Apologies if this is in the wrong place, but it feels more rural than industrial to me.
The Wyre Forest Coalfield covers an area of around 50 square miles, on the borders of Shropshire and Worcestershire, centred on the Wyre Forest. Although this gives the coalfield its name, paradoxically there is virtually no workable coal beneath the forest itself. This is found in two distinct deposits, either side of the forest.
Mining first started in the coalfield in the Middle Ages; the first mines were probably for ironstone. However, by the end of the 16th Century coal mining was underway and this soon became dominant. In the 17th and 18th centuries there were numerous small mines, working the coal where it was shallowest. However, around 1800 larger mines were sunk at Highley and Billingsley. These had comparatively short lives, but towards the end of the 19th Century deep mining returned, first to Billingsley and then to the Highley area.
The largest concern was the Highley Mining Company who worked Highley, Kinlet and Alveley Collieries and who also took over Billingsley Colliery. Alveley Colliery was taken over by the National Coal Board in 1947 and received considerable investment in the late 1950s. However it was closed as uneconomic in 1969.
Unlike many larger coalfields, there was no systematic attempt to restore former mining sites after extraction ceased. Thus, much mining archaeology remains undisturbed in belts of woodland or on derelict land. There are a number of fine mining landscapes within the area. In the vicinity of Billingsley, the Productive Coal Measure outcrops are marked by numerous shallow workings in both coal and ironstone seams. There are extensive remains of mine buildings, the railway, the tramway and also the model village built to house the workers in Highley.
The largest mine was at Alveley, which employed more than 1,000 men and drew more than 300,000 tons of coal a year in the late 1950s. It closed in 1969. In the southern basin, the Bayton Colliery Company employed more than 100 men at their pits in and around Mamble in the 1930s and 1940s.
There's some more detailed information here
http://www.discovershropshire.org.uk/html/search/verb/GetRecord/theme:20070113082550
I’ve posted a few pictures of Kinlet Colliery before. Once you find it. Then the remains are quite obvious and pretty photogenic. The remains of the other collieries are not as photogenic and obvious. I spent several hours walking through fields and woods (in the rain), for limited reward. However, as these places are relatively unknown and remote, there’s always a possibility you will discover something previously unnoticed.
Hunthouse Colliery
Hunthouse was the last collliery to close in 1972. Unfortunately, the main colliery site is now occupied by a timber company and pretty difficult to get access to. However, the rest of the remains are in Hunthouse wood Nature Reserve behind the colliery site and contain one drift (blocked up, not photogenic) and various other remnants in the process of being swallowed up by nature.
This was down by a brook in the nature reserve. Looks like it might have been associated with a shaft or aerial ropeway. Suggestions welcome
tramway
bucket from aerial ropeway
A deep ravine ran through the middle of the site. Part of this had been used as landfill - 50s by the look of it. Loads of bottles etc.
Chorley Colliery
Closed 1940. Some info on the ‘Discovering Shropshire’ web page
Two demolished cottages next to colliery site. Nice tiles.
Billingsley Colliery
Billingsley was a hive of industry once. At various times there have been a furnace, coal mine, and marshalling yards for the line connecting the colliery to the SVR. The mine closed in 1921, but the railway remained in use until the 1950s.
Old mine building I think . Well secured!! Private property!
Weigh-house next to railway line
Collapsed Tramway bridge
Links to a few pics
Hunthouse coal face
http://www.geopark.org.uk/blog/_archives/2009/7/12/4252894.html
Bayton Colliery lorry
http://www.geopark.org.uk/blog/_archives/2009/7/12/4252906.html
Highley Colliery
http://www.geopark.org.uk/blog/_archives/2009/7/12/4252900.html
Some Proper Photos
http://www.lostlabours.co.uk/wyre/index.htm
The Wyre Forest Coalfield covers an area of around 50 square miles, on the borders of Shropshire and Worcestershire, centred on the Wyre Forest. Although this gives the coalfield its name, paradoxically there is virtually no workable coal beneath the forest itself. This is found in two distinct deposits, either side of the forest.
Mining first started in the coalfield in the Middle Ages; the first mines were probably for ironstone. However, by the end of the 16th Century coal mining was underway and this soon became dominant. In the 17th and 18th centuries there were numerous small mines, working the coal where it was shallowest. However, around 1800 larger mines were sunk at Highley and Billingsley. These had comparatively short lives, but towards the end of the 19th Century deep mining returned, first to Billingsley and then to the Highley area.
The largest concern was the Highley Mining Company who worked Highley, Kinlet and Alveley Collieries and who also took over Billingsley Colliery. Alveley Colliery was taken over by the National Coal Board in 1947 and received considerable investment in the late 1950s. However it was closed as uneconomic in 1969.
Unlike many larger coalfields, there was no systematic attempt to restore former mining sites after extraction ceased. Thus, much mining archaeology remains undisturbed in belts of woodland or on derelict land. There are a number of fine mining landscapes within the area. In the vicinity of Billingsley, the Productive Coal Measure outcrops are marked by numerous shallow workings in both coal and ironstone seams. There are extensive remains of mine buildings, the railway, the tramway and also the model village built to house the workers in Highley.
The largest mine was at Alveley, which employed more than 1,000 men and drew more than 300,000 tons of coal a year in the late 1950s. It closed in 1969. In the southern basin, the Bayton Colliery Company employed more than 100 men at their pits in and around Mamble in the 1930s and 1940s.
There's some more detailed information here
http://www.discovershropshire.org.uk/html/search/verb/GetRecord/theme:20070113082550
I’ve posted a few pictures of Kinlet Colliery before. Once you find it. Then the remains are quite obvious and pretty photogenic. The remains of the other collieries are not as photogenic and obvious. I spent several hours walking through fields and woods (in the rain), for limited reward. However, as these places are relatively unknown and remote, there’s always a possibility you will discover something previously unnoticed.
Hunthouse Colliery
Hunthouse was the last collliery to close in 1972. Unfortunately, the main colliery site is now occupied by a timber company and pretty difficult to get access to. However, the rest of the remains are in Hunthouse wood Nature Reserve behind the colliery site and contain one drift (blocked up, not photogenic) and various other remnants in the process of being swallowed up by nature.
This was down by a brook in the nature reserve. Looks like it might have been associated with a shaft or aerial ropeway. Suggestions welcome
tramway
bucket from aerial ropeway
A deep ravine ran through the middle of the site. Part of this had been used as landfill - 50s by the look of it. Loads of bottles etc.
Chorley Colliery
Closed 1940. Some info on the ‘Discovering Shropshire’ web page
Two demolished cottages next to colliery site. Nice tiles.
Billingsley Colliery
Billingsley was a hive of industry once. At various times there have been a furnace, coal mine, and marshalling yards for the line connecting the colliery to the SVR. The mine closed in 1921, but the railway remained in use until the 1950s.
Old mine building I think . Well secured!! Private property!
Weigh-house next to railway line
Collapsed Tramway bridge
Links to a few pics
Hunthouse coal face
http://www.geopark.org.uk/blog/_archives/2009/7/12/4252894.html
Bayton Colliery lorry
http://www.geopark.org.uk/blog/_archives/2009/7/12/4252906.html
Highley Colliery
http://www.geopark.org.uk/blog/_archives/2009/7/12/4252900.html
Some Proper Photos
http://www.lostlabours.co.uk/wyre/index.htm