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Welcome to one of the entrance use by workers when the bellbird colliery was still functional. Bellbird colliery was formally known as Hetton-extended colliery which was established in the early 1900s
Hetton Coal Company was formed in 1885 with a capital of £106,000-0-0 ($212,000.00) in 21,200 shares of £5-0-0 ($10.00) each. The purpose of the company was to mine coal in the estuary of the Hunter River and under Newcastle Harbour. This mining lease was originally held by Messrs W.A. Steel and W.A. Hutcheson. It was shaped like a "quarter-moon", and was an area of 1600 acres. The pit itself was on dry land on an allotment of 6 acres on marshy land known as "Pig Island". This location was 700 yards to the east of the Wickham and Bullock Island mine adjacent to the Bullock Island railway. The Hetton Coal Company's working shaft was 16 feet in diameter, and was formed by 1½ inches thick iron cylinders. These were pressed into sand and mud some 45 feet deep, and then a further 20 feet into a plastic type clay. Beneath the clay a grey rock was met, and a shaft was sunk through this, to a total depth of 246 feet, including a 10 feet sump at the bottom of the shaft. The sinking of the shaft had been made by Mr Hugh Walker, a mining contractor, and was commenced on 27th November 1885. A second shaft, 14 feet in diameter, was sunk nearby for ventilation and pumping purposes. This second shaft was commenced on 27th October 1888, and was completed in September 1889. Fresh air was circulated by a Guibal fan which was 30 feet in diameter and 10 feet deep. The workings were kept reasonably dry by a powerful Tangye pump. The main haulage shaft contained two cages, which could lift two skips each. Hauling power was supplied by two horizontal steam engines, each of which had 26 inches cylinders, providing a total of 160 horse power each. In 1887, 1100 tons of coal were raised; this tonnage increased to 22,287 tons in 1888. Screening was made by passing over sloping parallel iron bars. The main haulage shaft contained two cages, which could lift two skips each. Hauling power was supplied by two horizontal steam engines, each of which had 26 inches cylinders, providing a total of 160 horse power each. In 1887, 1100 tons of coal were raised; this tonnage increased to 22,287 tons in 1888. Screening was made by passing over sloping parallel iron bars. The mining system worked was "bord and pillar". Bords were 6 yards wide. First workings were made only to a height of 8 feet. "Tops" coal and pillars were not removed. Hetton Colliery in 1888 had a fleet of 200 steel hopper wagons. The first mine manager was Mr William Thornton. The first colliery engineer was Mr Alexander Mathieson. When Mr W. Thornton resigned on 4th August 1891, Mr Alexander Mathieson became the manager. (Note: It is of interest that Alexander Mathieson's mother, Agnes, was a sister of James and Alexander Brown). The Hetton Coal Company's head office was at 56 Bridge Street, Sydney, and was in charge of Mr James S. Hutchinson, Company Secretary. The Newcastle office, for Sales, Shipping and Coal Handling was in Scott Street, Newcastle, and this was in charge of Mr John Waddell. For most of its life, Hetton Colliery obtained the greater part of its coal production from under Newcastle Harbour. After 1900 the coal came from the ocean workings, which extended 24½ chains beyond the end of Nobby's breakwater and about 55 chains in a south-easterly direction from Nobbys. The furthest extent of the underground workings from the shaft bottom was 2¾ miles (4.4 km). As the workings had opened out seawards, the bottom part of the seam became separated from the top portion of the seam by an ever increasing thickness of stone. Nearing the outer extent of the mine, it was only the upper part (9 feet 6 inches thick) of the seam, that was worked. Faced with rising costs in its under-sea mining operation, and the ever diminishing reserves of coal in its Borehole seam lease, like other large Newcastle field mining companies, Hetton Coal Company looked at the prospects of opening a pit on the South Maitland field. Mr Henry Trenchard in his 1902 map of the "Greta Seam" South Maitland field shows the area, that was later to become the Bellbird mine lease as being Government reserves identified thus: "C.R. No. 13 notified 27th February 1873" and "T.R.S. No. 57 notified 9th September 1878". Mr Alfred F. Hall in