| History | The first pit in Blackwell was sunk in 1871. It would later be known as Blackwell “A” Winnings Colliery. A second pit soon followed, being sunk in 1872-1873, which was later known as Blackwell “B” Winnings Colliery. In the late 19th century the Company expanded its range, first by sinking a pit at Alfreton in 1885 and then buying Shirland Colliery in 1888. It also purchased Sutton Colliery in 1899. During World War 1, 1100 men, a quarter of all the men employed by the company, went off to fight on the Continent. They were employed as sappers in specialist tunnelling corps. 116 men were killed during the course of the War. Christmas entertainment during and after the War was held at the Brigade Hall in Blackwell for widows and orphans of these men.
The company amalgamated with the Nottinghamshire based New Hucknall Colliery Company in 1944, becoming N H & B Collieries Ltd. The new company's pits were soon transferred to the National Coal Board as part of the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947. |
| Source | "‘Alfreton Colliery (North Derbyshire) Closed 1968, After 82 Years’, http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/individual/Bob_Bradley/Bk-5/B5-1968-C.html
‘Blackwell A Winning Colliery (North Derbyshire) Was Closed After 97 Years’, http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/individual/Bob_Bradley/Bk-5/B5-1969-C.html
‘Blackwell 'A' Winning Colliery Disaster’, http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/pits/Blackwell/Blackwell1.html
‘Blackwell B Winning Colliery Closed After 90 Years’, http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/individual/Bob_Bradley/Bk-4/B4-1964-3.html
‘Collieries Sunk or Opened 1865’, http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/individual/Bob_Bradley/Bk-2/Bk2-1865.html
‘Shirland Colliery’, http://www.oldminer.co.uk/shirland.html
‘Shirland Colliery Closed After 100 Years’, http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/individual/Bob_Bradley/Bk-4/B4-1965-P3.html
‘Swanwick Colliery (North Derbyshire) was closed after 102 years’, http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/individual/Bob_Bradley/Bk-5/B5-1968-J.html
Ashfield District Council, Brierley Forest Park, https://www.ashfield.gov.uk/visiting/parks-and-visitor-centres/brierley-forest-park/
Bell, D., Memories of the Derbyshire Coalfields (Newbury: Countryside Books, 2006)
Clean Rivers Trust, Blackwell Colliery (first Site) also known as A Winning Minewater Treatment Site, 4 December 2017, https://www.cleanriverstrust.co.uk/blackwell-colliery/
Mining Heritage, Sutton Colliery: Thirtieth anniversary of closure http://www.miningheritage.co.uk/sutton-colliery-thirtieth-anniversary-of-closure/
Weiss, M., Coal Mines Remembered (2010)
Weiss, M., Coal Mines Remembered 2 (2011)
Winstanley, A., Report On the causes of, and circumstances attending, the Explosion, 21 Feb 1957, http://www.dmm.org.uk/pitwork/html/sutton.htm" |