Ibstock Colliery

IBSTOCK COLLIERY

The first person to mount a large-scale operation to obtain coal in the Ibstock area was William Thirlby (farmer, grazier and lace manufacturer) of Ibstock Lodge, who, in 1825, decided to sink shafts on his land. His decision was to prove extremely costly in every sense. Initially he had to raise £2,800 (a very considerable sum of money in those days) to buy the necessary equipment and this he did half by mortgage (in conjunction with Joseph Jephcott of Exhall, Coventry) and half by loans at 4½%, all secured on his house and lands. By this means he reached the Upper Main seam (5 feet thick) at 210 feet, but not the Lower Main seam at 376 feet (see below). However, the money available proved insufficient and at the end of December he had to increase his mortgage and, in addition, borrowed £350 from the Rev. Storer of Great Wigston. These measures still failed to meet his requirements and, in January 1930, with the acquisition of more capital becoming increasingly vital, he entered into partnership with his son and Benjamin and James Cort, Iron founders, of Leicester. But there was to be no happy outcome: profitability remained beyond his grasp and bankruptcy proved inevitable, whereupon his farm and share of the business were seized by the Rev. Storer and a few months later he died, a sorry consequence of letting one’s hopes and ambitions far outrun one’s resources.

Subsequently the Cort’s reached a financial agreement with the Rev. Storer – and then with his sons (John of Newtown Unthank and Joseph of Ibstock), to whom he had given his share of the business. The sons then tried to break the agreement, whereupon the Cort’s threatened legal action. However, the matter was settled out of court, at which point the Cort’s withdrew all their capital. The Storer brothers now formed a new partnership and invested new capital, as a result of which the colliery seems to have become a viable enterprise. It was apparently at this time that the shafts reached the 8’ 6” thick Lower Main seam (they became known as the Bottom Pit) and coal was successfully worked from both the Lower and Upper Main seams. The latter was also worked at the Top Pit, a single shaft just to the south. The coal from both Pits was mostly sent to Leicester, this being greatly facilitated by the construction of a line to the Leicester & Swannington Railway 1½ to 1¾ miles away (see later). During the year ending July 30, 1833, 5,400 tons of Ibstock coal went to Leicester by rail and, according to the Leicester Journal of Nov. 13, 1835, Ibstock coal (‘the cheapest good quality coal on the market’) was being sold at West Bridge station (the Leicester terminus of the L.&S.R.) by S. Coleman and at Soar Lane by R. Case.

So Ibstock Colliery was beginning to achieve some degree of success and in 1837 it was purchased by the Leicestershire Coal Company after the receipt of a favourable report from Willis Bailey, who had been engaged to conduct a survey and had pronounced the Colliery a good investment. (Mr Bailey, who, amongst the information included in his report, also noted that the coal seams totalled about 40’ in thickness and that they were interbedded with seams of ironstone and clay suitable for the manufacture of firebricks and earthenware, was subsequently employed as the Company’s engineer.) The Company’s first action seems to have been the installation of a new 70hp engine for the operation of all three shafts. In a second survey, however, undertaken by John Laurance in 1840, some rather unpalatable facts came to light. In his report to the Directors (Benjamin Payne, a Leicester auctioneer, Thomas Pochin of Normanton Hall and William Miles, a Leicester coachmaker, with E. M. Green of Ashby acting as solicitor) Mr Laurance noted that the shafts of both pits were ‘injudiciously placed,’ the Top Pit in particular being too near the boundary of the property, and that the quality of its coal deteriorated ‘towards the edge’. In addition, there was a bad fault 120 yards from the shaft of the Bottom Pit, to the north-west, and the coal became inferior beyond it. He recommended the sinking of new shafts in order to successfully extract the remaining 30 acres of top coal and 50 acres of bottom coal. He also pointed out that sinking these new shafts 50-60 yards below the Lower Main seam would allow access to 300 acres of coal under the neighbouring Glebe Estate. The Directors immediately acted on this advice with results that were to prove advantageous to the Colliery for some years. (In 1844 13,211 tons of coal were despatched over the L.&S.R. and obviously large quantities will have been sold locally, with more being despatched by horse and cart.) However, in 1846, for reasons unknown, the Colliery was put up for sale by auction. (The auction took place on April 2 at the Queen’s Head Hotel, Birmingham.) The outcome of the auction is also unknown, but it may have been bought by E. M. Green as he was apparently the Colliery’s owner in 1853. The auction sale list provides valuable information about the Colliery and its equipment and the following seems to be the most important. There were two shafts (which of those mentioned previously they were is not specified of course but presumably those sunk on the recommendation of Mr Laurance), a winding engine (cylinder 6ft. stroke and 2ft. diameter), a pumping engine (cylinder 5ft. 4 ins. diameter), two principal seams – 5ft. top seam and 8ft. bottom (though over half of the former and a fifth of the latter were stated to be worked out) - and an abundance of fire clay and a good supply of brick clay, with brickyard, kiln and large shed for manufacture now in full work (clearly Mr Bailey’s hint had been acted on and a Brickworks had been installed some years prior to the auction). And interestingly the auctioneers commented: “The Colliery has been partially opened c. 20 years but has only been in full work for 10 years”.

