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 Colliery Lines
Contributors:  © Reproduction prohibited / Luke Senior / Jonathan Armitage / Philip Myers / Ben Wildey / WetdogFBK
                        John Gorthorpe / Richard Johnson / John Barraclough / Paul Needham / Andrew Gallon / David Webdale

Barnsley Coal Railway


WetdogFBK
Tracing the remains of the GCR line which ran from Stairfoot to Nostell. https://youtu.be/mpbopHwBW80  : WetdogFBK.

British Oak Colliery, Calder Grove


Railway Ramblers gazetteer
See also the Railway Ramblers gazetteer - Wakefield - Flockton sidings, Caphouse colliery, Horbury cut slaithes, British Oak
Horbury West Curve (29-11-12) : John Gorthorpe
I remember the line working from Bullcliffe Wood in the eighties. This photo shows the line passing under the Horbury West Curve on Blacker Lane, the rails are still under the tarmac! From here it went alongside the A636 Denby Dale Road passing under the Crigglestone Viaduct Thornhill Line. See next photo.
Crigglestone viaduct (29-11-12) : John Gorthorpe
Alongside the A636 Denby Dale Road passing under the Crigglestone Viaduct Thornhill Line.
Barnsley to Wakefield line junction (29-11-12) : John Gorthorpe
After passing the cricket ground it turned and went up a slight incline to join the Barnsley/Wakefield line, these lines are still in place.
 
Sign (29-11-12) : John Gorthorpe
Much evidence is still in place such as sleepers and the odd sign.
 
Calder & Hebble junction (29-11-12) : John Gorthorpe
This photo shows the junction where the line diverged to the loading staithe on the Calder + Hebble Navigation, again there is much evidence still left here.
Calder & Hebble junction (02-12-12) : John Gorthorpe
The lines and sleepers have been lifted and all vegetation cleared for whatever reason. This must have been a great expense but why,
a cycleway or re-instatement of the line perhaps?  It seems this area may soon become overgrown or redeveloped.

British Oak Colliery (20-12-12) : Richard Johnson
I have some additional information on the excellent photographs of the remains of British Oak. Some of this information was gleaned from reading an unpublished history of the line which was in the Wakefield Library local history section.

The branch into British Oak left the Wakefield - Barnsley line just after crossing the Calder & Hebble Canal and was controlled by a signal box known as Flockton Sidings. This may have been a reference to the Flockton Coal Company or the fact that the end of the line was Cap House Colliery (The National Mining Museum), near Flockton. My Grandfather used to refer to it as the 'John Kaye Line', John Kaye being the colliery owner. There were exchange sidings between here which continued under the Midland Railway viaduct. Immediately before the level crossing under the railway bridge on the Crigglestone - Netherton road was a junction leading to the coal staithes on the Calder & Hebble Canal.
Once over the road, there were coal screens, loading docks and a locomotive shed, steam being used until the 1970's, including an ex-LMS 'Jinty' in the Orange Livery of the operators, Hargreaves.
This was the limit of the railway in post WWII times, but before this it continued up the valley to Denby Grange colliery (rope worked) via a tunnel under the Horbury Bridge - Midgely road. From Denby Grange, the line continued to Cap House Colliery via another rope-worked incline, the chimney of which remains near one of the entrances to New Hall Prison. The line was closed in WWII on completion of an alternative haul road. Coal was sent from British Oak until at least the late 1980's (possibly later) in 16 tonne mineral wagons and also HAA merry go round hoppers. A propelling movement was often used to access the sidings and also when the departing train reached Horbury Junction, it would then propel all the way back to Healey Mills, with the guard usually stood on his veranda waving on the driver with a rolled up newspaper. Towards the latter end, I think there were periods of closure followed by re-openings to serve opencasting in the area. Others may be able to confirm this.

