Ayle Colliery
Clive
Seal
The present Ayle Colliery was began 1932-33 by Mr & Mrs White of
White Lea's Farm, who formed the Ayle Colliery Co Ltd. Coal had previously been
worked by the "old man" and from time to time these workings were
broken into. The first drift was started off behind White Leas farm, working
towards the dip. Stan Shepherd managed the colliery for the owners. A native of
Prudhoe, he had moved to Alston some years before to work at Barhaugh Colliery,
which he managed until its closure in 1933. The first drift at Ayle was not a
great success, it ran to the dip and eventually the water won the battle so a
new drift was began in a different county.
The pit was now under the ownership of Frank Heads, still trading as the
Ayle Colliery Co Ltd. The second drift was commenced about 100 yards east of
Clargill Colliery and now in
In conjunction with the pit, limestone was quarried out of the new
quarry at Ayle. This was commenced from the banks of the Ayle Burn by Stan and
his wife and the lime burnt on site in a new kiln. The main roads within the
colliery were only low, about 4ft high, and the men had to walk all the way in
with their gear then walk out again at night. The coal was anthracite from the
Little Limestone seam, which averaged 18". As the drift was becoming
worked out, further drifts were driven in the field to the north east but these
kept hitting very old workings. Things were getting crucial as reserves began
to dwindle so the owners ventured back across the Ayle Burn into Northumberland
to drive the East Drift in the early 1950s.
The east drift worked on until the mid 1970s, winning coal by pneumatic
picks (windy picks) and from time to time AB 12" cutters were installed to
undercut the stone beneath the coal. The coal was fired and loaded into tubs,
which were then hauled to the surface in tubs. There they were tipped onto a
conveyor, which crossed the Ayle Burn and deposited Northumbrian coal into the
screens in
During the working of the East Drift the pit had hit financial difficulties,
so much so that Frank Heads told John Shepherd that if he could 'turn the pit
around' on his retirement he could have it. John did just so but Frank Heads
didn't appear to want to retire. However, after the unfortunate accident, Frank
called it a day and the Ayle Colliery Co Ltd passed into the hands of John and
Sheila Shepherd. This was a boom time for the coal industry as coal prices kept
going up and up, winter time would find between 15 and 20 picks employed. It
was very hard to get a job at Ayle Colliery as so many wanted to be there,
indeed it was also the only Alston pit to have pithead baths, even if the
shower water first of all cooled the generator. Development underground was
restricted to the East by a 30ft fault, whilst the working to the West were
getting to such a point that coal clearance was getting difficult. To rectify
this a new drift was driven above the now closed limestone quarry and new
surface installations built as the old East Drift now became a fan drift only.
Production now was purely for the household markets with only the slack coal
going to Weardale Cement works.
Times change both in industry and society, not only in Alston but across
the country the private mines were finding it difficult to bring young lads
into the collieries. The work is very hard and attitudes change, now it is more
fashionable to 'do nowt' than to want to be the best hewer. The demise of the
nationalised industry also brought changes, which usually meant the cost of
operating rose. In 1991 there were 5 collieries operating in Alston, one by one
they all closed. Clargill was reopened but, like Ayle, struggled to get men and
finally closed when all the men cleared off to work on the foot & mouth.
The waiting list at Ayle was no more and by 2000 there were just 5 hewers, one
got bad wrists and went on the loco then another handed in his notice. The
arithmetic was plain for all to see; the colliery couldn't pay with 3 hewers in
its present business structure. John offered the pit to the men to take over
the underground operations, eventually 2 more packed in and Clive & Gina
Seal formed C&G Mining Co Ltd to lease the underground, selling all it's
produce to Ayle Colliery Co Ltd. A few more hewers were found in dribs and
drabs but, after 12 months, one month after Sept 11th, it was insurance time
again! All the claims put in throughout the mining and construction industry
(mining comes under construction for insurance purposes) meant that insurance
premiums doubled, even though there had been no claims from Ayle, there was no
way the pit could be now run at a financial profit. No body was going to make a
loss and the Government certainly wasn't going to help.
Several ulcers later I asked the men if they would like to become self
employed. Only one did! We said bye bye to the others and set up the first
mining Limited Liability Partnership in the
(January 2003)