COLLIERY LINDSAY
LOCATION Whelley, north of Whelley Road and east of LNWR Whelley Loop line.
OWNERS
Earl of Crawford
Wigan Coal & Iron Co. Ltd 1865 – 1930
Wigan Coal Corporation 1930 – 1931

Shafts
Sunk during 1850s initially to win the Cannel Mine at approximately 533 yards. Nos. 1 & 2 Pits sunk first, No.3 Pit later. No.1 Pit upcast. No.2 Pit 12 feet diameter widened to 20 feet at bottom. No.2 Pit subsequently deepened to Arley Mine. No.3 Pit sunk to 133 yards. approx.

Winding
Twin cylinder horizontal engine 36 inches x 72 inches, reputedly built at “Haigh Sawmills” – the central workshops for the Earl’s collieries, which had considerable engineering facilities, including a foundry.
Winding engine located between Nos. 1 & 2 Pits, winding a cage in No.2 Pit and a cast iron counterweight, running in guides, in No.1 Pit. Winding by flat ropes. Cage, 3-deck carrying three – 7 cwt. tubs per deck loaded from the shaft side.
New crankshaft and cranks fitted 1898. Crankshaft made by Darlington Forge. Turned and finished and two new cranks fitted by Walker Bros. Headgears of timber with a single rope pulley.
Date stone on engine house “1858”.
No.3 Pit winding engine single cylinder horizontal 18 inches x 36 inches, flat rope reels 5 feet diameter bare. Timber headgear 53 feet 10 inches high to pulley centres. Winding ropes flat 3 inches x 5/8 inches. Cage conductors – timber, four in number, 5 inches x 4 inches.

Pumping
Bull-type engine at No.3 Pit 48 inches x 8 feet, timber pump rods 10 inches square section. (Top section of pump rod and part of piston rod recovered during opencast operations, 1989).

Ventilation
Furnace at No.1 Pit. (in use to 1928 – per Mr. Richard Hart)

Boilers
Originally five Cornish boilers, 45psi. for Nos. 1 & 2 Pits.
Separate boilers at No.3 Pit with square chimney.

CLOSURE – 1931

Copyright © NMRS Records: G. Hayes Collection

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