Nunnery Colliery
Encyclopedia
Nunnery Colliery was a coal mine close to the city centre of Sheffield
, South Yorkshire
. The mining company, known as The Waverley Coal Company, also worked High Hazels Colliery
about 3 miles (5 km) further east.
The colliery was nationalised
in 1947 becoming part of the National Coal Board
and closed in August 1953, its reserves said to be exhausted.
train, carrying ninety men and thirty boys, seven people were killed and around fifty others injured.
The 500 yards (457.2 m)-long rope was 19 months old but, the management stated that there was no guidance in the Mines Act (or elsewhere) as to the life, or required strength, of a rope. A section of the broken rope was submitted for examination to a local testing company and Dr C. H. Desch, Professor of Metallurgy
at Sheffield University. The strain on the rope was at its highest level when the coal was being drawn, and one of the mysteries of the accident was that it occurred when the men were in the train and the strain would therefore be lighter.
James Hoyland, superintendent at the testing works said the test did not prove that the rope had materially weakened. Dr C.H. Desch said that he had examined the two pieces of broken rope 2 ft
(60 cm) long taken from a short distance on each side of the fracture. He was unable to throw any light as to how the rope fractured in the way it did but it was clear that it broke in a tension pull.
The jury
at the inquest returned a verdict of "accidental death".
s could be found working at Nunnery or High Hazels Collieries. All the locomotives listed below, except those shown as being scrapped became the property of the National Coal Board from 1 January 1947.
Builders:
Other
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
. The mining company, known as The Waverley Coal Company, also worked High Hazels Colliery
High Hazels Colliery
High Hazels Colliery was a coal mine situated between the parish of Catcliffe, near Rotherham, and the parish of Handsworth, near Sheffield. It was adjacent to the main line of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway between the stations of Darnall and Woodhouse.The original colliery...
about 3 miles (5 km) further east.
History
Mining started on the Nunnery site in 1868 and it is claimed that its coal supplied half the houses in Sheffield.The colliery was nationalised
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
in 1947 becoming part of the National Coal Board
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
and closed in August 1953, its reserves said to be exhausted.
The Nunnery "Paddy Mail" accident
On 3 December 1923 an accident caused by the breaking of a rope hauling an underground Paddy MailPaddy mail
Paddy mails, generally considered as being workmen's trains, were operated by, or for many companies to transport their workers to their place of work or between their sites of work....
train, carrying ninety men and thirty boys, seven people were killed and around fifty others injured.
The 500 yards (457.2 m)-long rope was 19 months old but, the management stated that there was no guidance in the Mines Act (or elsewhere) as to the life, or required strength, of a rope. A section of the broken rope was submitted for examination to a local testing company and Dr C. H. Desch, Professor of Metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
at Sheffield University. The strain on the rope was at its highest level when the coal was being drawn, and one of the mysteries of the accident was that it occurred when the men were in the train and the strain would therefore be lighter.
James Hoyland, superintendent at the testing works said the test did not prove that the rope had materially weakened. Dr C.H. Desch said that he had examined the two pieces of broken rope 2 ft
Foot (unit of length)
A foot A foot A foot (plural: feet; abbreviation or symbol: ft or ′ (the prime symbol) is a unit of length in a number of different systems including Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman, English units, Imperial units, United States customary units and the units of many Continental European...
(60 cm) long taken from a short distance on each side of the fracture. He was unable to throw any light as to how the rope fractured in the way it did but it was clear that it broke in a tension pull.
The jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
at the inquest returned a verdict of "accidental death".
The Locomotives
The Waverley Coal Company locomotiveLocomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s could be found working at Nunnery or High Hazels Collieries. All the locomotives listed below, except those shown as being scrapped became the property of the National Coal Board from 1 January 1947.
| No./Name | Wheel Arr. | Cyls. | Makers | Wks No. | Date Blt. | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No.1 | 0-6-0ST | IC | HE | 252 | 1880 | Scrapped April 1929 |
| No.1 | 0-6-0ST | IC | HL | 3002 | 1913 | |
| No.2 | 0-6-0WT | FW | 216 | 1874 | Scrapped | |
| No.2 | 0-6-0ST | IC | HE | 786 | 1902 | |
| No.2 | 0-6-0ST | OC | AE | 1472 | 1904 | ex-Eccles Slag Co., Rebuilt 1938 |
| No.3 | 0-6-0ST | OC | FW | 283 | 1875 | Scrapped |
| No.3 | 0-6-0ST | IC | HL | 2955 | 1912 | Scrapped |
| No.6 | 0-4-0ST | OC | AB | 899 | 1901 | ex-Ried Bros., Glasgow |
| No.7 | 0-6-0ST | IC | HL | 3726 | 1928 | |
| No.8 | 0-6-0T | OC | HL | 2879 | 1911 | ex-M.D. & H. B. /S. & M. R. 'Thisbe' |
| No.9 | 0-6-0T | OC | KS | 4080 | 1919 | ex-LMSR London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four... No.1603 (1933) |
Abbreviations
Cylinders:- IC Cylinders inside frames.
- OC Cylinders outside frames
Builders:
- AB Andrew Barclay & Sons Co.Andrew Barclay & Sons Co.Andrew Barclay Sons & Co. was a builder of steam and diesel locomotives, based in Kilmarnock, Scotland, that was founded in 1840 and is now owned by Wabtec Rail.- History :...
. - FW Fox, Walker & Co.Peckett and SonsPeckett and Sons was a locomotive manufacturer at the Atlas Works in St. George, Bristol, England.-Fox, Walker and Company:The company began trading in 1864 at the Atlas Engine Works, St. George, Bristol, as Fox, Walker and Company, building four and six-coupled saddle tank engines for industrial use...
- HE Hunslet Engine CompanyHunslet Engine CompanyThe Hunslet Engine Company is a British locomotive-building company founded in 1864 at Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England by John Towlerton Leather, a civil engineering contractor, who appointed James Campbell as his Works Manager.In 1871, James Campbell bought the company for...
- HL Hawthorn Leslie and CompanyHawthorn Leslie and CompanyR. & W. Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilding and locomotive manufacturer. The Company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982.-History:...
- KS Kerr StuartKerr StuartKerr, Stuart and Company Ltd was a locomotive manufacturer from Stoke-on-Trent, England.-History:It was founded in 1881 by James Kerr as James Kerr & Company, and became Kerr, Stuart & Company from 1883 when John Stuart was taken on as a partner...
& Co.
Other
- M.D. & H.B. Mersey Docks and Harbour BoardMersey Docks and Harbour CompanyThe Mersey Docks and Harbour Company , formerly the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board , owns and administers the dock facilities of the Port of Liverpool, on the River Mersey, England...
- S.& M.R. Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway