 |
| Brinsley Headstocks shortly before demolition in 2023 |
Having promised the old headstocks at Brinsley would be "carefully dismantled, salvaging as many original timbers and the ironwork from the structure as possible", I was as shocked as everybody else to discover what Broxtowe Borough Council³ (BBC) actually did. Their contractors set about "carefully" felling the entire structure by chainsaw, chopping it into small chunks and throwing them into an industrial waste skip for "salvaging". Is this the new version of the BBC Repair Shop?!
 |
| Sign at the Lound Hall museum c.1989 |
Were they the "original" Brinsley headstocks?
 |
| Cast iron bracket |
 |
| The headstocks undergoing routine maintenance at Lound Hall c.1985 |
"When the museum closed in 1989, British Coal acceded to a request from Nottinghamshire County Council to reassemble the headstocks at their original location, now landscaped, where they would become the focal point of a park and serve as a reminder of the county’s industrial heritage. By this time much of the original timber was rotten and had to be replaced or conserved. The restored headstocks were reassembled on their original site (more or less) on 30 July 1992 at a cost to British Coal of more than £70,000."
 |
| 3/6/1970 during removal from Brinsley - from Notts Evening Post |
This makes sense from looking at the pictures as the restored headstocks are much shorter. The difference in height was caused by the legs being encased in concrete at the museum and roughly 6 feet was lost when they were taken down⁵. The winding wheels, as you'd expect, are the originals. Another official paper slightly disagrees on dates¹... " Having been restored by British Coal and the NCC., the wooden tandem headgear were re-erected on the site of the colliery in 1991."
 |
| Brinsley pit c.1926 |
 |
| Brinsley Colliery looking south - probably taken shortly before the headstocks were dismantled in the first week of June 1970. The building on the far left contained the winding engine. During the making of the film Sons and Lovers (1959–60) the headstocks were painted a light blue colour to make them stand out. Eastwood church is just visible on the skyline. (Photo: British Geological Survey archives, P711164) |
 |
| Part of the Brinsley Colliery Headgear in a photograph taken c. 1960, NCB/B/17/PH/16/1 |
 |
| Brinsley Colliery headstock, 1966 (credit: George L Roberts) Reproduced with permission from Picture the Past, ref. NTGM007960. |
 |
| Approach to Brinsley Pit, June 1967 (credit: George L Roberts) Reproduced with permission from Picture the Past, ref. NCCC001948. |
 |
| Rural isolation c.late 1960's (by.Glyn Hughes) |
 |
| The reassembled headstocks at Brinsley looking north. The ‘pit‐bank’ described by Lawrence (Odour of Chrysanthemums) can be seen in the background, now covered by woodland (Photo: David Bate, April 2011) |
 |
| An aerial shot from 2020 shows the structure in good condition with the concrete footings visible |
 |
| Recent close up from below. The headstocks have been unpainted for all their time back at Brinsley. Credit Paul Fillingham |
Demolition and cutting up
In February 2023 Broxtowe Borough Council announced that "remedial work" was needed on the headstocks... "The Headstocks have a regular visual inspection from ground level. A recent site visit noted what appeared to be signs of decay in some of the structural beams. As a result a structural engineer specialising in timber was commissioned to undertake a detailed inspection, using a mobile platform to gain close access. The engineer has confirmed decay is present and that some of the timber could fail. As such a temporary fence has been erected around the Headstocks to ensure public safety, should any of the structure come away. In the first instance the engineer will be providing a report and method statement to reduce the loading on the Headstocks - this is likely to involve removing the winding wheels. A further, more detailed report will then be produced to show the extent of works required in the longer term to repair the structure. Further updates will be provided as information becomes available."
 |
| The winding wheels being removed summer 2023 |
In October 2023, an update was issued from the Friends of Brinsley Headstocks group... "Following an engineer’s report on the wooden structure earlier this year, the wheels have been removed as a pre-cautionary safety measure and placed in storage. Broxtowe Borough Council, as site owners, are exploring options for the best way forward as the wooden headstocks are clearly showing signs of their age. In addition investigation of possible sources of funding for remedial works and restoring the structure are under way. No timetable for this phase of the works is yet available." Friends's Chairman Ken Hamilton said that members of the group shared the concerns of residents and visitors about the future of the headstocks. He stressed that apart from the immediate area around the headstocks the rest of the site was ‘open for business’ as usual. In an email to the group the council reported that work on de-constructing the timber frame was timetabled for week commencing Monday 11th December giving officers a better opportunity to examine the condition of the wooden beams. “Every effort will be made to retain salvageable material from the structure,” said a council officer who added that the next steps were being carefully considered but as yet no action plan had been prepared.
In early December 2023 reports started coming in of two large cranes on site and a demolition team using chainsaws. This is the aftermath...