In the course of his researches the compiler came across a quite instructive and fascinating letter, written by an Edward Ford to Ibstock Colliery on October 30, 1854. Although of minor importance as regards the Colliery history, it is well worth a mention because of the clear picture of Victorian values and attitudes and of the principles underlying business arrangements in those days that its 8 pages give. The Colliery had made an agreement with Mr Ford to hire from him ‘6 railway wagons for the transit of coal and other materials on narrow gauge railways for 4 years. (Presumably they were to be used for bringing coal from the coal faces up to the surface and taking pit props, equipment, etc. underground and for the conveyance of coal and materials generally to wherever they were needed on the Colliery site, possibly including spoil to the Colliery spoil bank.) He guarantees that the 6 wagons ‘will be constructed in a good and workmanlike manner’ and specifies at some length the criteria for the Colliery’s treatment of them. For example, the wagons were to be kept in good repair and were not to be loaded with a greater weight than 6½ tons. The cost of each wagon was £12 – presumably per annum.

Some of the Ibstock Colliery Accounts for 1855 have survived and provide much useful information. In particular the coal output for that year, 19,486 tons, shows the comparatively small size of the Colliery - though 21,549 tons were in fact sold with the help of accumulated stocks. It might be added here that, although the Colliery did produce some high quality steam coal, much of its output was regarded as being rather inferior, though its poorest coal was put to good use in its brick kilns – and in other kilns in the area. The price of large coal ranged from 8s 4d to 9s 2d per ton, cobbles from 6s 8d to 8s 4d and slack from 4s 2d to 5s 10d. Nearly 90% of the output was despatched by rail, well over half to customers in Leicester, the rest to nearby towns such as Ashby, Burton and Loughborough or further afield to such places as Roade, Hitchen, Leamington, Aylesbury and Northampton. In addition, 2,176 tons were sold locally along with 469 tons of bricks. There is a fortnightly breakdown of the coal output (see footnote 1 at end) together with the names of those in charge of the different groups of workers at the Colliery and the wages paid to each group. Over the first few weeks (December 21, 1854 , to January 17, 1855), coal was worked by six teams of men (lead by H. Bodle, J. Reeves, L. Fawkes, J. Asher, J. Deemings and F. Cox), who were paid 2s 8d per ton for large coal and 1s per ton for slack. Other specialised groups of employees were led by Messrs Atkinson (wagoner’s), Shaw (road repairers), Cooper (headers), Harris (bankers), Smart (labourers and nightmen), Rock (carpenters and sawyers), Corden (enginemen), Stirland (machine men), Potter (locomotive enginemen) and Brown (railroad labourers). However, replaced J. Reeves, Mr Freeman replaced Mr Potter, Mr Hardington replaced Mr Harris and Mr Jones replaced Mr Brown. Pay was calculated fortnightly. Customers receive a mention too. Mr G.W. Gill of Leicester (a coal merchant in Pingle St.) purchased 187 tons of coal, 295 tons of cobbles, 158 tons of screenings and 50½ tons of slack during the fortnight January 4-17. Other regular customers, though on a far smaller scale, were Orchard of Ashby, Thomas Green of Hitchin, Watthin of Leamington and Butlin of Roade. Land sales (coal/cobbles/slack) over this same period were worth £45. In March Joseph Ellis & Sons of Ullesthorpe started to purchase Ibstock coal (12½ tons of cobbles) and L. Jenkins of Burton (54½ tons of cobbles). The Midland Railway at both Leicester and Derby made occasional small purchases as well. Land sales averaged c.£20 per fortnight over the summer but were up to £58-15s-10d by the beginning of December.

