Very sad indeed. Worked in 3 pits NSW Aust. 33 years Good times RIP to all who have passed

Bring back Rosie Charlesworth

Oh how things change

I worked on both chimneys at agecroft one 385 feet & other 450 ft, our job was to clean off fly ash like a concrete wall on top of each chimney. We were employed by Bidders steeplejacks of Burnage Hall road,when Pete a brother of Syd Little of Little. & Large on T V said to Mrs Leach the Lady boss sorry but Im not laddering those for six n five an hour, so he got sixpence an hour extra whilst laddering only, it bought a portion of chips then.

Thank you Paul so much for this very informative film. I'm a Lancashire lad originally but left for the South in 67. I had friends who lived in Lowton, so I'm well acquainted with Parkside, Agecroft, Golbourn, and Brickershaw and have always been fascinated by the history of the area and its mining heritage. When you pointed out the building in Deansgate I was quite surprised just how bloody deep Agecroft was! Thanks again and I'll be putting the mining museum on my to-do list before I fall off my perch. God bless you all.

A lot of my Dads Miner friends had missing fingers

My Dad worked there for over 30 years. I still have his brass retirement miners lamp. I used to go there with my Dad to collect his wages and he treated me to a Huge meat & potato pie in the miners cafe.👍👍

many of my neighbours were miners at kiveton, my father was down the mine at waleswood until he was called up for ww2, sad to see the results of thatchers spite. she actually called people who kept the nation warm the enemy within & i still hate the cow.

Rewatched this again after not long visiting Astley Mining Museum for myself, really interesting to see up close, can't wait to visit NCM Wakefield soon though to see even more what it would have been like below the surface.

No pits Left

Clipstone headstocks still standing

Great video about agecroft, my grandad use to work there until he retired. Was a shame to see it disappear, just like the miners club closing and moving to Swinton.

My grandad worked there he was terry (little nockie) ❤

Very interesting film thank you.

There was still enough seams in Agecroft & THERE STLL IS - We know:

Top man - NO PITS SHOULD HAVE BEEN CLOSED - Real jobs - real industry

Nice one Paul.did you know my dad he was a carpenter and he would check the shaft.his name was Ernie Newton aka the ( Spider)

nearst 2 collieryies to me where Sutton Manor and Cronton

My 3 x Great Grandfather William Taylor lived in the Colliers Buildings on the site of Pendleton Colliery and he was shown in the 1881 Census as Stationary Engine Driver

The gas % were 1 1/4% CH4 electricity off, 2% Ch4 withdraw men. 5%-15% ch4 explosive range, 9.5% ch being the most explosive. The official's lamp had an injection port and they were practised at discerning these percentages.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿⚒️ Respect ⚒️

After watching this I don’t think’ I ever moan about my job again

LOL at the strike badges it was a scab pit

So so sad but I strongly believe coal will be mined again in Britain in the not to far future I use to work at agecroft collierie on the night shift moving coal about the holding area I was based at bickershaw transport and we took turns working at agecroft with the tippers it was a lonely shift because you was mainly on your own except for the loader but he use to disappear from time to time so you sat there doing nothing I later transferred to the Scottish coal field again with the transport based at Alloa

Back in the Late sixties at Walton Colliery ! I was a Supply Lad taking such things as Timber and Metal Rings directly to the Ripping Edge The shot Firer'er (The deputy that Rammed in the Dynamite into the Drill Holes and then with his Magneto He'd Blast the rock Face and all was left to Do was to Shovel the Rip as it was Named onto the Panza chain {Conveyor} which it would be Taken out of the Mine onto the Slag heaps; I Volunteered to do overtime that night just to watch the Ripper One man on his own was not allowed to work on his own for safety ? Larry as he was called Began to Clear away the Rip: it was far easier to Get onto the top of the Rip (A mound of fragmented Rocks which was brought down with the Blasting of Dynamite} and to Push the Pile of Rip Down onto the Panza Chain: The deputy Shot Firer'er Had long since Left us on our own: Larry He Climbed six feet onto the top of the Rip and has he stood upright on top of the Rip ! Suddenly He Collapsed and Rolled right to the Bottom of the Pyramid Shaped Mountain of Rock and lay there Briefly for a Few Seconds on the Ground where He got up onto his Feet and laughed: For a Brief Moment He staggered as if you was Drunk for a few seconds: He said that He could not work out why he Had collapsed ? And so He Climbed to the top of the Rip once More for the 2nd Time he Collapsed and Rolled back down to the Bottom of the Heap; He got to his Feet and staggered again and once more Climbed Back onto the Top of the Rip and rolled back from off the Rip: This time However; As I was now Facing Him . I Saw His Eyes were Rolling for about three seconds: But this Time He Began to realize why he was Collapsing from off top of the Mound ?? Standing on Ground Level Both of us were alright; But anything above Nine feet from Ground level was a Massive Pocket of Methane Gas that had built up above him and when his Head was within the Pocket of Gas He was Starved of Oxygen and was Knocked out Having No air to breath: Larry was able To Pass on a Message for the Deputy By Landline for him to Come Back and Check for Methane The Deputies Lamp is Not Accurate for Measuring quantities of Gas But he Guessed that there was about 9 % of Gas There was a Powerful Fan that then Thinned the Gas to where it Flowed down the Tailgate

