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The first coke ovens were built during the First World War (Two fields behind West Terrace) by a Belgian company At this time there was a lot of men fighting in the war, so women were employed as bricklayers labourers. (There must have been some big strong lasses about in those days)
The ovens were lit in 1919, they were top draught ovens, this meant the gas to burn the coal was fed in from the top of the ovens. As there was no national grid at this time, and nowhere to sell the gas that was produced from this process, most of the gas was burnt off and wasted.
Various chemicals were produced as by products including Tar, Sulphate of Ammonia, Benzol and Sulphuric Acid. When the coke was pushed from the ovens it was white hot, It was then pushed through a quencher (a rig containing a series of water sprays) the coke was then hosed down until it was cool enough for the coke fillers to shovel it into 20 ton trucks. The coke fillers were paid on a piece rate, they used large gripes as the coke was relatively light, the men worked every day of the year, the conditions were bad to say the least. The coke was of a very high quality and was sold to steelworks at Middlesbrough, Darlington and surrounding areas.
In 1951 work started on a new coke works, this was built on the south side of the village (next to the main road from Winterton) Piledrivers thumped large holes into the limestone bed to form the foundations for the site. When complete the ovens would be the most up to date in the country, planned and built by the national coal board.
When the plant was fully operational it had fifty under fired ovens in the battery, processing 1000 tons of coal per.day, producing 250,000 tons of coke per.year, 20,000 tons of tar, over1.000, 000 gallons of crude Benzol, 4,000 tons of Sulphate of ammonia, and 2,750 million cubic feet of purified gas which was supplied to the East coast grid, Winterton hospital was supplied, directly.
The old ovens were kept ticking over several weeks, to supply gas to start up the new plant. The second site was built to accommodate another fifty ovens if the market for coke increased, but it was not to be. A decision was made by the coal board to close the ovens. A campaign was organized to fight the closure of the site. The Coal board backed down for several years. Inevitably the plant was doomed as a certain Mrs. Margaret Thatcher got the better of it and on October 7th 1986 the plant closed.
Eventually the site was cleared, there was a large audience, of locals. employees, press photographers and demolition men to witness the demolition of the "Big"chimney and the "Bunker". Within seconds structures that had taken many years to construct were reduced to rubble.
Another chapter of Fishburns history had been written.
The site has now been returned to green fields and Woodlands, with a walkway along the old railway line to Bishop Middleham, where the stockpiles were. This area has been turned into a large pond where there are frogs galore coots and water hens, and no signs of all the industry that once was.
Courtesy of Bert Draycott (w.c.s.p.) 1999
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