Old Fire Engine Colliery (General)

by unknown, Thursday, August 04, 2011, 22:07 (4863 days ago) @ Jefff

Hi Jefff

Haven't logged on for a while so was pleased to come across this and can offer some input into the mining side.

There is a tendency to associate mining in the Dean with the deep mines / NCB; the fact that the 'Gale' system here is absolutely unique I think is often to easily overlooked so to add the nostalgia it deserves I've quoted the description from Soppwith's Award of Coal Mines 1841 - Even NCB held the deep mines under the Gale system (Almalgamated Gales)

In this instance the Gale (mine) is the 'Old Fire Engine Colliery' described in the Awards as:

'All those several tracts of coal in the "Brazilly", and all other veins above the same, lying on the land side of levels driven, or to be driven from the "Squib Pit" as deep as the level in each vein will respectively drain and extending southwards to the line of the two boundary stones No'd 26 and 27, to be set up as the south boundary of this colliery, and northwards, from the said "Squib Pit", to the distance of 60 yards and extending in the land, up to the old workings. Rendering, &c [New royalty 2d; rent, 10sh]'

I once held a lease on this gale so know it quite well. I reckon "Squib Pit" could have been somwhere in the vacinity of where the footbal pitch is now. Not sure what's gone on around there since the mid 1980's but the site of the Old Fire Engine Shaft (capped) and tips were still visible Cinderford side of where the old rail crossing used to be (virtually next to the filling station). The Churchway(Top and thickest of the seams)was virtually worked out altogetherb but the Brazilly was left mostly intact as were most of the thinner veins. From memory there are about six seams all together making up about 8 - 9 feet of coal in total - Churchway was thickest - about 3 feet of coal with 6 inch parting (clod); Brazilly averaged 2 feet; collectively they are known as the 'House Coals'

Not much help for finding a ancestor but hope it's of interest / use to someone in some way or another

Cheers

Vurrister