In 1855 too the Colliery seems to have requested specifications for various steam engines from Boulton and Watt, presumably prior to a purchase.

Also, of interest in 1855 is a reference to the continued observance of the 18th century practice of making bonus payments for outstanding effort at some collieries, including Ibstock. The team of men producing the largest amount of coal per fortnight received a considerable extra payment. For example, on December 3 J. Deeming’s team received £1 3s in addition to their normal earnings of £17 6s (between them). Ibstock Colliery also had a New Year celebration and annual dinner (at a cost of £7 17s 6d in 1855 – as an interesting comparison the manager’s fortnightly salary at that time was £10) and there was also free ale provided for the men after the completion of some developmental work.

Some sources claim that the first important mining operations undertaken at Ibstock only began in 1860 when either one new shaft or three new shafts were sunk. (There are conflicting views on this.) However, there also seem to have been serious problems with bitter labour disputes and declining reserves at this time. (E. M. Green had been in a long correspondence with the Rev. J. Bennett of Ibstock and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners about the possible lease of coal under 60 acres of Ibstock Glebe.) This seems to be supported by the fact that in 1866 E .M. Green sold the Colliery to William Whetstone (who was already a co-owner of Whitwick Colliery), who in turn sold it on (after the death of his brother Joseph in 1873) to Messrs. R. D. Thomson, S. M. Thomson and W. P. Shephard, who formed a new Ibstock Colliery Company. (The N.U.M. History of the Leicestershire Coalfield noted that it became a Limited Company at this time.)

Details of the Colliery and Brickworks and their purchase were given in ‘The Mining Journal’ of August 23, 1873. The Journal recorded that the Ibstock Colliery Company had been formed, with a capital of £100,000 in £5 shares, to purchase (at a cost of £95,000) and work the Ibstock Colliery and Terra-Cotta and Brickworks, “developed and successfully carried on by the late Mr Joseph Whetstone”. The brick and terra-cotta works were described as extensive and equipped with a steam engine, clay mill, pug mill, presses, models, drying and stove rooms, kilns and “every requisite for carrying on the manufacture of bricks, coping stones, drain pipes, chimney pots and every kind of terra-cotta ware”. There were said to be c. 540 acres of freehold minerals having five seams of workable coal, averaging 25 feet thick and estimated to contain 13 million tons. The output was 60,000 tons per annum (the actual figure given is 6000 but this is obviously an error), which could “readily be increased to 100,000 tons”. The strata were said to be free of faults and the workings free of water and fire- and chokedamp. The Colliery was worked on the longwall system and was suitable for the introduction of the double shift; the coal was celebrated for household and steam purposes and there was a large demand for it locally and in Leicester and it also commanded a ready market in London. There were three shafts, all reaching the lowest seam at 154 yards. “This Colliery altogether appears to be laid out with care and judgment”.

However, despite this glowing report on the Colliery and its prospects, the Mining Journal issue of September 5, 1874, revealed serious financial difficulties. At the first ordinary general meeting of the shareholders, a different picture was presented. The Chairman admitted that the Company was heavily indebted to the bank and was in urgent need of fresh capital – a constant problem for many limited liability companies. The directors now realised that they had made a mistake in making the annual payments to the vendor too heavy for the first two years when they would be wanting to spend money on improvements etc. and they were being obliged to use the profits to meet their payments to the vendor. And in fact, at the request of the directors, Mr Whetstone now agreed to a radical alteration in the mode of payments. It was emphasised, though, that the Colliery was raising c. 350 tons a day, as against the 200 tons being raised when the Company took over, and Mr Watson, the manager, had assured the Board that 500 tons could be taken out a day – and that this target had already been almost achieved. But it was also noted that at the present time demand for coal was small, though it was hoped that demand and prices would improve in the winter, and that the wages the men were being paid were far too high and needed to be cut by 20-30% - problems that were country wide in the industry. It was a period of depression. British manufacturers had failed to react to changing times and circumstances and increasing foreign competition, with the result that profits were being hit, unemployment was rising and money for expenditure/expansion/development was increasingly lacking. (Some insight is available into the Colliery’s finances at this time. In the 12 months ending June 30, 1875, the Colliery received £35,539-8s-2d for coal going out by rail, £1,849 from land sales and £3,108-0s-3d from sales at Bagworth wharf. Brickyard sales were £5,210-7s and Colliery wages for the same period were £23,025-2s-4d.

