Coal Mining in East Leeds

D Lucas · Post by **D Lucas** » Sat 03 Sep, 2011 8:29 pm

[quotenick="Leodian"][quotenick="grumpytramp"] Leodian wrote: One of those springs may well be that which I have been referring to. I notice on an 1894 map there were a Halton Moor Farm and a Nineveh Lodge in the same general area as the spring would have been. I have no recollection of any buildings or remains in that immediate area so I guess they must have been demolished some years before the early to mid 1950s. Ninivah Lodge was still standing in the late 60`s as i remember passing it when i was around 10 years old, halton moor farm was long gone by then altho oposite Ninivah Lodge was a large barn, who it belonged to i dont know but i remember there were two or three old cars stored inside it......

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Sat 03 Sep, 2011 9:53 pm

[quotenick="D Lucas"][quotenick="Leodian"] grumpytramp wrote: Leodian wrote: One of those springs may well be that which I have been referring to. I notice on an 1894 map there were a Halton Moor Farm and a Nineveh Lodge in the same general area as the spring would have been. I have no recollection of any buildings or remains in that immediate area so I guess they must have been demolished some years before the early to mid 1950s. Ninivah Lodge was still standing in the late 60`s as i remember passing it when i was around 10 years old, halton moor farm was long gone by then altho oposite Ninivah Lodge was a large barn, who it belonged to i dont know but i remember there were two or three old cars stored inside it...... Thanks for that information D Lucas. My recollection that there was no building immediately near the spring is thus wrong. My excuse is that it would be around 55 years since I was last in that area! Funny how I recall the nearby iron spring so well but not a building. Springs were clearly more fun. I've just seen in the Old Maps UK website that the Lodge was still recorded on the 1969 map.

Post by **chameleon** » Sat 03 Sep, 2011 9:59 pm

[quotenick="D Lucas"][quotenick="Leodian"] grumpytramp wrote: Leodian wrote: One of those springs may well be that which I have been referring to. I notice on an 1894 map there were a Halton Moor Farm and a Nineveh Lodge in the same general area as the spring would have been. I have no recollection of any buildings or remains in that immediate area so I guess they must have been demolished some years before the early to mid 1950s. Ninivah Lodge was still standing in the late 60`s as i remember passing it when i was around 10 years old, halton moor farm was long gone by then altho oposite Ninivah Lodge was a large barn, who it belonged to i dont know but i remember there were two or three old cars stored inside it...... The correct spelling does apear to be Nineveh Lodge - Thread title amended to show this

D Lucas · Post by **D Lucas** » Sat 03 Sep, 2011 11:11 pm

[quotenick="chameleon"][quotenick="D Lucas"] Leodian wrote: grumpytramp wrote: Leodian wrote: One of those springs may well be that which I have been referring to. I notice on an 1894 map there were a Halton Moor Farm and a Nineveh Lodge in the same general area as the spring would have been. I have no recollection of any buildings or remains in that immediate area so I guess they must have been demolished some years before the early to mid 1950s. Ninivah Lodge was still standing in the late 60`s as i remember passing it when i was around 10 years old, halton moor farm was long gone by then altho oposite Ninivah Lodge was a large barn, who it belonged to i dont know but i remember there were two or three old cars stored inside it...... The correct spelling does apear to be Nineveh Lodge - Thread title amended to show this According to the map, i think weve all got a mixture of spellings, all wrong.......L.O.L. the correct spelling is Ninevah.......

warringtonrhino · Post by **warringtonrhino** » Sat 18 Feb, 2012 8:11 pm

I know what a bell pit is, but how did people decide where to dig them? Some were fairly deep, it would have been a waste of time digging if the coal wasn't there. And more of a waste of time if they aborted the pit inches above the seam.

