Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette – Friday 21 October 1949

Vast Yorkshire Pit Plan Ready

A £4,000,000 scheme designed to increase coal output by nearly 1,000,000 tons a year by concentrating tour pits in the Mexborough area is announced by the North-Eastern Divisional Coal Board.

The four collieries are Manvers Main, Wath Main, Kilnhurst and Barnburgh Main.

This programme for the centralized working of coal reserves totalling 234,500,000 tons can be completed its main details by 1963, but the plans envisage developments during the next 5 years.

Manvers Main will wind Its own coal and that from Wath and Kilnhurst at a rate of 8,400 tons a day, and Barnburgh will raise 4,500 tons a day.

This dally output of 12,900 tons will be prepared at a central plant to be built near Manvers Main. Barnburgh coal being carried there by private railway.

Roadways

Level roadways will be driven in stone for the working of the upper and lower seams. The coal will be lowered to these levels by spiral shutes and locomotive-hauled in six-ton mine cars to the shafts at Manvers and Barnburgh for skip-winding.

Wath and Kilnhurst shafts will ultimately be used only for man-riding, supply of materials, and evacuation of dirt.

The scheme provides for a net saving of 80 men, but 835 more men will be employed at one coalface. Employment at the four pits will be 7,590 men.