Yew Tree Colliery (1835-1910)

Lying to the east of the Atherton and the Astley & Tyldesley collieries was a very intensively worked area of the coalfield. There were three companies operating in what was a tightly packed area, the principal company being the Tyldesley Coal Company. This was the only company to survive until Nationalisation. The other companies in this small area were W. Ramsden & Sons whose pits were known collectively as the Shakerley collieries, and Jas. Roscoe & Sons. The Shakerley collieries were purchased when practically worked out by Manchester Collieries Ltd in 1935 and had closed by 1938. Roscoe’s finished in 1943 although the last three years of working had been on a very small scale.

The original entrepreneurs of the Tyldesley Coal Company were George and William Green who leased coal under what was then Yew Tree Farm. Sinking may possibly have begun as early as 1835 and it is said that the first coal was raised in 1845. Even then, full scale production does not seem to have commenced until about 1850. The Greens must have been of a persevering nature. Whatever the difficulties encountered their determination paid off and the colliery was successful. They were joined around 1860 by John Holland, a railway construction contractor. A limited liability company, the Tyldesley Coal Company Limited, was formed in 1870 and remained in existence until 31 December 1946.

Other collieries followed the sinking of the Yew Tree shafts – Combermere, Cleworth Hall and Peelwood. Combermere was not very successful, opening around 1867 and closing for coal production in 1893. Adjacent to Combermere Colliery, a brickworks was established and for this reason much of the surface works remained until the 1950s. Cleworth Hall Colliery commenced operations in the early 1870s and remained in production until 1963. Peelwood Colliery operated from 1883 until 1928, being formally abandoned on 4 January 1929. Another and rather obscure colliery was the Shakerley Colliery. This appears to have been a single shaft to the north-west of Yew Tree, and was sunk to the Rams or Six Feet Mine at 300 feet from the surface. The Crumbouke Mine was intersected at 102 feet. The colliery was short lived, its working life being from about 1869 to 1886.

Yew Tree Colliery comprised two shafts, of which the south (No.1) shaft was the downcast. The upcast shaft (No.2) lay 54 yards to the north. Initially the colliery appears to have been sunk to win the Six Feet (Rams) Mine, which was reached at 600 feet from the surface. By the mid-1890s, the shafts had been deepened to reach the Seven Feet (Black & White) Mine, No.1 shaft being 927 feet deep. The deepening of the shafts was carried out over the period 1890 to 1893. No.1, downcast shaft was 13 feet diameter and was the coal winding and pumping shaft. Water was raised in a single lift from the Six Feet Mine by a 12 inch ram pump operated by a 40in by 7ft stroke Bull type engine. Normal operation was for 12 hours per day running at 4.5 strokes per minute which raised 154 gallons per minute.

Coal winding was performed by a twin cylinder horizontal engine, 20in x 42in, fitted with slide valves. A cylindrical winding drum, 12 feet diameter was mounted on the crankshaft. On one side of the drum a single deck cage carrying two tubs was wound. On the other side was a 440 gallon tank which filled and discharged automatically at each wind, raising water from the Seven Feet Mine. The headgear at this shaft was of iron lattice girder construction.

The upcast (No.2) shaft was 10 feet diameter to 327 feet from the surface, then 13 feet diameter down to the Seven Feet Mine. Ventilation was provided by a Gunther fan, six feet diameter, running at 225rpm and circulating approximately 80,000 cubic feet of air per minute. The fan was belt driven from a 14 inch single cylinder engine with a 15 feet diameter flywheel running at 45rpm, the fan shaft pulley being three feet diameter. A winding engine was also provided at this shaft.

Compressed air for underground power was supplied at 50psi from a compressor with a single steam cylinder 25in by 54in and a single air cylinder of the same dimensions arranged in tandem. Compressed air was taken down the pit in a six inch diameter pipe range to supply two twin cylinder horizontal engines in the Seven Feet Mine. One engine having eight inch cylinders operated a 1 in 4.5 downbrow haulage, 400 yards long and the second engine, a six inch, working a 300 yards downbrow haulage.

Steam for the entire plant was provided by two 80psi Lancashire boilers, 8ft diameter by 30ft long, of steel construction, made by Messrs. Daniel damson of Dukinfield in 1892.

Coal preparation for sale was quite rudimentary, consisting of a single rocking bar screen.

Exploitation of the coal seams lying below the Seven Feet Mine was carried out from Cleworth Hall Colliery, and Yew Tree ceased production in 1910.