his 1904 map of the "Greta Seam" South Maitland field shows similar information as on Trenchard's map, except that on the area later to become Bellbird Colliery lease, there is an overprint stating: "Harris and others". In early 1904 Mr Reginald Harris as agent on behalf of Mr A. Mathieson, Hetton Coal Company made application (No. 110) to the Mining Warden at East Maitland Court House for an area of coal leases that is now Bellbird Colliery. The Mining Warden granted the leases on 18th April 1904. Plan No. 13261 covered "M.L. 15"; and plan No. 16876 covered "M.L. 63". In early 1906 Hetton Coal Company engaged Mr Archibald Gardiner, a Newcastle surveyor, to plot a railway route from these new mining leases to the new Aberdare Railway near Cessnock Railway Station. Mr A. Gardiner was also a mining engineer, and later became Mayor of Hamilton. Mr Reginald Harris, again as agent for Mr A. Mathieson, made application (No. 108) dated 6th November 1906 to the Mines Department for a mining lease on which to lay its railway. During mid 1907 Hetton Coal Company for the sum of £190-0-0 ($380.00) had purchased from the Crown, Lots 34, 35, and 36, Parish of Cessnock, near Quorrobolong Street, South Cessnock to make the junction to the Aberdare Railway. Registrar General's records - Volume 1857 Folio 199, dated 27th July 1909 shows this transaction. Permission for the construction of the Bellbird Branch Railway was made under a permit from the Lands Department. A departure from the practice with other private railways, which were authorised by "Acts" of the NSW Parliament. The surface rights under M.L. 16 were granted by the Mines Department on 4th April 1908. (See application No. 108 dated 6th November 1906). Meanwhile the railway route had been cleared and burnt off by the contractors, Hartcher Brothers, by the 8th November 1907. Hetton Coal Company by press advertisements, sought tenders for the construction of the railway. Research has failed to reveal the name of the successful contractor. It is known that the project had commenced in mid 1908. During late 1908, the Great Northern Coal Company had petitioned the NSW Parliament to pass an Act to enable it to construct a railway to link its coal lands near Ellalong, (later to be Kalingo Colliery) with the Aberdare Railway near Cessnock Railway Station. The original route planned for this railway was in very close proximity to the Hetton Coal Company's new Bellbird Creek entry tunnels. A situation bitterly opposed by the Hetton Coal Company. To overcome any opposition to the Kalingo Railway Act, and also to allow Hetton Coal Company to construct its railway and colliery sidings without dispute or quarrel, an agreement was made on 2nd October 1908 between Hetton Coal Company and Great Northern Coal Company. Under this agreement, the two parties consented to jointly own the "junction" land adjoining the Aberdare Railway, (see reference page 796 "Rail Connection" section). Further that both parties would jointly lay the tracks for the junction, and be jointly responsible forever more for this small area's track maintenance. Another condition of this agreement, was that at some time in the future, the Great Northern Coal Company was given the right to cross on the level the Hetton-Bellbird railway or alternatively pass over by a bridge, or pass underneath by a subway. The Great Northern Coal Company in return agreed to change the original planned route of its Kalingo Railway, so that it did not encroach near the Bellbird Colliery pit-top and its sidings layout. During the last half of 1907, test bores were sunk by Mr Edwin Pepper and Son, boring contractors, to locate the best site for the driving of the entry tunnels to the new lease. Four bores were sunk in a straight line, that ran about the centre of the later Bellbird (No. 1 Workings) haulage and travelling tunnels. The first bore sunk by Pepper and Son is numbered in Mines Department records as "Preliminary No. O". This was located about 44 yards south-east of the later travelling tunnel mouth, and found the coal seam at a depth of 36 feet. Bore No. 1 was sunk 110 yards from the same travelling mouth, and reached coal at a depth of 63 feet. For comparison purposes the Bellbird No. 1 main air shaft is some 198 yards from the travelling tunnel mouth, and has a depth of 91 feet to the coal seam. "Bore No. 2" at a distance of 330 yards from the tunnel mouth met the coal at 138 feet deep. "Bore No. 