Is this really Babbington pit?

[Compo 10,185]

Bob: Is this a number 11 bus and if so where exactly is it? IT is supposed to be Babbington pit but the Babbington I knew had concrete headstocks and no bridge over the road nearby.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203077983452422&set=o.645290335533007&type=3

[Ayupmeducks 1,728]

That's Babbington Colliery, the old wood headstocks were replaced by the steel headstocks in this photo. The only colliery I recall that had concrete headstocks, was Hucknall No2, other than Cotgrave's towers.

 

[BulwellBrian 107]

Definatly Babbington Colliery. The two shafts on the right laterly worked as tandem upcasts are the original shafts of 1842, The larger headgear was the coal winding downcast No.4 shaft. The original main road to Nuthall etc is close to the wall with the VW van. The new road with the NCT bus was built after I left Nottingham and I am not sure where it goes, the area has changed alot since then. The bridge was used by the internal railway to Newcastle Wharf.

[Compo 10,185]

Thanks for the gen gang, my memory is obviously flawed.  I recall that Newstead also had a concrete headstock on the upcast shaft and I'm fairly sure that Moorgreen had a concrete upcast too.. I should have known what Babbington looked like - I had an x-ray there when I was an apprentice.

 

Here we go...found this of Moorgreen:

 

 

And this of Newstead:

 

 

Finally the one I worked down; Annesley (No concrete here):

 

 

 

 

[Ayupmeducks 1,728]

Those are classed as towers, rather than headstocks, there are some examples of true concrete towers around, well there were, both in the UK and Germany.

Moorgreens was similar to one of Hucknalls, Newstead the same.

Was looking through the photos I have, Harworth had a tower cast around the old headstock so as not to interrupt production, huge tower that dwarfs the old headstock which was removed when the tower was complete, it housed the new winder. One of my photos shows one of the new skips moved ready to install.

Concrete seemed to be a bad material to put over shafts, especially the main production shafts, where there was a lot of flexing, concrete tended to crack as illustrated in CPL's Boulby Potash mines No1 and 2 towers. No1 had to have steel bands and a concrete temporary collar cast around it, and forstays between the winder and tower. It was replaced two years back, weighed a few thousand tons. It was jacked up, bottom cut through with a diamond saw, lifted a couple of inches and slid along a special concrete slipway lined with polished SS rail. Tower was two hundred feet tall, but the moved it several hundred feet clear of the shaft, put charges around it and demolished it . New steel head frame moved into position, secured to the shaft collar and installed ready for the end of the two week shutdown. Then the cast a new concrete tower around the new head frame. Good video on Youtube of the whole process. I'm told No2 tower is in a bad way and needs replacing. Both towers were cast late 60's early 70's, No1 started hoisting mineral 1975 when I worked there.

[BulwellBrian 107]

Compo, your X-ray would have been taken at the NCB medical centre further down Cinderhill Road towards Bulwell, not ot the pit.

[Ayupmeducks 1,728]

I had my medical at Cinderhill Unit too, I'd swear it was at side of the pit in 1964, but it's a long time back now.

[BulwellBrian 107]

John, My memory of the medical place is of a big house set back from the road up a short drive off Cinderhill Road between the two railway bridges on the right coming up from Bulwell. But as you say its a long time ago, it was 1959 when I went there.

[benjamin1945 15,560]

There is a big old building on Cinderhill road opposite Bagnall road,now used as offices,...had some dealings there couple of years ago,and remember them telling me that the building was originally part of the NCB...........Just wondered if this was the place you're trying to identify?

[Ayupmeducks 1,728]

I can't even picture it these days, only went there the once, all I recall is I got of the bus at the pit and walked down the road, how far, I haven't a clue, I recall part of the examination and having to make an appointment with my own Doctor, but that's it. Much water has flown under the bridge since then.

[benjamin1945 15,560]

Visit to Doc this morning,for results of x-rays on hip and blood test.............all good news Blood all ok and X-rays showed no wear and tare,........so can carry on 'Sky-Diving',Marathons,Fell-running,Mountain climbing,etc,.......but must get the Fags down to five a day........lol.

 

edit. sorry just noticed,wrong thread.................

[carni 10,046]

Just found your post benj, so glad to see your doing OK. If you can do all those activities and enjoy a smoke as well, you are doing better than some of us. Fell Walking you say.......I feel a song coming on........I Love To Go A Wandering.

[trogg 1,786]

Quote

 

I went for chest xray in 62 , I believe that the place was as another person said it was on the left on cinderhill road going into Bulwell , I have looked on the site Old maps on a 1955 map and it was up a drive between Drysdale close and Haswell road. at the top is a building named Springhead , I can remember the trees as I walked up there ,

[Jill Sparrow 9,675]

#11. Did they test your eyesight, Ben?  

[BulwellBrian 107]

23 hours ago, benjamin1945 said:

There is a big old building on Cinderhill road opposite Bagnall road,now used as offices,...had some dealings there couple of years ago,and remember them telling me that the building was originally part of the NCB...........Just wondered if this was the place you're trying to identify?

 

That building did belong to the NCB but it was not the medical place. It was used as an office in the early 1960's by the people who were setting up the computer system for wages and invoices. The computer centre was built at Mansfield Woodhouse. The laboratory I worked at was behind this building oposite the houses on "The Cliff". We did use a ground floor room in the building as a store room.

[BulwellBrian 107]

18 hours ago, trogg said:

I went for chest xray in 62 , I believe that the place was as another person said it was on the left on cinderhill road going into Bulwell , I have looked on the site Old maps on a 1955 map and it was up a drive between Drysdale close and Haswell road. at the top is a building named Springhead , I can remember the trees as I walked up there ,

 

The name Springhead does ring a bell. That was the medical centre.

