Record

Entry Type	Corporate
Corporate Name	Westthorpe Colliery
Parent Body	J & G Wells Ltd (1923-1941)
	Tinsley Park Colliery Company (1941-1944)
	United Steel Company Ltd (1944-1947)
	National Coal Board (1947-1984)
Place	Killamarsh
Epithet	coal mine
Dates	1923-1984
History	The colliery was first opened in 1923 as ventilation for Holbrook Colliery. It finally began to produce its own coal from 1928. It worked the Deep Soft, Thorncliffe, Chavery and Deep Hard coal seams. The colliery was taken over by the Tinsley Park Colliery Company in 1941 and then by the United Steel Company Ltd in 1944. The colliery was transferred to the control of the National Coal Board by the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947. It was part of the East Midlands Division Area No.1 until 1967, when it became part of the North Derbyshire Area. An onsite drift mine was later added in 1949. The highest recorded output was 603,828 tons in 1970/71, with the highest recorded manpower of 1,308 men in 1956. Onsite facilities including pithead baths, built in 1949 and a washery, which was replaced in 1977. The colliery eventually closed in 1984. Known managers: Henry Burgin, H Kendall, JH Bailey, Arthur Hayes, E Thompson, George Walker, P Julian Griffiths, Harold Glasby, Albert Wheeler (later Deputy Chairman of British Coal), Joe A Rodgers, C Arnold Heeley, John H White, Konrad P Hess, Arnold Vardy, Len Edwards.
Key Events	1923: First opened as ventilation shaft 1928: First produced coal 1941: Sold to Tinsley Park Colliery 1944: Sold to United Steel Company 1947: Nationalisation 1984: Closed
Source	'Westhorpe Closed After 60 Years', http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/individual/Bob_Bradley/Bk-5/B5-1984-P1.html Bell, D., Memories of the Derbyshire Coalfields (Newbury: Countryside Books, 2006) Bridgewater, A. N., North Derbyshire Collieries (2009) https://www.aditnow.co.uk/documents/Doe-Lea-Coal-Mine/North20Derbyshire20Collieries20Small20Update.pdf National Coal Board North Derbyshire Area, Westthorpe Colliery, 1923-1984 (1984)
Authorised Form of Name	Killamarsh; Westthorpe Colliery; 1923-1984; coal mine

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