I grew up in the 70s surrounded by a number of pits and it took a while for me to work out that the freshly clean miners were not wearing mascara. Coal dust seemed to stay around their eyes no matter how much they scrubbed. … As for the pit sounds, there was something quite reassuring if I woke in the middle of the night and heard the lift in the pit shaft or the trains shunting, heavy with the coal. My dad was a miner, my brother a coal man and I was happy that I was never old enough to do any of that, the pits closed while I was still studying and getting work experience elsewhere. Thank you for sharing this video.

Ye, the unions sure looked afrer you. While fucking enriching them selves along with the labour scum. We was scammed and fooled by the so called labour scum.

Great videos, keep up the good work.

Superb professional job thank you. Very moving .

Sounds a bit rainy. As I remember.

My Dad worked in Agecroft first in 1971/1973 and from 1981/1990. He loves his job in fact he spent almost 40 years working down the mines. He loved his time working down Agecroft. And hated it when the pit finally closed down. When it did close my Dad retired and moved back home to Ireland there simply wasn't any more coal mines left for him to work In

Absolutely brilliant that!

That was brilliant that! I'm an old man now. I was an electrician in the iron and steel industry. (John Hall Castings Oldham) coal and steel go hand in hand.i was drawn to it like a magnet. It closed in the 1990s. Very sad day. Thanks for this brilliant video. People need to see this.

I spent most of my early life in my local pit. We broke so many European records.. I hated it but luved it at the same time. I so wish I was still there. With my brothers.

Fascinating,well done mate. I remember delivering ppe to agecroft in the 80s for arco.now driving a bulk tipper and used to run ash from Drax to the block plants, not anymore as they now burn biomass.dont get ne started about us now importing millions of tons of coal ash to make our block's absolute disgrace other countries burning coal and us buying there ash!!!!

Up.gala

Fantastic video Paul, thank you for keeping the memory of Agecroft going 👍

plan on going soon for a bit o explore

I think it's a little insulting to the men to etch on that monument "men and women who toiled in the mine."

Nice documentary, an industry now long ogne. thanks for this

Only fellow pickers understand this💪💪💪🥰💌♻️🌱🐟🐭🐝🦢❤️❤️❤️

I went down, when photographer for Swinton Journal........never again!

Well done proud of u all

Over 20 years ago I spoke to a guy in his 90s who had started work at 14 in Sand Hole pit near Walkden. He told me that the coal seams were only around 3 feet deep and pit ponies couldn't be used so they used boys like him to drag tubs of coal out. He would be responsible for moving the coal for 6 miners who were paid by the weight of coal they cut and so would shout at him to take their full tub and drop off an empty one. The miners had lamps but he had to feel his way in the dark along the track which led to where the coal was collected.

Closing the pits had nothing to do with economics and everything to do with destroying the trades union movement.

great history Thanks mate Keep safe 👍👍

ooooooo FC United...................ooooo FC United

Very heart felt film. Well made and well narrated. A great shame it's all gone. My local colliery at Treeton and Orgreave have totally disappeared. Such structures and community lost. I remember the smell of Orgreave coal and coke been worked and the waste burnt off. That flame from the top of the gas chimney never seemed to go out. How I miss that. That and the railways around them.

Coal is all formed of the vegetation that was washed off Earth during The Flood 4,350 years ago and then buried under sediemnts from continued rainfall during The Flood.

I worked at Agecroft many times has a contractor , and when the strike was on many times we would turn around and refuse to cross the picket line and stand by the miners, also I can remember turning up and seeing sign saying, crows keep off this is big Joes seed, grass seed that is, great sence of humer at all pits 👍👍👍👍.