Our channel is dedicated to Industrial History, mainly coal mining. We do like to get involved in the social aspects of industrial history also. The main stay of our interest is East Lancashire and the Cumbria and Northumberland boarder
As well as coal mining we are involved in the bicentennial of the Weavers uprising of 1826 in East Lancashire with the events surrounding that era.
Good video mate, you’re lucky to live in an area with such history. I’m in Blackpool and there isn’t much history really, it starts in Victorian times.
When I retired I bought an old miners lamp in keighley . When I cleaned it up and got it going I noticed it had hapton valley scratched on it top and bottom /71 would love to bring it home , much respect !
Hi Dave. CloughFoot Colliery was owned by the Deardens, the water treatment plant you talk about is from Cloughfoot Colliery. Todmorden Moor Colliery is the only local colliery to Rossendale, except Burnt Hills to be mentioned in Lord Ashleys report of child labour in mines 1841. At that time I think it was on the opposit sode of Tod/Bacup rd to the observatory. They then moved across the road to where the brickworks were, now observatory, you cam still see the walled up arched drift entrance on the access road. The coal seam dipped away from the surface very steeply so to obtain maximum free drainage they drove long tunnels through baron rock to intersect the seam at a lower level and thats why Clough Foot was driven. I do have lots of info on those pits, I havent typed it up yet.
My Grandparents lived at 248 Rossendale road. When I was a kid and visited we used to walk across the fields just below Cherry tree farm on Rossendale road, and we would reach a pretty stream a little way further on beyond the stream we came across some spoils. It was mostly yellow tippings and we found fossil horsetail plant material. I'm talking maybe 1968 . My dad said it was Hapton Collery spoils. I can't help you with your historical investigations. Maybe you could help me with mine? This will hurt because I've watched your interesting vids and know you were a miner I want to investigate my Burnley connections. It comes from unfortunately a sad incident that caused a lot of pain and suffering around 1872-73. My great grandfather John Mares was a tin miner and lived in Liskeard Cornwall. It was mostly copper mines but two men turned up from Burnley one stayed in a hotel in Liskeard the other in an Inn. They promised work in Burnley some as cotton operatives others in coal mines. I know a very protracted industrial dispute took place in Burnley 1872-73. Many from depressed areas of Devon and Cornwall where minesxwere closing. These desperate families sold all their posessions and on the promise of work moved to Burnleyinstigated by these two Burnley people one wirking for thecmine owner's the other for the colliery owners. Some did get jobs as cotton opetatives many did not and were falling upon chariry to survive. So the miners from Devon and Cornwall arrived and suddenly became aware that they had been shipped in to break a strike. I'd like to believe that my great grandfathers John Mares found himself in an impossible delema. He had burnt his bridges and had no way back so became a black leg. I know that Burnley virtually shut down like a mini national strike. The mills needed local coal to run machinary, the iron works also needed coal and the Burnley miners only wanted union recognition. The incomers from Devon and Cornwall unwittingly found themselves stuck in the middle. As a Burnley miner I imagine you had little sympathy fo these nieve incomers who undoubtably bankrupted the trade union and broke the strike. However they could not go back, bridges were burnt. My great grandfather left mining and went into the cotton mills and ironically died from an industrial accident in the mills. If anyone could help me fill in some of the historical stuff I' d be glad my email address alansaxon205@gmail.com
Alan, thanks for your detailed comment and your not the first to comment on the 1873 strike and your ancestors coming to the area. My ancestors also did but they came from the Fens to work in the cotton mills, like many others from their village. It's a very old tactic of the coal owners to get folk in from other areas to brake the strike...They have no money to get home so what can they do. I need to do some more in depth research into the strike. I can contact you by email to swap information. George Heys wrote a book on the Burnley Coalfield that can only be accessed in the library...he does go into a few disputes but I didnt examine the social side when I traveled down to read the book. I am very interested in the social impact of the 1873 strike so it is something to follow up. Clive
@@rossendalecollieries7995 No yours already very organised! I love all your videos. Thanks for replying I like Valley history and also the genealogy side too.
I only opened RU-vid to find some info on my gearbox then got sucked in .. I really enjoyed this great video.. good insight into the perception of what was perhaps modern day slavery of working class folk of the time .👍.. Now back to my gearbox search ..
Excellent Clive n most interesting n I'm looking forward to the next installment... Well done Clive n a Cracking Day of Sunshine to boot... 😃😎😉👍👍👍👌✌️🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
In the 1970s i often drove the old Half Cab buses up to Lanehead. My Conductor would watch me back into Smallshaw Lane to turn round and wait time out next to the Reservoir. Wish i had known more about the History of the place in those days. Looking forward to next Episode.
My great grandfather was the retired pit foreman, he and his family, including my grandfather lived in the house 200 metres away from the pit. My great grandfather, even though retired was one of the first down after the initial explosion!
brilliant presenter. Me and my wife live on a boat and we joke about cooking knicker stew, basically we wash our clothe by putting them in a large kettle and shoving it on the wood burner. Cheap as chips when you have limited Lecky.
