This colliery was well known for its Arley Slack industrial fuel. Notorious would be a better term as it was of appalling quality. Some improvement was made when a washer was erected in the 1920s. The screening plant at New Lester was driven by two inverted vertical single cylinder engines which remained in situ amongst the ruins for some years after the colliery closed. In 1939 New Lester was employing 273 workers on the coalface with 164 others underground and 155 on the surface. By 1942 the workforce had dwindled to eight faceworkers, seven others underground and 13 on the surface. In 1943 the figures were seven, six and 11 respectively and the colliery just seemed to fade away.
There were two shafts at New Lester and the winding engines are believed to have been by Wood & Gee of Wigan. Steam was supplied by a range of Lancashire boilers some of which were by Galloway with patent furnace tubes. Maintenance in later years appeared to have been minimal as examination of the main flue when laid open by demolition revealed it to be about 75% full of flue dust. One could only wonder how the boilers provided sufficient steam with so strangulated a draught.
A new limited liability company, Peel Collieries Limited was formed in 1938 to take over the colliery business. This had no effect on the life of the collieries and all was closed down before Nationalisation of the coal industry.
Return to previous page