.JPG)
.JPG)
There was a big local outcry. People knew the headstocks had been cordoned off after a recent safety inspection but no one knew the headstocks were to be cut down. BBC East Midlands TV news sent out a team to investigate which was on the local evening news.
 |
| This Sept 2009 picture clearly shows how much wood was replaced when BBC "extensively restored" the headstocks a few weeks previously. Fresh wood can be seen by the top left wheel and walkways and closer inspection shows freshly coloured wood spliced into other areas. |
 |
| Pictures credit - Ian Castledine Facebook Eastwood and Kimberley Bygones group. |
 |
| Close inspection of the timbers shows subtle markings that show their age and point to their use in a working mine and not just a replica. |
 |
| Large mortice and tenon joints |
Notes:
marked Brinsley Colliery at Eastwood (NA XM 75). Given the period, this may have been the
‘Brinsley Gin Pit’ for which the Coal Authority hold an undated plan. Gin pits were mines in which
coal was ‘drawn to the surface by donkeys that plodded wearily in a circle round a gin’ (Lawrence
1970, 7). The Brinsley pit marked by Hutchinson was being worked ‘by Messrs Barber & Walker
Esq’ in 1739. As Barber Walker & Co., this company remained the major coal company operating
at Eastwood until the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947. " The Physical Landscape Legacy Phase 2
2 - Brinsley Colliery history. A Barber and Walker Colliery near Eastwood, Brinsley (1872-1970). Brinsley Colliery was originally 450 feet (137m) deep but by the 1870s the good quality 'top hard' coal had been almost exhausted and a second shaft was sunk in 1872 to a depth of 780 feet (238m). The 'tandem' headstocks, were erected at this time. Each cage was suspended from a steel cable and held six men. The cable passed over the winding wheels to the drum of a steam winding engine. The beams were made of wood. At its peak of production the colliery produced around 500 tons of coal a day and employed 361 men, 282 of whom worked at the coal faces. By 1930 coal reserves had been exhausted but the shafts were kept open until 1970 for access to neighbouring pits. It was here that D H Lawrence's father worked from six in the morning till four in the afternoon he crouched in an 18-inch coal seam.
D. H. Lawrence's father, Arthur, worked at Brinsley Colliery which was expanded in 1855-6 and again in 1872-6. Prior to 1855 Brinsley had been worked on the 'big' butty system, and it was in the same technologically backward state as most other collieries in the Erewash Valley. In 1855 a shaft was sunk to the Deep Soft Seam, and a ventilation furnace built to provide a more reliable flow of air than the natural convection on which reliance had previously been placed. Presumably, cages held steady in the shaft by guide rails were also installed at this time in place of baskets swinging on a loose rope in which coal had previously been wound out of the mine. In 1872, the ventilation furnace was replaced by a fan, a new shaft was sunk alongside the old one and new headgear and winding engine were installed. The colliery was then much as it remained throughout Arthur Lawrence's working life and beyond. This reorganisation was started during the boom of 1871-3 when coal sold at famine prices, but was completed during the slump of 1874-9 so that, despite the considerable capital sums invested in the major work of sinking and re-equipping the mine, some of the relatively minor development work which followed was skimped. Thus, Brinsley in the 1870s still had road-ways which were too low to take ponies, so donkeys had to be used instead; as they had been prior to 1855. Following reorganisation, there was room for about three hundred men and boys at Brinsley Colliery, compared with eighty to a hundred prior to 1855 though the build-up to the higher figure would doubtless have taken a few years to achieve. In 1910 the Barber, Walker collieries in the Eastwood District employed 3123 men and boys as detailed in Table 3. At the same date, collieries owned by other firms were operating in the vicinity of Eastwood (Table 4). Also, some Eastwood miners travelled to collieries at a little distance, e.g. Selston, Alfreton, Cinderhill and Heanor. Men living in houses provided by Barber, Walker (or one of the other firms) had a strong incentive to stay put, however, since leaving the company involved vacating the house. Source: Sagar A DHL Handbook.
 |
| Tables 3 and 4 |
3 - Broxtowe Borough Council (BBC) statement "December 2023. Statement on Brinsley Headstocks - Earlier this year the Brinsley Headstocks were fenced off from the general public after an inspection from a structural engineer highlighted safety concerns regarding the wooden structure. Regular site inspections were undertaken, whilst a number of options for the Headstocks were considered. Signs were erected on the site to inform residents of the situation and the Friends of Brinsley Headstocks were kept informed. At the beginning of September 2023, the metal colliery wheels were removed, in the hope that the timbers from the towers could be salvaged. However, a more recent site inspection highlighted that the wooden structure had further deteriorated and posed a risk to public safety. Given the continued decline, it became obvious that restoration of the structure, as it currently stood was no longer possible. The best course of action from a Health and Safety perspective, was to have the Headstocks carefully dismantled, salvaging as many original timbers and the ironwork from the structure as possible. Options for the Headstocks are now being carefully considered. A decision will be reached in the new year."