At the shareholders meeting in August 1879 matters had improved somewhat. Although a loss of £2000 had been recorded in the previous year, on this occasion, after everything had been paid, ‘such as interest on the various matters’, there was a profit of £1130. But it was agreed that no dividend would be declared – “the sum would be applied to new works”. In this year coal sales had produced over £27,000 and brick sales £2,991 – though note that these figures were well below those of 1875. The Colliery’s total assets at this time amounted to £135,000.

By 1883 – and probably much earlier – Mr Sheppard had become the Colliery manager and Mr R. D. Thomson the agent. The O.S. map for this period (published in 1888) reveals a fairly basic establishment but some degree of modernisation was certainly implemented at the beginning of the 1890’s, though again there are different views on the number of new shafts sunk. Colin Owen, for example, in his Leicestershire and South Derbyshire Coalfield 1200-1900, argues that there was some serious modernisation of the Colliery between 1890 and 1892 “with new shafts sunk to the Lower Main coal”, resulting in an output of 900 tons a day, 550 tons being Upper Main coal from No. 1 Pit. However, a single shaft only (a second main shaft it is claimed) seems most probable – see Colliery Guardian coverage in 1896, which seems to be supported by the Mining Journal of August 1873, quoted above. It is also claimed that new roads were driven to improve ventilation and haulage. Other improvements effected at this time (detailed in the Colliery Guardian of June 6, 1890) were the installation of new screens and the introduction of the electric light, both underground and on the surface. The installation of the latter, by Messrs Roper of Bradford, comprised a 300-light compound shunt machine, driven by a 12 inch horizontal single cylindered steam engine of 2¼ feet stroke. The light was carried on circuits, one circuit serving two of the large lamps of 4000 candle power, which entirely illuminated the vicinity of the pit top, and another circuit serving two more lamps of the same power for illuminating the screens. Where the coal was sorted by hand, the lights were of Swan and Edison incandescent type. There were several incandescent lights underground: two engine houses were illuminated as well as the shaft sidings and stables. The winding engine house, shops and offices were all lighted, as was the house of the manager (Mr Stubbs). It was the intention of the Company to provide electric lighting in the brick and pipe works. There were already about 100 incandescent lamps in use, varying from 8 to 50 candle power.

A detailed report of 1892 stated that the Colliery was in good working order and that it would achieve its full potential as soon as the endless rope winding system had been installed at the Lower Main seam. And it is said that in 1895 Ibstock installed a coal cutting machine, the first Colliery in Leicestershire to do so – one of the owners in earlier years, Dr S. M. Thomson, had also had a colliery in Scotland (Wishaw, near Glasgow), where coal cutting machines had been in use since the 1870’s. However, there is no reference to this machine in the 1896 Colliery Guardian account given in the following paragraphs, which is perhaps significant. (Dr Thomson had become a shareholder of Ibstock by 1874, was appointed managing director in 1875 and later became chairman of the Company. His descendants were to play a prominent role in the development of the Company, particularly the Brickworks in the next century.)

At this time too the Brickworks saw further development – 3 new kilns and 2 drying sheds were erected at a cost of £500.

