Mexborough & Swinton Times – Friday 07 April 1933

Pit Closing

Shock for Wombwell District

Mitchell Main Finished

Victim of Quota System

By-Product Plant Too

1,500 Notices

Wombwell received a shock on Tuesday, when fifteen hundred workers at Mitchell Main Colliery were given notices terminating their employment. The notices will mature in the middle of next week, when the colliery and its by-product plant will close down. We understand that efforts to avert the calamity are being made, but at the moment there is no definite hope of their success.

A representative of the “South Yorkshire Times’ interviewed the management of the colliery and the agent, Mr. Leonard Smithurst, who made the following statement:

Owing to the uneconomic conditions brought about solely through restrictions imposed by the quota system, the company have been most reluctantly compelled to close the colliery and the by-product plant. The directors have spent very large sums during the past ten years in work of development and the opening out of new seams, which in the normal course of events would give the colliery a long lease of life. But the serious restrictions of output caused by the operation of the Mines Act have rendered the position untenable. The output is altogether inadequate to meet the financial requirements of such an important undertaking. The directors fully realise the gravity of their decision, but they cannot help themselves.

Mr. Smithurst said they were not unmindful of what the effect of the stoppage would be in the district. They were particularly sorry for their own employees, many of whom had been at the colliery from boyhood. They had the reputation of producing some of the finest coal raised in South Yorkshire, and prior to the passing of the Mines Act the Company was a prosperous concern. Mitchell Main Colliery was sunk in 1874 by Joseph Mitchell. The Barnsley seam became exhausted some years ago. The measures now worked are the Parkgate seam, three feet two inches thick, and the Silkstone, four feet three. The Silkstone is in the early stages of development, and great things were expected of it.

The Company have been somewhat handicapped by two outbreaks of fire in this seam within a short period. The last fire occurred early this year and was only extinguished by prompt sealing off of the workings. The seam was re-opened at the end of February, and only a week ago a price list was agreed upon.

Of the fifteen hundred men affected, about a hundred are employed at the by-products plant. The others are engaged in three shifts at the colliery. The Silkstone seam employs about 200 men. The depth of the Parkgate seam is 670 yards and that of Silkstone 750 yards. The Silkstone is approached by a drift from the Parkgate. The employees of Mitchell Main live chiefly in Wombwell, Darfield, Ardsley, and Barnsley.

The news that the by-product plant was to be closed down also came as a great surprise. The plant was erected in 1910, and has never been out of operation. During the war the plant was largely occupied in making high explosive and other commodities in connection with munitions. In 1984 the plant was reconstructed and a contract was entered into for the supply of Wombwell with crude gas. Previously the Wombwell Urban District Council had produced the supply at their own works.

The anticipated loss of the Mitchell Main supply has given rise to some apprehension, particularly view of the fact that Wombwell also supply Darfield, Great Houghton, and intermediate districts. Seen by our representative, Mr. E. J. Wellens, the Wombwell U.D.C. gas engineer, said no official intimation had been received from the colliery company. The contract did not expire until Dec., 1934.

The gas is piped from Mitchell Main in crude form and purified at the gas works. On receiving news of the probable closure of the colliery, e Gas Committee of the Wombwell Urban Council took immediate steps to examine the situation, and representatives were appointed to interview the company. Mr. Smithurst assured our representative that Darfield Main, owned by the same firm, would remain open.

At Darfield Main some twelve hundred men are employed in the Melton Field and Beamshaw seams.

Mr. Smithurst insisted that the stoppage was due entirely to quota restrictions. He added: “Our quota this month is only per cent. We have done our best since the Act came into operation, but the position has got steadily worse. Under present circumstances the continued working of the colliery has become impracticablo. In forward developments we have tried to benefit not only the company but the district, but we have had no encouragement. We can raise all our quota at one mine. The first notices were issued on Monday evening and the remainder the following day. They were all signed by the manager, Mr. G. Dixon.

The chairman and managing director of Mitchell Main Colliery is Mr. Robert Claytor, of Derby. During the week representatives of the Mitchell Main brand have had discussions with the management and the headquarters of the Y.M.A. at Barnsley have been kept in touch with the situation.