around Selby. The two winding Houses were built in 1911 and where among the first to use electric winders, at a time most other mines were still using steam. The pit was linked with the nearby Peckfield Colliery via rail, allowing the coal to be transferred to the main line for distribution. The 2ft 6in gauge line took coal for processing at Peckfield Colliery, using elderly Hudswell Clarke 0.6.0 engines.

A couple of archived external snaps:

48862235007_e20406a6a6_b.jpgLedstone Luck 3 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48862234932_0f575bc39d.jpgLedstone Luck 4 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Ledston Luck miners were the last to return to work after the miner’s strike in 1984, a year to the day after the National Coal Board (NCB) announced plans to shed 20,000 more jobs in the next financial year. The pit would be closed less than two years in 1986.

A couple of old internals:

48862235032_4ee31aec32.jpgLedstone Luck 2 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48861512673_a140bc32d1.jpgLedstone Luck 5 by HughieDW, on Flickr

All that remains of Ledston Luck Colliery are the unique winding houses which are on the English Heritage list of scheduled ancient monuments.

2. The Explore
This place used to crop up quite a bit circa 2012/13 but less so more recently. There isn’t a lot left bar the two winding houses but given their design, it is still a worthwhile explore. The one closest to the road is pretty easy access but the other one took a bit more working out. Both have now had all the winding gear removed but there are still enough bits and bobs to make this a very enjoyable explore. There’s then the nearby Pitstop café in the former canteen building which dies ace sausage, bacon and egg butties.

3. The Pictures

No.1 winding house first. Inexplicably I failed to take a picture of the front of the building. A couple of externals:


48851457217_25429248f0_b.jpgLedston 11 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48850916478_6db92ff22a_b.jpgLedston 01 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The first floor:

48851267661_ac30949727_b.jpgLedston 08 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48849291748_b32b8f8ca8_b.jpgimg3431 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48849648036_13819f4716_b.jpgimg3430 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48849645251_35736bc120_b.jpgimg3435 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48850915428_a4a340ef8c_b.jpgLedston 07 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48849649256_0d2f2779e8_b.jpgimg3425 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Then up to the second level:

48849840387_8047a9ef0d_b.jpgimg3423 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48850916008_cfb83d285c_b.jpgLedston 03 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48850915773_970e9920f0_b.jpgLedston 05 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48851458717_a16a6d4c7f_b.jpgLedston 04 by HughieDW, on Flickr
48849295913_e77c634871_b.jpgimg3422 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48849300508_0cd57c6970_b.jpgimg3416 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48849842387_ae085c8be0_b.jpgimg3421 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Then on to Winding House No.2:

48850913443_6ab4ee7a24_b.jpgLedston 15 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48851266686_c5083abc87_b.jpgLedston 12 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48853499102_e735a4eed9_b.jpgimg3456 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48851398997_3ebc6f0535_b.jpgimg3460 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48851216986_6aaeb3d23d_b.jpgimg3444 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48851216121_579420a9e1_b.jpgimg3445 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48851456737_8b3c9a34b7_b.jpgLedston 13 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Recesses where the winding machines once where:

48851211491_1ab7af53ac_b.jpgimg3452 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48851402122_ca78044cdd_b.jpgimg3449 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48850860958_4708d746ae_b.jpgimg3448 by HughieDW, on Flickr

48851404717_33c5c47ba5_b.jpgimg3446 by HughieDW, on Flickr
 
Excellent!
Sat here in a pool of excitement..

Still a few goodies to see inside them despite the metal thieves being through it all.
I knew of this one and as you say it sometimes pops up in places such as coal mining group chats on the net. Surprised that it's still standing but then again we're struggling to find use for many old buildings in this country. I do hope it's all saved and not allowed to simply crumble. The outsides are very pretty.

I'm unsure about what was done with surrounding land following closure? Like most old mine sites I've a feeling that a Winter visit will show many more things once the vegetation dies back.

Thanks for showing those internals. Always good to see them :)
 
Excellent!
Sat here in a pool of excitement..

Still a few goodies to see inside them despite the metal thieves being through it all.
I knew of this one and as you say it sometimes pops up in places such as coal mining group chats on the net. Surprised that it's still standing but then again we're struggling to find use for many old buildings in this country. I do hope it's all saved and not allowed to simply crumble. The outsides are very pretty.

I'm unsure about what was done with surrounding land following closure? Like most old mine sites I've a feeling that a Winter visit will show many more things once the vegetation dies back.

Thanks for showing those internals. Always good to see them :)

Never said thank you for your kind words. So. Thank you!

Amazing pictures, great find. Thank you for sharing

No problem mate!
 

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