3" 770 yards from the tunnel entry reached the coal seam at 184 feet. "The Maitland Mercury" newspaper in its issue dated 8th November 1907 advised its readers that the test boring at Bellbird Creek had been completed, and that coal was only some 30 feet deep from the proposed entry. The same report stated that the proposed railway land had finally been all cleared. Further that a "canvas" town had sprung up around the new Bellbird workings, and that an air shaft would be sunk after Christmas. Mr J. Hutchinson, secretary of Hetton Coal Company on 12th February 1908 had notified the Mines Department that his company had engaged contractors to drive two tunnels to the coal seam at Bellbird Creek. Further that Mr Herbert Miller had been appointed acting manager. On 3rd June 1908 Hetton Coal Company replaced Mr H. Miller by the appointment of Mr Alexander Mathieson as manager. Mining Lease "M.L. 16" granted to Hetton Coal Company on the 4th April 1908 to allow for its railway construction was a narrow strip area of 9 acres 3 roods 6 perches. The colliery rail sidings at the pit-top was provided by another fairly narrow area of 5 acres 3 roods 37 perches granted in "M.L. 35" on 17th May 1909. On 11th September 1909, the air shaft had been sunk. Shortly after the previous natural ventilation was assisted by a furnace at the base of the air shaft. Towards the end of 1909, coal produced was being conveyed by motor lorries, four-wheeled horse-drawn carts and tip-drays to be loaded into Hetton Coal Company's rail coal hopper wagons at Cessnock Goods yard. In early 1910 an industrial stoppage known as the "Peter Bowling Strike" closed most coal mines in the Newcastle and Hunter Districts. During this strike, Hetton Coal Company employed some "non-union labour" in its new Hetton-Bellbird Colliery. This "non-union" production, plus a quantity of second grade coal won during the driving of the tunnel headings, and which had been dumped on Bellbird pit-top, was also conveyed for loading at Cessnock Goods Yard. Both mounted and foot police were utilised to protect the "scab" labour at Bellbird pit itself, as well as accompanying the coal being conveyed to Cessnock Goods Yard for loading. The "Cessnock Express" newspaper in its issue dated the 1st October 1910 reports that the single track Branch Railway had just been completed to the Bellbird tunnels. The cutting too had almost been completed. Photographs at this date show that the sidings had not been laid; the colliery chimney stack had been completed; the pit-top was well under construction. The Bellbird Branch Railway was 2 miles 37 chains (3.88 km) in length. It had been laid using 60 pounds to the yard flat-bottom rails. In January 1911 Hetton Coal Company made an agreement that the East Greta Coal Mining Company railway should haul its coal production. First full train of coal production was despatched from Bellbird sidings on 4th March 1911. On 27th October 1911 Hetton Coal Company officially notified the Mines Department, that from that date its Hetton Extended Colliery at Bellbird Creek was to be renamed Hetton-Bellbird Colliery. Also on this date Mr James Mathieson became the manager. In late 1912 Hetton Coal Company installed a small "Curtis" electricity generating turbine at its Hetton-Bellbird Colliery to provide direct current electricity to drive its coal cutting machines. In late 1913 a much larger Bellis and Morcom electricity generation plant was installed to make alternating current electricity. In early 1914 this allowed a Sirroco fan to be placed on the air shaft. Almost all underground haulage was electrically driven. During 1909 the adjoining abandoned Stockton Colliery caused concern for the Hetton Coal Company at its parent mine. A continuous build-up of sea water and seepage into the Hetton mine presented great problems and dangers. The Hetton Coal Company at Carrington ceased underground haulage on 15th April 1915, and finally closed completely on 15th July 1916. Over the rest of this year (1916) 21 men were employed on recovery and dismantling operations. Quite a deal of equipment, workers and management staff were transferred to Bellbird Colliery. Some derelict structures and the chimney stack stood until demolished in the early 1930's. On 8th September 1915, the Great Northern Coal Company exercised its "right" granted under the agreement with Hetton Coal Company made on the 2nd October 1908 to extend its Kalingo Railway