Clock face Colliery
Used with kind permission of Stephen Wainwright
The colliery was on Gorsey Lane, 800 metres due east of Clock Face station on L&NWR St Helens line, to which it was linked by a short branch. The Bold Hall Estate Co. Ltd was registered on July 20th 1893. It had a capital of £200,000, from which it paid £100,000 for an estate of 1500 acres. Sinking began in June 1896 and had reached a depth of 152 metres before the influx of water forced the company to give up in March 1900.
The long-established Wigan Coal & Iron Co. Ltd took the colliery over in 1904 and it revitalised the sinking. It used No.1 Shaft as a pumping pit, drawing over 700,000 gallons of water per day from the New Red Sandstone. Later, some 500,000 gallons of potable water per day were sold to St Helens Corporation.
No.2 (downcast) Shaft was completed to the Florida seams, at 731 metres, in 1907. The sump bottomed at 752 metres.
No.3 (upcast) Shaft was also sunk to the Florida seams at 731 metres.
Coal seams intersected in Nos.2 & 3 Pits:
| Potato Delf | 660 (poor) |
| Earthy Delf | 670 |
| Yard Mine | 685 |
| Higher Florida | 727 |
| Lower Florida | 731 |
The Trencherbone Mine was accessed by tunnelling from the Potato Delf through the Roaring Meg Fault, which has a 183 metre throw, and a lesser fault, with a 46 metre throw. The lower parts of the shafts subsequently filled up, No.2 below Yard Mine and No.3 below Earthy Delf.
No.2 Shaft winder was a twin cylinder horizontal engine by Wigan Coal & Iron Co., 38 inches x 78 inches, Cornish valves, trip gear on admission, 20 feet dia. winding drum, VISOR overwind/overspeed controller. The steel lattice headgear over the shaft was 26 metres high to the centres of the 18 feet diameter pulleys. Eight tubs could be wound per cage, 4 tubs each deck.
Further details No.2 Pit were given on a drawing, dated 27th May 1929
| Winding depth – pit bottom landing to bank | 663 metres |
| Winding rope | 1¾ inches dia. locked coil, 41.3 lbs per fathom |
| Balance rope | 3 inches x 0.625 inches flat, 16 lbs per fathom |
| Tubs per cage | 8 |
| Winds per hour | 44 |
| Winding time | 51 secs (34.6 revs) |
| Cycle time | 1 min 21 secs |
| Initial steam pressure | 90psi |
| Trip gear in operation: | |
| Steam at 84% cut-off | 3 revs (pressure drops to 85psi) |
| Steam at 38% cut-off | 7 revs (pressure held at 85psi) |
| Steam at 12% cut-off | 12 revs (pressure recovers to 88psi) |
| Steam off | 12.6 revs |
| Estimated steam consumption | 430lbs per wind |
| Shaft horse power | 652 |
| Steam consumption (estimated) lbs/hour/shaft HP | 46.6 |
| Exhaust steam accumulator max pressure | 4psi |
No.3 (upcast) Shaft winder was a twin cylinder horizontal engine by Wigan Coal & Iron Co., 38 inches x 78 inches, Cornish valves, trip gear on admission, 20 feet dia. winding drum, VISOR controller. The steel lattice headgear over the shaft was 24 metres high to the centres of the 18 feet diameter pulleys. Eight tubs could be wound per cage, 4 tubs each deck.
Further details of the No.3 Pit are given on a drawing dated 15th October 1925
Existing Conditions – Winding without trip gear in operation and no balance rope
| Steam pressure | 96psi |
| Revs on full steam at 85% cut-off | 20 |
| Winding time | 60 seconds |
| Steam consumption per wind | 700lbs |
| Steam pressure falls to 70psi: | |
| Nominal back pressure from exhaust steam accumulator | 4psi |
| Excessive back pressure was noted when working without trip gear | |
Winding with trip gear in operation and no balance rope:
| Max coal load eight tubs | 9.5 cwt capacity |
| Tub tare weight | 4.75 cwt each |
| Winding depth | 656 metres from surface |
| Steam pressure | 89psi |
| Acceleration period | 20 secs (6.6 revs) |
| Full speed | 36.9 secs (23.9 revs) |
| Retardation | 13.4 secs (4.25 revs) |
| TOTALS | 70.3secs (34.75 revs) |
| Cut-off during acceleration | 85% |
| Cut-off during full speed | 60% |
| Steam shut off at 29 revolutions | |
| Steam consumption per wind | 536 lbs |
| Steam consumption per shaft HP | 61.3 lbs/hour |
Winding with trip gear in operation and balance rope fitted:
| Steam pressure | 96 psi in engine house |
| Revs on full steam (85% cut-off) | 2 |
| Revs at 36% cut-off | 28 |
| Winding time | 62 seconds |
| Steam consumption per wind | 573 lbs |
Winding with trip gear in operation and balance rope fitted at minimum steam pressure required:
| Steam pressure | 66 psi |
| Revs on full steam (85% cut-off) | 4.29 |
| Revs at 42% cut-off | 26.1 |
| Winding time | 66.9 seconds |
| Steam consumption | 650 lbs per wind |
Ventilation was by a Walker “Indestructible” fan, works No.12202, 5/9/05, which was a repetition of No.11856 for Manton Colliery. The fan was 24 feet x 8 feet, and delivered 350,000cfm. at 4.5 inches wg., 110rpm., fan pulley 9 feet dia., 14 – 1.75 inch ropes, driven by a cross-compound engine, Corliss valves, Dobson trip gear, 21 inches + 38 inches x 48 inches, flywheel 18 feet diameter.
The colliery’s set of Lancashire boilers gave steam to the above engines at 110psi. Electrical power came from mixed pressure turbines taking exhaust steam at 4psi. from exhaust steam accumulators.
In 1930 the Wigan Coal and Iron Co. amalgamated with Pearson and Knowles to form two companies: the Wigan Coal Corporation Ltd, and the Lancashire Steel Corporation. As the names suggest, the former held the joint coal business and the latter the joint steel business. Clock Face became one of the Corporation’s collieries.
The following seams were worked at Clock Face:
| 1910-1947, 1960-1961 | Florida |
| 1910-1925 | Potato Delf |
| 1925 | Park |
| 1925-1965 | Yard |
| 1930-1940 | Trencherbone |
| 1935-1950 | Clock Face Four Feet |
| 1947-1950 | Higher Ravenhead |
| 1952-1955 | Crombouke |
| 1952-1955 | Wigan Five Feet |
| 1955 | Wigan Four Feet |
As will be seen, the colliery was only working the Yard Mine in its last four years and, as part of the rationalisation programme, the NCB closed Clock Face in March 1966, and divided its workers and remaining reserves to its larger neighbours: Bold and Sutton Manor.
Further information:
- NMRS Records, Gazetteer of British Collieries.
- NMRS Records, Geoff Hayes Collection
- National Archives: BT31/37920/2650 (1865) Wigan Coal & Iron Co. Ltd
- Sutton Beauty & Hertiage website (May 2015)