The Parksider · Post by **The Parksider** » Sat 18 Feb, 2012 9:01 pm

warringtonrhino wrote: I know what a bell pit is, but how did people decide where to dig them? Some were fairly deep, it would have been a waste of time digging if the coal wasn't there. And more of a waste of time if they aborted the pit inches above the seam. Coal seams are flat layers of coal, so if you find a seam by trial and error, then once you do you just dig again outwards from the trial knowing the coal spreads outwards.More difficult are vertical mineral veins. In the dales the lead miners often dug long levels hoping to hit a vein.The best signs are found where veins and seams "outcrop" at the surface or are cut by streams/valleys- then you know where to go from there. However these were often hidden by vegetation.Today we may not "waste our time" speculating. In the old days as a miner you had no option other than to follow your trade and if that meant digging and digging and digging for little reward you had to do it. No social security, no shelf stacking at ASDA.I'd also suggest that when it comes to the land today we may have less of a clue, our ancestors were much better tuned in to what the land had to offer. I read a book on poaching and it demonstrated that such essential "survival arts" were something people had and honed. Today they are lost.Grumpytramp can smell a coal seam a mile away...

Post by **chameleon** » Sat 18 Feb, 2012 9:28 pm

The Parksider wrote: warringtonrhino wrote: I know what a bell pit is, but how did people decide where to dig them? Some were fairly deep, it would have been a waste of time digging if the coal wasn't there. And more of a waste of time if they aborted the pit inches above the seam. Coal seams are flat layers of coal, so if you find a seam by trial and error, then once you do you just dig again outwards from the trial knowing the coal spreads outwards.More difficult are vertical mineral veins. In the dales the lead miners often dug long levels hoping to hit a vein.The best signs are found where veins and seams "outcrop" at the surface or are cut by streams/valleys- then you know where to go from there. However these were often hidden by vegetation.Today we may not "waste our time" speculating. In the old days as a miner you had no option other than to follow your trade and if that meant digging and digging and digging for little reward you had to do it. No social security, no shelf stacking at ASDA.I'd also suggest that when it comes to the land today we may have less of a clue, our ancestors were much better tuned in to what the land had to offer. I read a book on poaching and it demonstrated that such essential "survival arts" were something people had and honed. Today they are lost.Grumpytramp can smell a coal seam a mile away... That is unfair on Grumpy Parkie 300 miles at least

warringtonrhino · Post by **warringtonrhino** » Sat 18 Feb, 2012 9:54 pm

Thanks for that; I get frustrated when history books etc describe what a bell pit is and how they were used etc, but forget to mention why they got there. If coal was found by trial and error, are there several failed bell pit attempts? I got into this forum after following a thread on Mathers Leat, it is something I have been investigating for many years, today I went back to Leeds to re-check some levels. The maps ,details and sections are almost complete. It is all part of a 'history of Seacroft ' project that I have spent several years researching. Hopefully it will be finished before I am.

Post by **chameleon** » Sat 18 Feb, 2012 11:00 pm

warringtonrhino wrote: Thanks for that; I get frustrated when history books etc describe what a bell pit is and how they were used etc, but forget to mention why they got there. If coal was found by trial and error, are there several failed bell pit attempts? I got into this forum after following a thread on Mathers Leat, it is something I have been investigating for many years, today I went back to Leeds to re-check some levels. The maps ,details and sections are almost complete. It is all part of a 'history of Seacroft ' project that I have spent several years researching. Hopefully it will be finished before I am. There's lots on here about Seacroft, a personal interest too with family origins in the village, can you tell us more in any more detail what you are doing?

warringtonrhino · Post by **warringtonrhino** » Sun 19 Feb, 2012 12:47 pm

I have always been interested in how and why things happen.Often history books tell you what happened but dont explain why, and more important, how. I spent much of my childhood/youth in Seacroft, visiting farms, wheelwrights etc etc, talking to the owners and sketching the buildings. I still have most of the drawings and lots of my notes. Then I went to college, got a job, married and raised a family. I always wanted to do a History of Seacroft from my perspective, ie little text and lots of illustrations and maps (I am dyslectic but can draw). My first map is the first permenant settlement in the area, and the last map will be 2000 when I left Seacroft. There will be a new map every time there was a significant addition (or demolition) in some periods there will be a map every ten year, in some perionds (1950 - 1980) there will be a map for each year. I want it to be accurate and informative, a cross between a history book, an A-Z, an index and a picture book. It will only refer to UK events, or mentions people by name if they significantly affect what happened in Seacroft. I have sample illustrations, maps and details in pdf format if someone can explain how, I will gladly post them.