Today we take a look at a former coal mine which was part of the Selby coalfield.
See episode one here... • The Plan For Coal ... ...
Selby coalfield (also known as the Selby complex, or Selby 'superpit') was a large-scale deep underground mine complex based around Selby, North Yorkshire, England, with pitheads at Wistow Mine, Stillingfleet Mine, Riccall Mine, North Selby Mine, Whitemoor Mine and at Gascoigne Wood Mine; all coal was brought to the surface and treated at Gascoigne Wood, being distributed onwards by rail. The primary purpose of the pit was to supply coal for electrical power generation; much of it was used in the nearby Aire valley power stations.
Mining peaked in 1993-4 at 12 million tonnes a year. The mines were acquired by RJB Mining in 1997 after the privatisation of the coal industry; loss of financial subsidy, geological problems, and low UK coal prices made the pits unprofitable by the 21st century. Closure was announced in 2002, and mining completely ceased by 2004.
Planning permission was granted to sink two 7.315 m (24 feet) diameter shafts here in 1976, and preliminary work began in 1977.
Thyssen (GB) Ltd began sinking the 708 metre deep shafts in June 1978 and reached the Barnsley seam in 1982. Work on developing the mine took until January 1988, when mining began.
When the neighbouring North Selby Mine was closed in July 1997 because of geological problems, owing to its depth, its take was merged with Stillingfleet’s. Nevertheless, continuous losses forced UK Coal to announce the phased closure of its Selby complex in July 2002. Under this process, coal production at Stillingfleet ended on July 30th 2004.
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