Whittle Colliery Mining to resume?

[Coquet]

I too am surprised at the apparent lack of security on the drift mouth. Anyone with any "pit sense" knows that the drift is probably full of black damp by now. Although it is in an isolated location it is not impossible for someone to wander in out of curiosity and find themselves in trouble.
I would have thought the coal authority would have made a job of it and sealed it up completely.

That's what happened at an abandoned drift at Widdrington. An atmospheric 'low pressure' day and loads of CO2 pouring out of the drift into a nearby building. One fatality.