Very interesting, the lady of the house really didn’t have an easy life, I remember my gran having an old dolly tub in her outhouse, she didn’t use it back then as she had a twin tub. I remember asking her why the little 3 legged stool had a big stick in the middle, she just laughed.
i remember going to see Jaws at the picture when it was first released i went there with my best friend at the time Peter Lord. I haven't seen Peter in almost 40 years fair play to you for showing thiz video. It's a pity the picture house is due to be demolished very soon. I had sone great Saturday afternoons in the saturday mattinee
15:24 I can recall the bridge crossing the road. The Army demolished it one weekend for training purposes , that would be about 1966. As for the Rookhope Arch, I'm sure there were more than one still standing in the 60's. Before that high tensile wire fence was put up at the roadside we used to picnic by the rivers edge and I recall collecting fist sized lumps of flourspar that lay about all over in the gravels.
So, I was brought up on the Melrose Avenue area in the early 1960's. One place I remember my mum taking me and a load of local kids one day was a place we called the sheep dip. Yesterday, thinking that was over 60 years ago, I thought I'd try and find it. I started down Olde Back Lane, opposite the end of Coal Clough Lane and followed the track which I pretty much remember and eventually, past a farm down to New Barn Clough, near a footbridge. Although I don't recall as many trees, that was what we called the sheep dip our play and picnic spot. Here is the other thing, just near the footbridge I spotted a thick steel cable coming out of the ground - puzzling. The thing is, in the early 60's my dad used to take me to pick coal from somewhere around there, or at least in that general direction. Hard to believe these days but I went with him regularly. Surely, anywhere to pick coal must have been miles from there? Yesterday's little trip has got me really interested in the area and feel I must go back again and explore.
Hi Alan I had a walk last week same area but I wanted to find there shaft that looks like there was a water race with. Its just passed Habergham Hall and where track swings hard to right it us up there..... unfortunately it was chock full if milking cows and I had the dog. Next time I will go right down the clough...the coal comes to the surface in that clough. Clive
@@cliveseal1557 Interesting. I think I'll be going back and would like to find the tramway. I remember going with my dad a few times. In recall the walk but can't ever remember the actual picking coal bit. I do remember going across various fields but I always presumed it was on the Hapton slag heaps. From what you say, back in the 60's, there probably would have been various opportunities to find coal in that area.
Thanks Clive, we had a fantastic day when we met up here. Truly one of our best videos to date. Thank you so much for inviting us and this video is absolutely beautiful the way you have put the scenes to the music ❤️🙌🏼
I've been there at that confluence of the irwell and limey water loads of times and I bet no-one else has seen what I once saw happen there a few years ago, where one river was heavily swollen and not the other, and then later on the swelling changed over so the other river was swollen as the first swelling dropped, how about that?! And don't anyone waste their time disputing it, I was there and I saw it!
I just subbed to your channel after coming across this vid, looking forward to binge watching more! Enjoyed this video, been to the pit a few times as I am relatively local. Keep up the good work .🏴
My late husband worked at Blidworth and Gedling collieries in the 1970s-1982 he was a miner but a few yrs later he became a shift boss, he always told me he had to work in around 2 ft on his side on the seam during his shift, was this true, I told him no one could work in that size place, he offered to take me down, but I said no (I’m a bit claustrophobic, ) would be nice to know tho. My father was a miner at Bentink collerery in his later years at rufford he told me he was the button man, what ever that jib entailed he didn’t elaborate
yes Blue Lady. I worked in 18" of coal most of my mining career. The lowest I have worked is a foot high...it wasn't fun trying to pay the mortgage in that height of coal. A button man literally pushed the button on the control panel to operate machinery
Can anyone tell me what Rossendale pit or pits that the cornish miners came up to in 1872-3 They were predominately recruited from Liskeard and about 400 copper and tin miners arrived . My great grandfather was one of them and did not know he was breaking the big strike of 1872-73. They were originally housed near where the Griffin Inn was.
As far as I know, they mostly came to the Burnley pits. There was a place down Rossendale road known as Little Cornwall. It looks like they came to work for John Hargreaves living in that area of the town. Near to there was Hapton Valley, Porters Gate, Burnt Hills Collieries, Ganow and perhaps Barclay hills, but it may have shut by then
Burnley was built on coal and still was huge cold reserves. If in the future cold can somehow be made clean again then Burnley could have a very good return to economic success with all the jobs and prosperity sadly lacking today.
Mam's stepdad Tommy Iley was a member of the rescue team at William, he was a deputy at Solway and usually spent Tuesday (?) evenings training at Windscale rescue centre at Hunday manor.
Ay up Clive!! haha I can't believe I've accidentally stumbled upon your channel! Reet up my street! You gave my first fossils when I was about 7 or 8 (unfortunately I don't have any more) but it definitely sparked my interest for anything dug out the ground 😊 so thanks for that. I think you'll remember me, our family had so many fond time with you. Much love Miriam(Jane's daughter) xxx
Hey Miriam...what a great surprise, fantastic to hear from you, yes likewise I always look back with fondness with our time together, pity all the pics no vids got lost along the way...one too many divorces I supose. Its funny in another way also because I just managed to get contact with your mum and Selina only 2 days ago after all these years.... I think I may still have a couple of pics of you when you left school and were staying with us up in Slaggyford, we egged and floured you😁. I'm glad you found my little channel. Regarding your comment on the shaft, I need to check it out on LiDar. Yor mum tells me your in Stacky? there's bags of stuff on the moor up there. Im on Fb as well, same name...Rossendale Collieries. Same idea, mostly industrial history. Keep in touch Clive
