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Old 12-12-2011, 09:54 AM
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Default Togston Colliery Document 1891

picked up this document recently; surrender of the lease of Togston Colliery from Messrs. Morris and Beverage to Mrs Jane Dand and Others.

Multiple signatures of "Dands" most of which are interred in Amble East Cemetery

stone 1 stone 2 stone 3







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Old 12-12-2011, 02:26 PM
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Togston Colliery, 1890s OS map.

"Togston bends" marked in green.


There was a line of shafts at North Togston, E-W. two abandoned at this time; with the exception of the one closest to the road these will now have been open-casted I think. The operational one at North Togston on this map is shown to be for ventilation, although it looks "busy" on the map with sidings and buildings so perhaps a means of access for materials/coal and/or men too.

I assume the Colliery proper is the one closer to Togston Crescent/North Broomhill?



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Old 12-12-2011, 03:35 PM
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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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Old 12-12-2011, 03:39 PM
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Quote:
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

A very dangerous practice!
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Old 12-12-2011, 07:19 PM
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The Togston map with the Hauxley fault added (khaki coloured line) as shown it bifurcates,
connecting just off the map to the east, and is a single plane further to the east and out to sea.
Ellington Colliery passed through this same fault to the east under the sea 20 years ago but the
project to mine the coal to the North was abandoned.

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Old 16-01-2012, 04:12 PM
Alan J. Alan J. is offline
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Default Togston Colliery.

The colliery shown as an air shaft was in fact a seperate entity to the one near the Togston Crescent area. It was a later venture than the first one and was opened at the end of the 1890's. The housing provided for the workforce was those of Acklington and Scott streets in Amble. For some reason it did not last too long but it had, as shown on the map, sidings connecting it to the main line to Amble. When I was a boy, in the 1950's, we went up the railway line on birdnesting expeditions and there were two shafts, just further up from the Hope bridge which crossed the line from Hope House farm to Radcliffe. These were open but surrounded by a brick wall on one about six feet high and a stone wall to the other of about the same height. Being boys we would climb up on the walls and you could see down the shaft, on one there were still the remains of insulators that had held either shaft signals or telephone wires. It was a miracle that no one had any accidents there but I think a sense of self preservation came into it coupled with common sense, not necessarily present today, if there is not a warning sign it must be OK Health and safety would have a field day now !!!
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Old 16-01-2012, 07:36 PM
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Quote:
The colliery shown as an air shaft was in fact a seperate entity to the one near the Togston Crescent area....The housing provided for the workforce was those of Acklington and Scott streets in Amble


That confirms with the development McAndrews refers to in his book as "the recent undertaking"; he refers to the housing at Amble too. Looks like a partial collapse of the shaft sealed the fate of the colliery.


Quote:
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 on 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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Old 27-01-2013, 07:48 PM
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The middle shaft was backfilled and covered with a concrete cap in about 1984/5
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