Regarding a date for the Undersea paper: he refers to the Whittle Shilbottle Complex - so I assume this means they are connected at this time - As a vagrant apprentice electrician I was in and out of the roadway drivage to connect the collieries - but when was that? 1980/81 I'm guessing. Now on the plan attached to the paper Ashington is still open which closed in 1988. So we should have a date within 1980-1988.
You can ignore Lynemouth on that plan - it's show as open because the shafts were open right up until the closure of Ellington. I stood at the bottom of Lynemouth shaft 2002, it was 'meshed off' out of bounds - but still had to squeeze in to have a look at an empty mine shaft from the bottom - most impressive looking up. [I should add it was open as an intake (fresh) air source for Ellington]
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