The Colliery Guardian issue of Sept. 18, 1896 gave a full account of the Colliery and its equipment. The owners were still Messrs. R. D. and S. M. Thomson (sons of Dr Thomson) and W. P. Sheppard and the Colliery manager was John Hay, the undermanager’s being Thomas Petcher at No. 1 and William Price at No. 2.) At this time the Colliery held the mineral rights for 750 acres, half freehold, the rest under lease. There were two separate pits operating (Nos. 1 and 2), 130 yards apart. No. 1 comprised two shafts, 17 yards apart, one for winding and downcast, the other for pumping, the former being nearly 170 yards in depth (though the coal was raised from a depth of 144 yards), the latter 150 yards. Both were 8 feet in diameter. No. 2 also comprised two shafts, one for winding and downcast (150 yards in depth), the other, 26 yards away, was the sole Colliery up cast shaft. The former was 14 feet in diameter (presumably the ‘second main shaft’ referred to previously), the latter 8 feet. (There was a fan ‘of the improved form’, made by the Waddle Patent Fan and Engineering Co. of Llanelly in 1894, at the up-cast shaft.) The seams being worked at the time were the Upper Main at No. 1 and the Lower Main at No. 2, the coal being obtained by the longwall system from both. Both No. 1 shafts and the up-cast shaft are allocated to 1860 and the other No. 2 shaft to 1890. (Unfortunately, no sources are given – and see reference above to shaft dating difficulties). And this also leaves many unanswered questions about the 1840 and earlier shafts – though the presumption must be that these had long been abandoned.

At No. 1 Pit, the winding engine had two horizontal cylinders, 20 ins. diameter and 4 ft. 6 ins. stroke and raised two tubs in each cage, each tub carrying 13 cwt. Underground haulage was affected by an endless rope system operated by a haulage engine (comprising one horizontal cylinder, 16 ins. diameter and 2 ft. stroke) located at the surface. The tubs were moved in pairs. The pumping engine (thought to have been made at Soho Works) was placed at the surface (the cylinder was 4ft. 8 ins. in diameter and 4ft. 6 ins. stroke, the beam resting on the front wall) and operated 12 hours a day. There were also two underground pumps, both made by Messrs. Wootton of Coalville. There were four Lancashire steel boilers (30ft by 8ft) and four cylindrical boilers, two with Meldrum furnaces. At the screens, the loaded tubs, after passing over the weighbridge, were taken alongside the wagons where four types of large coal (two domestic and two steam) were taken off the tubs by hand and put in the appropriate wagons. The rest of the tub contents were raised with the tubs by a steam hoist to a tippler and deposited on a jigging screen of three tiers to be separated into four sizes – cobbles, nuts, peas and dust. Electric light, provided by a dynamo (made by Messrs. Roper & Co. of Bradford) driven by a horizontal engine (one cylinder 12½” in diameter and 26” stroke – the dimensions are slightly different from those given in the Colliery Guardian of June 6, 1890 !), supplied light to the screens, shops and offices at No. 1 and to the screens, pit bottom and 80 yards of sidings at No. 2. Ponies were employed in No. 1 Pit, on the level section at the bottom of the downcast shaft.

At No. 2 Pit, the winding engine (made by Messrs. Inglis, Hossack & Co. of Airdrie) comprised two horizontal cylinders, 2ft in diameter and 5ft 6ins. stroke, fitted with piston valves. This raised two tubs in each cage, each tub carrying 10½ cwt of coal. The hauling engine was underground, near the bottom of the up cast. It had two horizontal cylinders, 18ins. in diameter and 3ft 10ins. stroke, and operated sets of 12 tubs on the main road. The loaded sets ran the last 150 yards or so to the bottom of the shaft by gravity. There were two steel boilers, of the Lancashire form, made by John Marshall & Co. of Motherwell (80lb working pressure). The screens were installed in 1890 by Messrs. Wootton of Coalville. (The C.G. comments very favourably on how spacious and well lit these were and how well protected from the elements the workers were.) A tippler (made by Mr Sylvester of Newcastle, Staffs.), operated by steam, tipped all the coal from the tubs onto a fixed steel-plate shoot, which led to the screens proper. The large pieces were picked off first, to be sorted into four types (two domestic and two steam – as at No. 1) and then loaded by hand into the appropriate wagons. The rest, again, was separated into cobbles, nuts and peas, the fine slack falling through the last screen into a hopper.

The output at this time was about 550 tons a day (9½ hours) from No. 1 (22 stalls in operation) and about 500 tons from No. 2. The work force comprised 267 underground and 99 on the surface at No. 1 and 376 underground and 43 on the surface at No. 2.

