Mains Colliery

Shafts
Two shafts initially sunk to the Ince Four Feet Mine.
No.1 Pit later sunk to the Wigan Four Feet and Cannel Mine, 373 yard.
No.1 Pit, downcast, 14 feet diameter.
No.2 Pit sunk to Wigan Five Feet at 340 yards.
No.2 Pit, upcast, 16 feet diameter.

Winding
No.1 Pit, twin cylinder horizontal engine 25in.x 48in., slide valves, parallel drum in 3 sections, 8 arms per section, 12ft. dia. Winding two tubs in single deck cages, winding ropes 11/8 inch diameter, fitted with Ormerod detaching hooks. Four wire rope conductors for each cage. Steam pressure 50psi. Winding from Bickershaw Seven Feet Mine.
No.2 Pit, twin cylinder horizontal engine, built at Worsley Mesnes Ironworks, 36 inches x 72 inches, slide valves with relieving pistons, parallel drum 20 feet x 8 feet wide, three sets of 8 arms, brake path on each side. Reversing engine fitted. Four tubs wound on two decks in each cage, 8¾ cwt capacity tubs, winding ropes 1¼ inch diameter with Ormerod detaching hooks. Timber headgear 60 feet on brick foundations 12 feet high. Headgear pulleys 19 feet diameter. Steam pressure 100psi.

Underground Haulage
Wigan Four Feet main haulage engine located at the surface. Twin cylinder horizontal engine 21 inches x 48 inches, geared 1 to 9. Clifton pulley 7 feet diameter, on third motion shaft, endless power rope down shaft to vertical shaft near pit bottom, vertical shaft operating endless rope haulage in main brow (960 yards at 1 in 7). Branch haulage operated by an 8 inches twin cylinder compressed air engine and endless rope.
Bickershaw Seven Feet haulage, two steam engines placed underground with steam from surface boilers. One engine a 6 inches single powering an endless rope and the other a twin cylinder 12 inches x 24 inches operating a direct rope haulage. Three underground compressed air engines, two twin cylinder 12 inches x 24 inches engines operating single direct rope haulages and one single cylinder 16 inches x 30 inches driving an endless rope haulage.

Compressed Air
Horizontal single cylinder engine, 38 inches (steam), 34 inches (air), by 48 inches stroke. Steam at 100psi., air 70psi., 45rpm.
Horizontal single engine 22in.(steam), 23in.(air),x 24in. stroke.

Electric Light
Crompton DC generator, 1000rpm., 164 amps., 110 volts for pit bank and pit bottom lighting. Single cylinder horizontal engine, 10 inches x 20 inches, by Wood & Gee. Engineers Shop – Single cylinder 6 inches x 9 inches engine.

Ventilation
Walker “Indestructible” fan (Works No.6463, 22-2-1894), 26 feet x 9 feet, 9 feet diameter rope pulley, 14 – 1¾ inch cotton ropes. Cross-compound engine 23 inches + 42 inches x 60 inches, 20 feet diameter, flywheel, expansion slide valves, vertical air pump operated from drag-crank.

Boilers
Five Lancashire (steel), 7 feet 6 inches x 30 feet, 100psi.
Three Lancashire 7 feet x 30 feet, 50psi.
One Cornish 5 feet 6 inches x 30 feet. (workshop engine)
Chimney 150 feet high.

Boiler feed pump horizontal, 10 inches cylinder, cold water pump (to heater) at one end, hot water pump (heater to boilers) at opposite end.

Standby pumps two twin cylinder Cameron pumps, with 4 inches single acting rams.

Seams Worked (General dip of seams 1 in 3)
1896 – Bickershaw Seven Feet (the Pemberton Two Feet and Four Feet seams ran together at this colliery). Wigan Four Feet with top Cannel band.
1920s – Ince Four Feet, Ince Seven Feet, Ince Furnace(poor) , Pemberton Five Feet (washed out), Wigan Five Feet, Wigan Four Feet, Wigan Six Feet (accessed through a tunnel).
1931 – (Bamfurlong + Mains) – Wigan Nine Feet, Wigan Four Feet, Wigan Five Feet, King, Ravine, Arley, Bickershaw Seven Feet, Pemberton Five Feet, Ince Furnace, Ince Seven Feet, Ince Four Feet.
Total combined output 500,000 tons.

1930s – (Wigan Coal Corporation) – Ince Four Feet, Ince Six Feet, Ince Seven Feet, Wigan Four Feet, Wigan Six Feet.
1950s – Drifts put down to work Ince Mines and the King Mine (the last accessed by tunnelling through a fault).
1954 – Ince Four Feet, Ince Six Feet, King.

Workforce (1954) – U/G 394, S/F 115.

CLOSURE – 9 September 1960.

Copyright © NMRS Records: G. Hayes Collection