by the construction of a bridge across the Bellbird Cutting. This railway was completed to the Kalingo mine in late August 1919. New mining developments on the western part of the South Maitland field required an extension of the Bellbird Branch Railway. The Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company had taken up mining leases west of Bellbird Colliery. On 12th April 1917 an agreement was made between Newcastle-Wallsend Company and Hetton-Bellbird Colliery Company, that the new pit, Pelton Colliery, could construct an extension railway to link with the Bellbird Branch Railway. A further condition in this agreement was all coal production at the Pelton mine would be hauled over the railway. A well planned program by Bellbird Colliery manager, Mr Jim Mathieson, provided for the development of side-headings, bords and pillars to be formed into panels. These panels were "sealed off" with the intention, that when the Bellbird Colliery development was completed, the Company would extract pillar coal on the retreat. By mid 1917 the main Bellbird headings had reached the Bellbird major fault. At this fault the coal seam had an up-throw of 180 feet. To continue the development and progress of the Bellbird mine, three rising steep stone drives or drifts were made. These drifts were about 80 yards in length, and were fairly sharp rising inclines about one foot in five feet. These drives were known locally in the Bellbird mine as the "Jig", because of its jig-working in which by the force of gravity, loaded skips raised the empty skips to the top of the seam. Once past the "Jig", the driving of headings and bords continued towards the lease barriers, a further distance of almost one mile. Once again side headings, bords and pillars were formed into panels for sealing for later pillar extraction. The manager, Mr Jim Mathieson, was a very experienced mining operator. It soon became obvious to him that with this kind of "bottle-neck", moving skips from one haulage to the other via the jig-working was not the most efficient method. The Bellbird Colliery Company considered that it would be more advantageous to develop the right-hand side of this large working by driving in fresh headings from the surface or the outcrop beyond the fault. A decision that proved most valuable following the later tragic disaster. This new entry became known as Bellbird No. 2 Workings. This development operation commenced during November 1918. As well as joining up underground with the No. 1 Workings, the No. 2 Workings was also linked on the surface by duplicate skip rail tracks. Haulage on the surface skip tracks was provided by an endless rope electrically driven from the No. 2 haulage engine house. On 11th November 1919 Bellbird Colliery Company installed a very large 2500 H.P. electricity generation plant in its powerhouse. This too provided alternating current electricity to meet all the company's increased demands, such as the new endless rope haulage in the No. 2 Workings and the endless rope haulage on the surface skip rail tracks between the two workings. However even then, there was still more than enough capacity remaining to provide electricity to the Bellbird township and its homes. Bellbird was a fairly compact small area. Most of its home owners received a monthly free load of coal from the mine to provide fuel for cooking and heating. Therefore the street lighting and the domestic demand of 3 or 4 lights per home was easily met. The most serious and tragic mishap ever on the South Maitland coalfields was the disastrous fire on Saturday 1st September 1923 at Bellbird Colliery, and the subsequent explosions. This fire apparently started immediately after the day shift left the mine, and the afternoon shift had just gone in to work. At Bellbird Colliery at this date 474 miners were employed underground on the day shift in the northern (No. 1) workings, and 159 miners on the southern (No. 2) workings. On this particular Saturday there was a total of 32 men employed on the afternoon shift. 12 miners, including Mr Lyall Allan of Blackalls Park, were in the No. 2 workings; and 20 miners in the No. 1 tunnel workings. Those in the No. 1 tunnel were all lost. In addition one of the rescuers, Mr John Brown, manager of Aberdare Colliery lost his life. Information was found at; http://hosting.collectionsaustralia.net/newcastle/greta/bellbird.html
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