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Henry Stobart & CO. Ltd. started the pit in 1910. Two shafts were sunk, 16 ft in diameter and 785 ft deep.The south shaft was the upcast shaft, which carried the men, and as its name suggests the air for ventilation came up it.The north shaft was therefore the downcast shaft, which carried the coal, stone and supplies.
Work started in 1912 producing coal. Three seams were worked, the top one was the Harvey, about 3ft in height, excellent coal, (and relatively easy to work.) With a low ash content and high carbon content, making it ideal for the production of coke. The Busty was the next seam down, only 1-2 ft in height, (not a very pleasant job at all.) and finally the Brockwell seam which at 4ft 6 inches high was the easier to work, again this seam produced good quality coal.
Seams were worked by the long wall method i.e.faces from 100yds to 200 yds long, the coal was drilled at 1yd intervals, each hole about 1yd deep. The coal was then under cut with an a b coal cutter (Anderson boys) the holes were then fired with explosives, and the coal filled onto a conveyor by hand with a large shovel. Supports would be put into the roof of the seam and when all the coal was cleaned off the process would be repeated. Coal was filled into 12 cwt wooden tubs at the exit of each district, and then pulled in sets of 20, to the shaft, by rope haulage. They were then lifted up the shaft four at a time
All of the seams were underneath the water bearing Magnesium limestone layer which acted as a gigantic sponge, holding millions of gallons of water. As a result the pit was always troubled by water seeping into the workings.
In 1919 the pit flooded and work came to a complete standstill. The flooding was so bad that it came to within a few feet of the shaft tops. Special water cages and more efficient pumps were brought into the pit, and production started again in 1922.
Jack Westgarth and A.Johnson were killed at the pit during this operation (the first deaths at the pit)
Output from the seams when production was well under way was Harvey 880 tons per.day.Busty 158 tons per.day.Brockwell 569 tons per.day.
Eventually the Brockwell seam used joy loaders in a District on bord and pillar working to produce approx.180 tons per day. (This was known as the yanky district)
Still the water persisted at about 2300 gallons per min but the pumps were able to control the flow.
Employment was provided to men from all across the district. Buses ran from as far away as Cockfield, West Auckland, Bishop Auckland, Spennymoor, Ferryhill, Chilton, the Trimdons, Wingate, Shildon and all the places in-between.
The pit employed over 1400 men in its hay day, on a three-shift basis, first, back and night.
Ponies were used to carry props etc. to the coalfaces and take stone out of developments, in all about 50 Ponies were used in the pit, to work the cages. In each shaft there were two steam winding engines. single drum ,direct coupled,twin cylinder engines working at 200 p.s.i. and four water tube boilers to raise the steam.
In 1939 pithead baths were built along with a canteen and medical centre
In 1947 the pit was nationalised, and became part of the N.C.B. it was in no. 4. Area with its headquarters at green Lane, Spennymoor (this is now the council offices for Sedgefield Borough Council)
In 1956 the colliery was modernised with, new pithead gear, and new electric winding engines in place of the steam.
The 12 c.w.t. tubs were replaced by one ton steel tubs pulled Outbye by diesel locos .The ponies were replaced by rope haulage.
Many other improvements were now taking place in the mining industry, the men now rode in bye in special mine cars pulled by the locos.
Wooden props were replaced by hydraulic props and the wooden chocks that were used for face supports were also changed over to hydraulics. Rubber conveyors were replaced by steel, and were pushed by hydraulic Rams. Cutters were replaced by cutter loaders that not only cut the coal but also broke it up and put it on the conveyor.
Fishburn favoured a cutter loader called the "Trepanner" which was a great success in the Harvey. The Busty used shearers which were pretty much universal across the coalfield. The Brockwell used "The Plough"it was nothing too complicated, just a jagged plough that was dragged up and down the coal face on a chain, but it worked well for that particular seam.
New ideas in mining were now starting to be developed in the mine, some good some so so. One of the first was the"Armstrong" air breaker, this machine did away with explosives, it used very high pressure compressed air to burst the coal out of the solid seam. This method was later abandoned due to a severe injury to a miner.
Another idea was "The Collings Miner" it was a strange contraption that cut and loaded the coal up a tunnel, it made each side of the main gateway, but after a while when pressure built up on it, it would get stuck and would have to be dug out by hand. This machine of course was another failure.
1957 saw the visit of the American Ambassador, at the time a Mr. Jock Whitney.
In December 1968 the water made another appearance via.the Harvey seam. Large stones, props chocks and anything else in its path were washed away the Harvey development was completely flooded. The water continued to flow, down into the Busty seam and away outbye onto the loco road. Dams were hastily built and extra pumps and pipes were rushed in. It took three weeks to get control of the situation, Even though the feeder never dried up.
Shortly after the flood, the Harvey seam started to break up in places. It was discovered that the seam had been washed out several millions of years ago.
Production was now centred on the Busty seam, but it had a thick layer of hard post stone in the centre of it, making it impossible to cut.
In 1973 the pit finally closed, the site was cleared and it is now a small industrial estate.
During its 63 years of working, 57 men were killed. (A plaque is hung in the Working Mens Club as a memorial to these fine men)
Overall Fishburn is remembered as a "happy" place to work despite being the wettest in the no. 4 area.
Union leaders from early days
1914…. John Borrett, Edward Nailen, Cuthbert Carter,
William Alderson, john Montgomery ,Tom Hopkins
Oliver Wilkinson.
1915….G. Easter, Jos.Galley
1917….Oliver Wilkinson, John Birchall.
1918….Oliver Wilkinson, John Birchall, Robert Simpson.
1923….Oliver Wilkinson, Albert Maxin, James Hilder,
1931 ….J.P. Berry, M. Clark, J.G. Clark, Jos.Wright J.Hilder,
E.Hutchfield, J. Herriot, Jack Madrell.
1942….T..Madrell,William Hutchinson, William Hunter
George Welsh.
Courtesy of Bert Draycott (w.c.s.p.) 1999
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