Working
coal by machine (Winghay seam at Silverdale
Colliery, Newcastle-under-Lyme). Image reproduced
by kind permission of the British
Coal Corporation.
Holditch
Colliery in Chesterton is an ancient industrial
site; archaeological investigations have revealed
that coal was being worked in the area
as long as 2000 years ago. The colliery,
known locally as Brymbo (some roads in the
area still bear this name) operated between 1912
and 1989. Prior to nationalisation of the coal
industry in 1947 it, like Apedale
Colliery, was
managed by the Shelton Iron, Steel & Coal
Company which also operated the
steel works at
Shelton bar.
Holditch was a very gas rich colliery which
supplied large amounts of gas to local
brickworks (the gas was used to provide fuel for
firing) from the mid 1970s. The amount of coal
produced varied considerably, the highest figure
being over 400,000 tonnes worked by nearly 1500
men in 1947. Mining was carried out from 2 main
shafts. Coal mining is a dangerous profession
and in 1937 an explosion at Holditch Colliery
killed 37 men.