The Colliery’s very large Brickworks (that lay just to the west of the Colliery itself) and its scale of operations must receive special mention at this point. This had developed from the small Brickworks that had been installed by 1846 (a brickyard and kiln along with fireclay and brick clay appeared in the 1846 auction list – as already mentioned) and had been constantly extended over the years and ordinary bricks, firebricks and sanitary pipes of all sizes up to 18” diameter were now manufactured on a large scale. There were two brick making machines (made by Messrs. Wootton of Coalville) and several pipe making machines. The distribution of all these products, along with the coal, extended over the Midlands and the south of England.

In August, 1899, the Company became Ibstock Collieries Ltd. and it is said that shortly after the turn of the century they acquired the New Heather Colliery Co. Ltd. (formed in 1892), which had closed in 1896 because of flooding/drainage problems and a lack of adequate reserves of good quality coal – though a different acquisition date given, for which there is much better evidence, is January 1896. The intention was to re-open it in order to supply their Brickworks with the inferior coal available. However, nothing came of this and the site was eventually sold to the NCB for open cast mining.

The O.S. map of 1903 shows the massive increase in the extent of the Colliery, which had resulted from the installation of No. 2 Pit, as indicated in the Colliery Guardian report just given. The railway system has trebled in size, reflecting the doubling or more of the coal output; a new engine shed has been provided and the Brickworks has also undergone considerable development.

However, in the first decade of the next century, consistent profitability proved elusive and several annual losses were suffered – though the Brickworks remained in the black and demand for their products rose steadily. At the end of the decade, however, output was running at c. 300,000 tons per annum and this was maintained throughout the war, which led to dividend payments for Colliery shareholders, as demand for coal for the war effort and the level of sales were both high.

In the post-war years a daily target of 1,300 tons was fixed but 1,100 was the maximum achieved owing to illness and absenteeism. Even the increase in the number of the workforce as servicemen returned home produced no improvement in terms of output per man per shift.

Over this period the numbers employed by the Colliery were 733 underground and 171 on the surface in 1908. (The undermanager of No.1 was W. Newton, the undermanager of No.2 W. T. Hewitt). By 1914 these numbers had increased to 1128 and 285 (another source gives only 175) respectively and by 1918 the numbers were 1009 and 293, the manager at this time being J. J. Torrance. (In 1918 the undermanager of No. 1 was W. Percival, of No. 2 J. H. Hickman.) In 1923 the numbers were 1176 underground and 229 above and the manager was still Mr Torrance. (When he left in 1924, he commended the ready assistance given him by all officials and workmen and observed that, without it, he could not have achieved his plans. Was the installation of the drift etc part of these plans – see later, Footnote 2) The seams being worked were the Upper Main, Four Feet, Five Feet and Seven Feet (the coal types were House, Steam and Manufacturing).

At least post-war the Ibstock men seem to have received good treatment from the owners. There was a miners’ welfare club, through which a 2d contribution a week ensured some degree of medical treatment at the Leicester Royal Infirmary when needed; there was an accident club and there were organised outings to sea-side resorts. On the other hand, when the mines, which had been taken under Government control during the war, were handed back to the owners in 1921, severe pay cuts were imposed, which triggered a country wide strike, albeit fairly short-lived. But there was to be little respite now from the problems besetting the mining industry (as well as other industries) generally – demand for improved conditions and pay in the face of industrial decline, falling productivity, too many small collieries producing too little coal, overmanning, foreign competition and general industrial unrest. In 1925 further confrontation was followed by the General Strike in 1926. (1231 men were employed at Ibstock in 1926.) The men returned to work at the end of August and the following year the Colliery’s profits exceeded £24,000. However, this sum was regarded as very unsatisfactory by the owners. Coal sales were extremely depressed, and brick and pipe sales were the only hopeful sign. So, in 1928, with the demand for coal still depressed and with full account taken of the thinness of the remaining seams (though there is a reference elsewhere to an 8 foot seam still being worked) and of declining reserves (see footnote 2), the Company started to shed labour (e g. the Atherstone Advertiser of August 21, 1928, reported that 140 Ibstock miners had received 14 days’ notice) and commissioned a report from a Mr R .A. Tomlinson, “a well-known mining engineer of the firm Messrs Durnford and Tomlinson from Doncaster”. At St Pancras Hotel, on October 24, 1928, the reading of this report confirmed the worst fears and the directors recommended that “the closure of the Colliery should be immediate” and that “the necessary notices should be issued forthwith.” (The possibility of operating the pits until March/mid April in the interests of the workmen was considered but the report indicated a loss of at least 1s 6d on every ton of coal, amounting to losses of £7,500- £10,000.) So, at the end of the year, ‘the remaining 550 men brought their tools out of the pit’. However, it was coal production that came to an end: the brickworks were retained for development and over the next decades went from strength to strength. To their credit, the directors were sufficiently concerned and sympathetic towards those who were now without work to set up a fund of £7,500 to provide assistance for those in ‘severe distress’. In February 1929, the Coalville Times reported that the Ibstock Relief Committee had received 317 applications for assistance in three weeks. The average income of a ‘relieved’ family was £1 3s 9d, the average number of children per household was 4.5 and the average rent paid was 5s 9d a week.

