Stobswood Colliery & Burn Brickworks Today
 

Some photos of the site today for the record.

http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...ilway-line.jpg


Above: Grangewood Terrace Stobswood and the east coast main line.

Below: 1954 map


http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...y-map-1954.jpg


Below: 1896 map

http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...y-map-1896.jpg


Below: 1866 map

http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...y-map-1866.jpg

Brickworks

http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...ickworks-1.jpg

Burn Brick


http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...-stobswood.jpg

Brickworks


http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...ickworks-3.jpg

Brickworks

http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...ickworks-4.jpg

Brickworks. Long deceased hydraulic hose.

http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...ickworks-5.jpg

Brickworks

http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...ickworks-6.jpg

Brickworks. Rail tracks


http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...ickworks-7.jpg

More bricks: Just a few of this type about "Burn-Axe". I assume early production???



http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...-stobswood.jpg

Old faithful 'Radcliffe' brick on the Colliery site. Highly likely to predate the establishment of the Stobswood Brickworks.



http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...iffe-brick.jpg

Stobswood Colliery site.

http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...liery-site.jpg

Stobswood Colliery

http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...ery-site-2.jpg

Stobswood colliery. Large circular concrete disk. No evidence of anything ever being fixed to it. Shaft capping??


http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...-shaft-cap.jpg


visible on google earth:

http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...ogle-earth.jpg

Stobswood Colliery coal (99% likely) :):):)
last mined in 1965


http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...liery-coal.jpg

I've googled about and checked the online newspaper archives for some information on the name 'Burn-Axe' in relation to the brick works. I've not found anything, although some websites have pictures of 'Burn-Axe' bricks that have been found in various localities.

I typed it in all as one word and came up with this:

http://www.scottishbrickhistory.co.uk/burnaxe/

There is a load of other information and images about them too if you just google Burnaxe

Wonderful. So Axe was a brand or type name for their refractory bricks. Simples.

Some underground footage of Stobswood Colliery in 1947:

Film 1


There's a nice panning view of the Terrace at the other side of the railway line then sweeping over to the colliery, in the distance the heap and the aerial ropeway. (above film I think)

Bit of a change of environment there for Joe the 'winda-cleaner' I think. :)

Film 2

Film 3

This grave is in Amble West Cemetery:
In loving memory of my dear husband Thomas Young, who was accidentally killed at Stobswood Colliery Sep. 4. 1946

http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...ept-4-1946.jpg

Not sure if we've got Thomas Young recorded somewhere? Janwhin's mining records?

Anyway; Morpeth Herald 6th Sept. 1946 -

KILLED BY FALL OF STONE
Thomas Young (54), of Front Row, Gate, Radcliffe, employed by the Stobswood Coal Company, was trapped by a fall of stone on Wednesday night and was dead when he reached the R.V.I.
.

I've managed to find 4 deaths for Stobswood but Mr Young isn't one of them :(

Jan, Thomas is on the Durham Mining Museum site, fatalities list for Stobswood, with an approx. date of 1945.

Thanks Alan, spotted that yesterday. Not really any info about him though, unlike some of the other entries. There must be a gap in the online newspapers.
The ones I've got for Stobswood all lived local to the pit, this Thomas is a bit unusual, living at Radcliffe. I wonder if many Radcliffe lads travelled there?

It does make you wonder why he was at Stobswood. The army was still demobilising in 1946. I can imagine things would not be normal at that time.

Yes, my dad didn't get demobbed until 1946 so someone had to do his job at Broomhill?

Hi chaps ,haven't been on the forum for quite a while and just noticed this post regarding The Burn Fireclay Co Ltd. I worked there nearly 40 years ago , infact I worked there twice ,having left in 78 and returned a year or two later and have lots of info on the company .
The company started in 1923 and closed in 2000. I was lucky enough to sneak into the ransacked office at the time and save some information . A few days later all the contents of the office was burned . The closed site lay dorment for a while before they decided to demolish it . I think Thomsons was the company who dismantled the site ,sadly there was a death . A employee I believe a bulldozer driver was ran over by the same machine .
The bricks you mentioned coquet was indeed a type manufactured there .Amongst the many others there was :Hyalaxe ,Burnaxe ,Superaxe, Hardaxe, Sinteraxe all with different quantity's of ingredients such as : Silica, Titania, Aluminia, Ferric Oxide , Lime , Magnesia , Potash, Soda etc .
I've done quite a bit of videoing of the area using my quadcopters .....here's a still shot from one of the videos.

....All my Photobucket links are now dead ,as the free service is no longer available.They are now charging $399 per year for photo hosting .Have deleted 152 photos from my Photobucket account . So, the photos I had linked have gone . I am now looking for a new photo hosting service ....another free one ....

Welcome back Rick. Are your videos on line anywhere?

Some of those bricks I bet must have been specialist refractory bricks. Probably quite rare to find one in the wild now.

I missed this on my visit to Stobswood. I can be forgiven as you were supposed to not notice it. :D


http://www.coleshillhouse.com/stobsw...ional-base.php

Interesting link ,coquet . I wonder where that OB is.

Yes , I have a few videos on youtube ,heres alink to one of them
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M43uPARvcMg

Great footage, no stone dust though! When was stone dust first used, any ideas? (For non miners - stone dust was used to cover coal dust underground to prevent the coal dust igniting following an explosion. It was white and improved visibility from reflected light no end!)

Good question.

What gets me in those films is the carbide cap lamps. There's a guy on the face filling coal with a one inch flame sticking out of the front of his lamp. :eek:

A problem with those lamps was that whenever a shot was fired the draught blew the light out and it had to be lit again, also a supply of clean water was needed for topping up during the shift.

Here's the lamp being used in not-so-ideal conditions? :)
Not Stobswood, probably a Scottish Colliery.