The headstocks management plan 2017-22 also mentions previous maintenance... "The headstock was extensively restored in 2009 and grant funding has been secured to apply a preservation treatment in 2013. The Borough Council has limited funds to maintain the structure and its future restoration is dependent on securing further grants for repair and maintenance."
4 - Video made by local mining historian Dr.David Amos about the final descent into the pit in 1970 and their subsequent history... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjFi2DqwK2M&ab_channel=MuBuMiner
and Anthony Burgess's DH Lawrence program which shows the headstock in situ at Lound Hall in 1985 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDmfCxDJiLc&ab_channel=InSearchofAnthonyBurgess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YrBRD1iIqc&t=370s&ab_channel=InSearchofAnthonyBurgess
5 - Captures from the Ron Storer book "Some aspects of Brinsley Colliery and the Lawrence connection". He also tells the story of the headstocks removal to Lound Hall Museum in 1970 and the mishaps along the way..
"SOME INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY DONE AT THE PIT IN 1970
In 1970, at the time of the establishment of the National Mining Museum near Retford, Notts I was approached regarding the possibility of saving the Brinsley pit headstocks from demolition. and it was decided to dismantle and re erect them at the museum. With the limited resources available, this was a major task, worthy of a detailed account at some later date. Two incidents are worthy of mention. At the start of the journey to move this bulky gear twenty six miles across the country the telephone lines were fouled, causing an interruption to the service in the Brinsley area. Following a very slow but uneventful journey to the site, and during the early days of re erection, an 11,000 volt overhead power line was damaged. This was one of the main power supplies to the modem Bevercotes Colliery nearby, and the interruption of power occurred just at the time when the Area Director was showing some overseas visitors the latest techniques of the coal preparation plant. Although this incident was a blessing in disguise, by exposing a major fault on the earth leakage system, I could not help feeling that the 'clumsy black headstocks (as Lawrence described them) were not being removed without a fight.
I did not realise at the time, that in saving this headgear as the first important exhibit at the museum it would become a major attraction to visitors both from this country and overseas Having been involved during the late 1940's and 1950's in the design of a steel headgear underneath an existing wooden one (New Hucknall Colliery, Huthwaite, Notts) and a steel headgear over an existing wooden one (Cotes Park Colliery, Alfreton, Derbys.), my appetite was again whetted by becoming involved with the Brinsley project. But whilst working on this. I ventured to look around the pit, both on the surface and underground, and was amazed to find a rich variety of artefacts still in situ. I am still puzzled, that despite twenty-three years of state ownership, I found what was still an 'antique pit' and in particular, one of the 'Lawrence period.
Reorganisation of coal pits was often necessary, but sometimes merely fashionable in the decade following nationalisation. A large amount of capital was expended, and in my opinion- having worked on a number of these projects sometimes unnecessarily. Probably the earlier and later mergers with Underwood (Selston) and the larger Moorgreen unit, and the change of use of the shafts for direction of flow of ventilation, pumping, and for man-riding uses, allowed the ten items which I highlight below to remain undisturbed. I spent much time down the pit during evenings, Saturday mornings, and an occasional Sunday, usually accompanied by Harold Wyld, a workman shortly to retire. As he put it, "This is the most exciting time of my mining experience." To Harold, and Bill Charlesworth, who was the deputy of the mine, I now accord my grateful thanks for their patient help and interest."
 |
| From the 1920's |
 |
| From 1913 |
.jpg) |
| From 1966 |
 |
| High Park Colliery in the corn fields |
8 - Trigger's broom is a reference to the BBC TV program Only Fools and Horses where one of the characters, Trigger, says how proud he is of his old and trusty Council road sweeping brush/broom... "I've had the same broom for 20 years". Then he mentions how many times the handle and the broom head have been replaced over the years... "This old broom has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles in its time" !!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56yN2zHtofM&ab_channel=BritBox
9 - Newspaper cuttings from Eastwood Library archives courtesy of Cheryl Henshaw and team.
This article is from the Nottingham Evening Post and is dated 03/06/1970.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVtPAVtucjY&ab_channel=DKClassics.
Read more about it here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sons_and_Lovers_(film)
Regardless of if they are "the original ones" or if they are "a replica" it is sacrilege that they have been taken down in such an ugly way, surely the wood that made up the structure could have gone to local artists/crafts people to make something out of the wood that reflects the local history. Either way it is a sad state of affairs.
ReplyDelete