GC32WD0 Alice in Wonderland (Traditional Cache) in Yorkshire, United Kingdom created by Pedagog

This cache has been archived.

Dalesman: This cache has been in need of care and maintenance for some time and as the owner has not repaired it I am archiving it.

Guidelines:[i] "You are responsible for occasional visits to your cache to maintain proper working order, especially when someone reports a problem with the cache (missing, damaged, wet, etc.). You may temporarily disable your cache to let others know not to search for it until you have a chance to fix the problem. This feature is to allow you a reasonable amount of time - normally a few weeks - in which to check on your cache. If a cache is not being maintained, or has been temporarily disabled for an unreasonable length of time, we may archive the listing."[/i]

If you wish to email me please send your email via my profile (click on my name) and quote the cache name and number.

Many thanks,

DalesmanX
Volunteer UK Reviewer - geocaching.com

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GC32WD0 ▼

A cache by Pedagog Message this owner

Hidden : 8/24/2011

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Another on the site of the Former South Kirkby Colliery.

Part of the route is pushchair accessible, however final location isn't. Very easy to Park, and only a short walk from bus network.

Be like Alice and follow the rabbit!

The Cache is a round screw top beaker type container. Cache contents:
Log
Pencil
Medal & Certificate for "First to Find"
Items of swag

Please Make sure Cache is well hidden after you replace it, Thank you.

South Kirkby Colliery

South Kirkby Colliery was the first deep mine to be sunk in the area and had a life of 107 years before finally being put to rest in 1988.

Following the completion of the Wakefield-Doncaster railway line in 1866, the Allot family, which owned over half the land in the South Kirkby parish, leased a considerable amount to the Ferryhill and Rosedale Iron Company for the purpose of opening a mine.
The main target was the Barnsley seam, which was known to be the finest steam raising coal in Yorkshire. When sinking started in 1876, several seams of workable coal were ignored as they went for the prize, reaching the Barnsley Seam at a depth of 635 yards in August, 1878.
Two shafts, 150 yards apart and 15ft each in diameter, were lined with iron tubing because of a water problem, and were later made deeper to reach the Haigh Moor Seam at a depth of 725 yards. This made South Kirkby the deepest pit in Yorkshire and one of the three deepest in the country.
Unfortunately, the owners ran out of cash and, with increasing liabilities, stopped all work in 1879, also causing a halt to the building of houses for the potential miners.
A new limited company, with Mr. John Shaw, of Darrington Hall as chairman, took over in 1880, and work progressed swiftly, opening out both the Barnsley Bed and the Haigh Moor Seams.
A colliery screening plant was installed and miles of railway sidings to link the colliery with the rail network.
The South Kirkby Colliery Company was granted a' carriage account for the conveyance of minerals to areas served by the Great North Railway Company~ and it began to become a major supplier of coal to a variety of industries all over the North and beyond.
The Beamshaw Seam was also developed and, in 1958, a third shaft was sunk at the pit to allow further development of coal in places like the Newhill Seam.
At its peak, South Kirkby employed almost 3,000 men, and in the 605 and 705 produced over one million tons of coal in a financial year to earn the nickname 'Big SK'.
Some of the seams by-passed initially were worked by the creation of the Ferrymoor-Riddings Drift Mine, which opened in the 70’s, and used retreat mining. They were united into a complex with a washery, although the workforce had dropped to around 1,100 by the time of the miners' strike in 1984.
Although there was a confidence among the men that it could continue as a viable proposition, South Kirkby received the thumbs down four years later and was demolished.

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