In his Amble book McAndrews, a miner himself, refers to the mining efforts at Togston:
"From very early in the last century, mining operations have been carried on in this township of Togston, and coals carted from Togston were shipped at Amble in 1826, ten years before the Warkworth Harbour Act was obtained. The colliery from which this coal was obtained was known as South Togston, situated close by the Amble Branch Railway, and is now part of Broomhill Colliery. Another shaft was near the cottages at the turn of the road to Amble. There are quite a number of old shafts scattered over other parts of the township, principally on the Dand estate.
Amongst the many ventures is what is known as " Gibbon's Seam," worked on either side of the highway near the Togston Hollow. This is the same seam that was worked so extensively round Amble, on the north of the great upcast fault.
Another mining venture is the one known as Mole's Pit, in the green field near the top of the bank on the Amble road, and a pool of water still marks the spot. The shaft of this pit was sunk on the side of the Hauxley Fault, to what is known as the " Princess Seam " and a rather peculiar history hangs round the old shaft. The story goes that when Mr Dand purchased the Togston estate, he did not acquire the mineral rights. He afterwards found that the seam was being worked dangerously near his residence, and he acquired the Royalty and gave notice to cease mining operations. To this the mine-owner refused to consent, and a battle of cross-purposes commenced. In the first place Mr Dand had the machinery dismantled, but the intrepid miner was not to be outdone and he descended the shaft under cover of darkness, drew out the timber supports round the shaft bottom, and closed the entrance to the workings. When the miners arrived next morning they found the machinery dismantled and the mine closed.
Sixty years later the writer holed into these workings and after the water and carbonic acid gas were cleared the working places were found with the miners' tools, etc., just as they had left them, with the exception that the iron was very much oxidised. The system of mining was to remove two feet of under clay and " nick " both sides of a place nine feet wide, leaving two yards of solid coal between the places for support.
Several years later Cowan's commenced the Plantation Pit, about a hundred yards west, but stopped midway in an attempt to win the main seam. He then made another venture a little further west and struck the main seam at ten fathoms. This turned out a good speculation, and for many years did an exceptionally large landsale trade. Stories are told of carts from long distances
having to wait here days together to get a load of coal. The coal was of an exceptionally good quality ; a thick seam situated between a risefault on either side, with the outcrop to the west, which rather limited the coal-producing area.
Messrs Pyman, Bell & Co. succeeded Cowan's and continued sinking the Plantation Pit down to the main seam. This, however, turned out a failure after a large sum of money had been spent on the venture.
The next attempt was the Gin Pit in the westfield, a little south of Cowan's pit, but a rise trouble considerably changed the quality and thickness of the seam. Another pit was sunk near the footpath to Amble, but was much affected with " troubles" and old workings, and had only a short existence as a colliery.
The recent undertaking, the pit near the railway and at the boundary of the Royalty, was the most extensive of all—sunk to the Radcliffe bed, with all the seams in good condition. A siding was connected with the railway, and housing accommodation for a large number of workmen was provided at Amble, together with all the requirements of an up-to-date colliery. But the same dogged ill-luck which characterised all previous Togston mining enterprises ended in this case with a partial collapse of the shaft, and Togston has, in all probability, seen the last of many unsuccessful mining ventures."
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