The coal staithes on the canal also continued in use until the mid 1980's. The reason it continued for so long was that Thornhill Power Station sidings were on the Leeds line at Ravensthorpe. This was fine whilst the power station was served by the colliery at Hanging Heaton on the branch from Batley. However, once this closed, to serve from the east would require a couple of reversals on a very busy main line. Road access was not good either, so the canal prevailed. The method of operation was as follows.
The empty barges would arrive, turn around in the winding hole between the staithes and the railway bridge on the Horbury Curve. The train would be loaded at British Oak (about 5 or so wagons maximum, ex-BR 21 tonne hoppers) and propelled to the staithe where there was a loop and a sharp incline up to the end. The loaded wagon would be pushed up to the staithe which only accommodated one wagon at a time. This would be emptied into the barge, often with the help of a few clouts from stout wooden poles. The wagon was uncoupled and the train would set back smartly, the points would be thrown and the empty wagon ran under gravity into the loop, which was a little lower than the other track. This was repeated until the barge was full. If it filled up before the train was empty, the full wagon would be left behind at the staithe whilst the empties went back to British Oak. For a while, the motive power was an ex-BR Class 03 still in blue livery. The barge would then depart to Thornhill, a short journey but still requiring passage through the locks near Healey Mills. The barges were also in Hargreaves colours and were referred to as 'West Country' barges, but only because they were from the 'Western' part of Yorkshire. The barges were unloaded at Thornhill and there is a photograph on the Ravensthorpe Branch page which shows this.

Corrections to / confirmation of the above dates are welcome, as time blurs the memory, but I have ridden both the train and the barges and can confirm it beats any theme park I've been to!

Calder & Hebble coal staithe (01-13) : John Barraclough
After reading Richard Johnson's lovely piece on the British Oak colliery system back in January, I had a wander down to the canal and shot the attached image of what remains of the coal staithe he refers to, also showing the wagon incline.
More importantly, I got talking to a local gentleman (you can just see him in the photo walking towards me on the towpath) who, it turned out, had been an engine driver based at Healey Mills and Royston, regularly working coal trains. He confirmed that, in the sixties at least, coal was in fact taken by rail down the Calder Valley to Ravensthorpe. They would work to Mirfield and either reverse or propel the train from there to the power station. It was possibly the later closure of the Leeds New Line that increased traffic and speeds on the section and made it unsafe to continue in the same way.
The same guy also told me that he'd worked an odd royal train on to the Horbury curve near to British Oak, where it was parked overnight for HRH to get a good night's rest. Apparently security was very stringent, but hardly apparent - as he found out when he tried to return to the loco having forgotten his paperwork!
Calder & Hebble coal loading staithe (nd) : John Gorthorpe
Coal loading staithe scanned from photos taken on 110 film many moons ago.

Glasshoughton Colliery
Glasshoughton Colliery (03-10-85) : © Andrew Gallon
Glasshoughton Colliery, south of Castleford, on October 3rd 1985.
56 014 heads Bowers Row Opencast-Ferrybridge Power Station laden MGR coal hoppers.
All this has vanished beneath the Junction 32 Yorkshire Outlet.

Combe Colliery

Calder & Hebble crossing (10-08-08) : Luke Senior
A short mineral line ran from the Calder Valley Main line to Combe Colliery. This photo as it passes over the Calder & Hebble Navigation.
Midland Railway crossing (10-08-08) : Luke Senior
This second photo as it is passed over by the MR line to Dewsbury. With such a steep incline, was this rope worked?

Hartley bank colliery
(26-08-08) Jonathan Armitage
These photo's are from a couple of places on the former line from Horbury and ossett to Hartley bank colliery.
Hartley bank river bridge: this is the span over the river calder at Addingford, Horbury. Now boarded over for pedestrians,
this is where the pit train used to pass over, a now removed footpath was on the side of the bridge.
Canal bridge: This is where the railway passed over the calder and hebble navigation

Lofthouse north junction to Stourton via Robin Hood & Rothwell
Built by the East and West Yorkshire Union Railway   See E&WYUR page

Sharlston Colliery
Sharleston Colliery (c1980) : C/O Michael Kaye with permission from Paul Corrie    see also Wakefield to Goole
Class 56 at Sharleston Colliery.

Waterhaigh pit
Waterhaigh pit (20-02-14) : Paul Needham
The entrance to the waterhaigh pit on fleet lane Woodlesford, closed in the 70s I think. 4 shafts which I happened to be around to see filled in, they were tipping rubble in from trucks reversed up to the shafts!, bit nerve wracking to watch, these are now under the football and sports pitches.
Waterhaigh pit (20-02-14) : Paul Needham
The rails left on Eshald lane for the access from the pit site over the road, into the brickworks behind the camera, both of these places are covered very comprehensively on the woodlesford station .co.uk site although the rails were there when I was young the line they connected with was covered in pit spoil to about 6 foot so it was very hard to figure out where anything went.

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