The following notes record some of the features of interest seen by visitors to collieries, works, etc., which were, by kind permission of the owners, open for inspection during the course of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne meeting on September 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th, 1902:—

West Sleekburn colliery is one of a group of four collieries belonging to the Bedlington Coal Company, Limited. It is situated in the parish of Bedlington, about 3 miles north-west of Blyth and about 16 miles from the river Tyne.

There are two pits, the downcast shaft being 15½ feet, and the upcast shaft 9 feet in diameter.

Furnace-ventilation, which prevailed from 1862 to 1901, had so corroded the tubbing that in 1898 it was found imperative to reline the upcast shaft with new tubbing, and in so doing to reduce its diameter from 9 feet to 8 1/3 feet for a length of 220 feet. This, in its turn, necessitated the removal of the upper set of lifting-pumps from this shaft, and its being placed in the downcast shaft, and the employment of a mechanical ventilator, so as to avoid the danger of further corrosion and to increase the air-current of the mine.

Three seams of coal are being worked, namely :—

Depth at

Thickness. Shaft.

Ft. In. Feet.

Yard Seam 2 9 498

Bensham Seam 2 6 612

Low Main Seam 5 0 696

The output is a little over 800 tons per day, and affords employment to 670 men and boys on the surface and underground.

The system of working is bord-and-pillar in the Low Main seam and chiefly longwall in the other seams.

The seams have a rise to the south-west of about 14 inches per yard. There is a dip-fault to the north of about 636 feet on the extreme northern boundary.

The winding-engine is of the type that in 1862 found general favour in the north, namely :— A vertical cylinder, 52 inches in diameter by 6 feet stroke. with a drum, 19 feet in diameter.

The pumping-engine has a vertical cylinder, 64 inches in diameter by 7 feet stroke, with a east-iron beam weighing 40 tons. On the western end of the beam is a lifting and a forcing set. The bottom set of pumps, 18 inches in diameter and 7 feet stroke in the pit, lifts from the Low Main seam standage, 336 feet to the mid-shaft standage drift; and from this point to the surface, a ram-set, 18 inches in diameter and 7 feet stroke, forces a height of 402 feet to bank, the rising main being made of steel pipes, 17 inches in diameter, with cast-steel flanges, rivetted to the pipes. The eastern end of the beam carries a balance-weight of 12 tons.

The fan is driven by a compound tandem engine, fitted with Corliss valve-gear, the high- and low-pressure cylinders being 13 inches and 24 inches respectively in diameter by 36 inches stroke. Steam is supplied at a pressure of 100 pounds per square inch. The governor is cutting-off so as to maintain at a speed of 50 revolutions per minute, a fan of Waddle type, 35 feet in diameter, producing 130,000 cubic feet of air per minute at a water-gauge of 1.70 inches, and 65 indicated horsepower. The fan-drift has an area of 132 square feet.

The electric-lighting plant consists of a trip-gear engine, with a cylinder 10½ inches in diameter by 22 inches stroke, supplied with steam at a pressure of 100 pounds per square inch. It runs at 90 revolutions per minute and drives a compound-wound dynamo supplying 100 amperes at a pressure of 220 volts, equal to 360 lamps of 16 candlepower.

The endless-rope hauling-engine at bank, with a cylinder 14 inches in diameter by 3 feet stroke, is geared 8 to 1. The main-and-tail-rope hauling-engine, with 2 cylinders, 20 inches in diameter by 4 feet stroke, is geared 2 to 1, and is fitted with drums, 8 feet and 7 feet in diameter, running loose on the shaft.

There are 8 Lancashire boilers, 7½ feet in diameter and 30 feet long, working at a pressure of 45 pounds per square inch and 2 Lancashire boilers, 8½ feet in diameter and 30 feet long, working at a pressure of 120 pounds per square inch. The steam-pipes and some of the boilers are covered with asbestos silicate-cotton or slag-wool.

The screening-plant consists of 2 belt-screens, 4½ feet wide and 50 feet long, with lowering-ends worked by machinery; 2 nut-belts, 4½ feet wide and 57 feet long, and 3 feet wide and 38 feet long, and a small-coal or duff-belt, 3 feet wide and 63 feet long. The shaking-screens and belts are driven by a high-pressure engine, with a cylinder 13 inches in diameter and 24 inches stroke.