[Annesleyred1865 137]

I had my chest X ray round the corner from Babbington in 71 and the bloke who did the medical was winging me up something cruel because I had no GCE's. He was really having a go when I told him I just wanted to leave school and work down the pit. 

He said there were youths out there with O Levels etc. I shit myself but still got a job by keeping my mouth shut. Maybe it was to see if I had a wild streak or I was a nutter. I'll never know ; but had 22 years down the pit.

[Compo 10,185]

I thought the building on the Bulwell road was the local HQ offices of the NCB?

[Ayupmeducks 1,728]

HQ of No6 Area was Bestwood, Compo, at least until reorganization around 1967ish, then it was the South Notts Area, I think they moved the HQ to Edwinstowe, someone might correct me on that one.

I don't recollect when Hucknall Training Centre closed, but I took my final practical test at Bentinck Training Centre in July of 1968, which took over when Hucknall was closed.

 

[BulwellBrian 107]

Bestwood was the HQ of No.6 Area East Midlands Division and also of the South Notts Area after reorganization. Edwinstowe was No.3 Area and North Notts. Bolsover No.1 Area and North Derbyshire.

[Ayupmeducks 1,728]

I wasn't sure Brian, as central stores was moved from Bestwood to Moorgreen, I think Central Workshops were also resighted at Moorgreen the same time, and the  training centre was moved to Bentinck. I presumed HQ and central offices were also moved during the re organization too.

[DJ360 6,392]

On 22/02/2017 at 1:48 PM, Ayupmeducks said:

That's Babbington Colliery, the old wood headstocks were replaced by the steel headstocks in this photo. The only colliery I recall that had concrete headstocks, was Hucknall No2, other than Cotgrave's towers.

 

 

Bestwood Colliery's Headstocks were preserved I think at least partly because they are of an early type of concrete and iron/steel construction.

 

Springhead was definitely an X-Ray and possibly wider medical centre in the early 1960s.  Maybe later, I don't know about later.  My uncle Frank Radford was  'live in' caretaker there for a while. I'm guessing that would be around the 1960-62 period.  I can't recall more closely.  One Christmas or New Year we went there for a party. I recall is wasn't at all warm in there.  We kids ran about all over the building.  In one room was large machinery painted white or cream.  I assume that was X-Ray machinery.  What really fascinated me though were a group of (to me) huge magnifying glasses, which were all arranged edge on on a bench at the side. They were presumably for looking closely at X-Ray plates. Some were oblong in shape.  I remember thinking how envious my schoolmates would be if I had such a thing.  I was absolutely aching to 'have a go' with one of those magnifiers, but we were all severely warned off touching anything.  There was a loo at the back of the building on an upper floor.  I recall looking out of the window to a mysterious area of woods and farmland which I could only guess about because I'd never seen it before.  Prior to that our only reason for going so far along Cinderhill Rd would be to get a bus up to Aspley to visit relatives.  That land is now all part of the huge redevelopment whch changed Bulwell forever.

 

My brother and I had a look up the drive to Springhead maybe 20 years ago.  There was a small trickle of a stream along the left side of the drive.  I assume that eventually goes under Cinderhill Rd and on into the Leen.  The place was clearly called Springhead for a reason.

 

The Google Earth link below shows the area as it is now.  The 'house/building' seems to still be there. I don't know whether the pond to the left of the drive is the 'Spring' in question, or whether the water ultimately comes from somewhere higher up behind the house.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Cinderhill+Rd,+Nottingham+NG8+6BA/@52.9939631,-1.2019147,327m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4879ea787a6fdf23:0xc949d0cb0cee504b!8m2!3d52.9882889!4d-1.202127

 

Further up Cinderhill Road, opposite Bagnall Rd is where the old Coal Board Labs were and where Bulwell Brian and I both worked.  I've just read that that place is called 'The Cliff', though I've never heard that used before.  I can't recall for sure, but I think there may also have been some offices there closer to the road than the labs and something to do with NCB 'Land Sales'..... whatever that was. 

 

Col

 

 

[plantfit 7,213]

Bestwood colliery headstocks

 

 

Rog

[Ayupmeducks 1,728]

They've done a wonderful job restoring the headstocks and vertical steam winder. I have a few photos of Bestwood in it's hayday, Steve did me a favour and took a few of the engine house and headstocks. 

 

It is many years since I rode down that shaft, now filled and capped, on a visit U/G during my underground training, the Instructor took us down to see what a low face looked like.  I somehow think he'd have been shocked at some of the faces I worked on down under, where we didn't need knee pads, but needed a stepladder to change the lights on the face roof supports, let alone the output per week of the face at 48,000 tons. Small by faces now that cut nearly 250,000 tons in ONE WEEK.  A long way from Cliftons weekly 15,000 tons saleable from three faces.

[colly0410 1,180]

I went for my pit medical somewhere near Babo pit in June/July 1968. I started at Moorgreen training centre on 14'th August 1968. Mam worked in Babo canteen, she used to sneak me a free cuppa when I went to pick her up.

 

 Useless info: I'd only traveled up & down concrete headstock shafts - the upcast at Moorgreen & the upcast  (rode on top of the skip) & 2 downcast tandem shafts at Hucknall, however I traveled the steel headstock downcast shaft at the Mining Museum at Caphouse pit on my underground tour there last October. I walked part way down & then back up (puff pant) the Lancaster drift at Bestwood when I was at the loco driving school, very cold as it was an intake drift..