The wealth generated from this of course......COAL... this specimen from the Brass Thill, Ellington Colliery, from somewhere under Druridge Bay.
The Brass Thill seam was worked right from here through the Tyne area and on to Durham, although the local colliery name for the seam may change.
The offical 'National Coal Board' index letter for this seam is 'K'. Younger seams (higher in the stratigraphic column) have letters closer to the beginning of the alphabet.
This K seam in the Broomhill area frequently splits into two: K
1 and K
2.
K1 at Broomhill was known as the Top or Princess seam, K2 known as the Main seam, or Duke.
The G seam or Yard seam at Ellington Colliery was known as the
Albert seam at Broomhill. This seam splits in two near Hauxley, as G
1 (
Bentnick) and G
2 (
Yard), interestingly both of these outcrop on the foreshore at Bondicarr.
Later working of the G Seam at Ellington was constrained by the ground cover between the mine workings and the sea bed - 60 metres I believe - not much.
The
Hutton or
Plessey Seam 'L' (Lower in the Stratigraphic Column than the Brass Thill) outcrops on Coquet Island, which was rather handy for those over the centuries that chose to live there. Also known as
Bottom seam at The Broomhill Collieries.