Contributor Leaderboard

Wishing everyone a very happy thanksgiving. W

Bates Colliery was completely reorganised after nationalisation in 1947. This is described in the following link: http://www.dmm.org.uk/colleng/5910-01.htm The massive reorganisation was carried out without any loss in production and this required temporary coal handling arrangements and one of these was to have, for a short time an underground tippler. The following paragraph is taken directly from the article in the link. “No. 3 shaft pit-bottom has been completed, but until a new heapstead is built it will not be suitable for coal winding, consequently the 3½-ton minecars are tipped in the pit-bottom and the coal is reloaded by conveyor into tubs for winding up Bates shaft.” p.s. There is also a "creeeper" in the photo - it is at the end of the rails at the right of the photo.

Alan,me last comment was short a bit,a had meant ti say this creeper pulled tubs and trams of materials and timber pit props and planks etc,up to the Heapstead,to go down the pit. Aam studying this Tippler at thi pit bottom pic,and aam puzzled as hell!! Why wud ye want ti tip mine cars oot underground?..they were just filled an hour before reaching the shaft bottom!..even if there was a drift conveyor to the surface like Lynemouth...why would they use mine cars being filled and tipped? beats me! A wasn't at the pit in them days,so a canna fathom it oot..and if they used Skip Winding,the conveyor belts would run straight to the cages/Skips...and a canna mind Bates ever having a skip winder! Bill Riley,where are ye?!!...please explain![unless they were tippling into a staple shaft..like they had at Bedlington Aad pit,in the High Main seam..the coal came ootbye on the conveyor belt and went doon a chute into a Staple shaft aboot 60 feet doon,ti the Loader end,which was at a lower level. The Staple was filled like a reservoir,if there was a stoppage at the Shaft bottom area,for any reason,tubs off the way or owt like that. It meant that coalwork could still proceed until the Staple was full. Ashington pit had a Staple shaft as weel..that's the only thing a can think of as ti why a tippler wud be at the shaft bottom..ti draw aal the coal from different seams in one place..noo that meks sense!!

@HIGH PIT WILMA & @James Bates - 'Pit Bottom Tippler' photo - posted on the Blyth Remembered & Memories Facebook in 2015 by Bill Riley. Unfortunately Bill Riley is no longer a member of the Blyth Remembered Facebook group so I can't ask him if it was he that took the photo but he did comment that it was from his collection of photos.

Ye can see the edge of the next tippler at the reet side of the pic,the youngun wud hae ti stand in that wee triangle of space atween the two sets of way.[rails]Dangerous or wat?!

CL,see the handle next ti thi tippler?..whey ye had ti pull that handle back towards ye ti tip the tub ,by setting the rotating tippler in motion. Noo,ye see where the youngin wud hae ti stand?..next ti the rails what set the next tub ti thi tippler behind ti youngin stannin theor!![cos tha wud be three or four tipplers aal gaaning at thi syem time at a big pit..Choppington High Pit ownly had one tippler cos we had single decker cages wat ownly tuk two tubs at a time..as opposed ti big pits wat had double,triple or even quadruple decks..thus winding more tubs aal at once.] If Health and Safety had been aroond in the aad days ..aal thi pits wudda been shut doon as soon as the Inspectors went through the Heapstead doors!!...that reet James?! At thi High Pit,that Handle was across at the other side of the rolleyway,[thi rails],and it had a 6" square plate welded onti it,and wat ye did was even mair scary..ti the uninitiated! After ye pushed thi full'n inti the tippler,ye had ti larn thi knack of actually KICKING.. the plate on the handle ti set thi tippler away..![why thi hell thi handle was across thi otha side of the way beats me!] Many a time us young kids from scyuul wud literally loss wa balance and faal backwards wi the reverse thrust of not being strong enough,or heavy enough,ti set thi tippler away..[mind it didn't tek lang ti larn thi knack!!] It was certainly an aad Tetty pit!..the coal washer was ancient..and primitive,but it worked!.it was a 40-ish feet lang heavy,a mean massive..Shaker..which had water sprays overhead washing the coal,and was driven by a wheel and belt system,with a massive crankshaft and conrod..which pushed and pulled this lang heavy shaker. The coal was graded into different sized pieces after falling through varying sized mats of holes on the shaker,and aal the stones fell owa the front end onti steel flat sheets. They had a bloke ["light wark"!!!]...wheeling the stones away ,in a wheelbarrow,and tipping them doon a chute and into waiting coal trucks below the screens. It was like that in 1929,when me Faatha started there as a 14 yrs aad laddie,and it was STILL like that when aa started in 1959.!! A wasn't there five minutes,when a asked the aad timers why it was like that..a bit hillbilly-like!! They said ,whey Son,it's aalwis been like that..! Me Faatha telt me the same ,when a telt him..[He was now working at Linton Pit..] So one day,a said ti the Engineer,"Why dinna yi burn a hole through the steel flatsheets,rig up a chute,and feed the styens stryght inti thi trucks doon under thi screens..tha theor ti start wi..meks sense ti me!!! A day or two later,they were up wi the burning gear,and did wat a suggested..and the stones went inti the trucks directly till thi pit closed!![a was a fifteen year aad kid!!]

Heh heh!CL,ye would hae ti hae a canny gob ti swalley one of these!! James,a hate ti soond like a nitpicker,but ivrybody on here knaas aam a stickler for correctness,where humanly possible!,[like...aa nivvor mek a mistake ...like!!!hmmm...!],but ye contradicted ya description,even though ye described the process better than aa cud o dun! The FULL'NS are pushed oot the cage by Chummins gaan in,wi the help of the Banksman/Men. They run stryght ti the tipplers,ti be tipped doon onti the Shakers,[Grids with several different sized sets of holes,which separate out the different sized pieces of coal and "shake" them onto different conveyor belts..called Screening belts..or "The Screens"],then the empty tubs..["Chummins"..or ."Chumtubs"],are pulled back up to the cage level by the Creepers.The difference in levels has to be like that or the tubs would have to be pushed aroond the whole circuit by hand!![caaled "The Heapstead Circuit"]. So the circuit is...Oot thi cage...run gently doon a slight gradient ti the tipplers..tipped...doon a slight gradient,after being pushed oot thi tippler by anither full'n...doon ti the creepers...up the creeper ..slight gradient and run aroond a curve and doon ti the cage..and away back doon the pit ti be filled at the Loader End..and start the circuit again. ...And aam gett'n aad a think...James...is it J.H. or aam a mixed up wi K.J...?..[BOTH aad Friends enywheh!!] Hope ye dinna mind me interfering James!! Cheers! Bill.[Great pics by thi way!..brings back memories of being a 15 yrs aad laddie stryght from me school desk..and daeing monotous,soul-destroying jobs like this..and tekking Jockey's oot on the kip aal day at the shaft bottom area..!afore gettin onto thi Fyess!!]