INDUSTRIES 



of the seams) along which the coal was thus 

 borne out from the mines. 



The second development of coal-mining in 

 West Cumberland would probably take place 

 circa 1650, when, to win new tracts of coal, 

 pits were sunk and drifts were cut horizontally 

 through the strata from the lower grounds to 

 drain the workings. That arrangement was 

 called the ' pit and adit system.' At the pit 

 the coal was raised originally by jack-rolls 

 and subsequently by horse gins, whilst the 

 adit served the purpose for draining the rise 

 coal. The pit also caused a natural ventila- 

 tion sufficient for the limited extent of work- 

 ings in those early days. 



It was probably about 1675 that corves 

 were introduced in West Cumberland for the 

 conveyance of coals from the workings, for 

 they are mentioned in the pay-sheets of the 

 Greenbank Colliery, Whitehaven, in that 

 year. The corf was a circular basket made 

 of hazel rods, provided with an iron bow for 

 attachment to the hook at the end of the 

 winding-rope. The first corves carried 2j 

 cwt. of coal each ; but the size of the corf 

 increased as larger pits were sunk, and when 

 the horse-gins were superseded by steam wind- 

 ing-engines. In fact, the corves or baskets, 

 used in some of the Main Band pits, in 

 latter days carried as much as 12 cwt. of 

 coal each. Although the tub, cage and 

 guide-rod system was introduced into the 

 Newcastle coalfield about the year 1834, 

 corves continued to be used in West Cumber- 

 land until a much later date. And at William 

 Pit, Whitehaven, large baskets made of hazel 

 rods, carrying 1 2 cwt. of coal each, were used 

 up to the year 1875, when they were super- 

 seded by steel tubs. 



The accompanying illustration of the old 

 William Pit top, Whitehaven, shows the last 

 of the corves or baskets and the ingenious 

 contrivance of William Golightly, the over- 

 man, in 1839, for landing the baskets on to 

 the trams at the top and bottom of the shaft. 



The corves were undoubtedly in the earliest 

 days placed on ashen runners, resembling a 

 sledge, and conveyed along the corf-way, con- 

 structed of two parallel lines of wooden rails. 

 These old wooden roads were continued to 

 be used for the conveyance of coals under- 

 ground until the end of the eighteenth cen- 

 tury, when cast iron tram rails (of the angle- 

 iron pattern) and edge rails were adopted. 



After the introduction of tram plates the 

 corves were placed upon low trams fitted with 

 small plain wheels without flanges, and con- 

 veyed to the sidings at the rolley roads which 

 were laid with edge rails. At these sidings 

 there were hand cranes which were used for 



lifting the full corves off the small trams on 

 to larger trams with flanged wheels, which 

 were drawn by horses along the rolley-roads 

 to the shaft bottom. 



After the use of cranes was abandoned in 

 the Main Band collieries at Whitehaven and 

 Workington, light wooden bogies, also fitted 

 with small plain wheels, were used on tram- 

 plate roads for bringing the rise coals down 

 from the workings to ' stears," which were 

 tips erected at the sidings, and at which the 

 bogies were emptied into the corves or baskets 

 for conveyance to the shaft. These baskets 

 were made up into trains or ' rallies ' which 

 were drawn by horses to the pit bottom ; and 

 where the rolley-road was long there were 

 stages at which there were sidings or pass-byes. 



As the main underground roads were ex- 

 tended to the dip and the horse work became 

 correspondingly heavier, it became imperative 

 to contrive some other means for traction 

 underground. Accordingly the steam-engine, 

 which had proved so useful for pumping and 

 winding in shafts was applied for drawing 

 trains of tubs along those roads by means ot 

 hemp ropes in the first instance and after- 

 wards by wire ropes. 



It is difficult to say when mechanical haul- 

 age was first introduced for underground 

 haulage in the Cumberland coalfield, but 

 probably it was in the year 1818, when a 

 high-pressure engine was erected underground 

 in William Pit, Whitehaven. 



Since that time several systems of under- 

 ground mechanical haulage have been adopted 

 in the West Cumberland collieries. The 

 ' main-and-tail rope ' would probably be the 

 first method tried. Then, where there was 

 a dip road into the workings, a single rope 

 was used, the ' empty set ' of tubs taking the 

 rope inbye and the engine drawing the ' full 

 set' outbye. In some cases the engine is placed 

 near the shaft bottom, and in others on the 

 surface. The system now generally in use in 

 the West Cumberland coalfield is that known 

 as the ' endless rope.' It may be described as 

 an endless steel wire rope driven by a steam- 

 engine at bank. At the engine the rope is lapped 

 several times round the drum in order to give 

 the engine the necessary grip ; and, inbye, the 

 rope passes round a terminal pulley. The 

 rope is kept taut upon the drum by a balance- 

 weight attached to a sliding pulley (near the 

 engine) round which the rope on the 'empty' 

 side is made to pass ; and in the case of a long 

 and undulating engine plane a similar tighten- 

 ing arrangement is also placed at the far end. 



There are two lines of rails, one being used 

 for the full sets coming out and the other for 

 the empty sets going in. The sets of tubs are 



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353 



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