The precise date of closure has not been found, though the process of winding down, clearing coal stocks, organising the sale of Plant etc. would presumably have been spread over some weeks. Most unusually The Coalville Times, which normally showed great interest in the happenings in local collieries, apparently gave no publicity to the closure. The only reference the compiler has been able to find (reported in The Coalville Times of November 30, 1928) was a question in the House of Commons, put by Mr F. G. Pye, MP for Loughborough, who asked about the closure of Ibstock the week before. The owners said that it was impossible to make any statement about re-opening. They hoped the men would be able to find employment at neighbouring collieries and understood work had already been found for several hundred. The date of the final closure notice and certification of abandonment is believed to have been October 29, 1929.

After the closure of the Colliery, the shafts (see footnote 2) were allowed to fill with water but later on both Nailstone Colliery and South Leicester were involved in pumping operations, the former to work the remaining coal during the 1940’s and early 1950’s, (so there were clearly worthwhile quantities of coal still left), after which the shafts were filled in, the latter pumping as necessary to prevent flooding in neighbouring collieries. Presumably Ibstock’s old pumping shaft was used and an electric pump was installed which served both operations.

The Ibstock Colliery Railway.

One event which must have given some encouragement to the Colliery owners in 1832, as it offered the promise of access to a much wider market for their coal, was the construction of a 1½ mile line from the Colliery to the new Leicester & Swannington Railway. The L.&S.R. Act of May 29, 1830, gave powers to the Railway Company to take the necessary lands and build the line to the Colliery but the Company seems to have allowed these powers to lapse. Consequently, the Company arranged with the Colliery owners that they should find the capital and build the line themselves. The owners, however, avoided the expense of buying the required land and built the line by a wayleave arrangement with the landowners (entailing the payment of rent) and the Ibstock Colliery Railway seems to have come into operation in July, 1832 with the opening of the L.&S.R. as far as Staunton Road (just to the north of the Colliery Railway’s junction with the L.&S.R.) on July 17. In his brief History of the Ibstock Colliery (Private) Railway, C. E. Stretton states: “On that day the first coal from the Ibstock Colliery was sent by rail to Leicester, at which date horses were employed to work the coal wagons over the Ibstock Branch Railway”. (There is a strange difficulty here. C. R. Clinker, in his monograph “The Leicester and Swannington Railway”, notes that a special report issued by the L.&S.R.’s Finance Committee on August 31, 1832, emphasised the need to complete the rest of the line as soon as possible as coal traffic receipts were “very scanty” and proposed that Ibstock, “being as yet unconnected to the railway”, should be allowed a 6d rebate per ton to cover land carriage to the railway.) Whatever, the Colliery despatched 1,078 tons of coal to Leicester, West Bridge, between mid September and the end of 1832.

On June 10, 1833, in order to avoid any difficulties in the future, the L.&S.R. obtained a further Act to enable either the Railway Company or the Colliery owners to purchase the land carrying their line – though neither did.

The Colliery line started at Ibstock Colliery Junction on the L.&S.R., situated 11 miles 32 chains from Leicester, West Bridge, just 47 chains beyond Bagworth Colliery Junction, and, on account of the comparatively high ground in this area, incorporated some severe gradients along its course. These began immediately from the Junction with 1 in 82 and then 1 in 76 to cross the Bagworth-Hugglescote road on the level. A short distance beyond the road the line reached the summit, from where it fell for 1¼ miles to its destination down gradients of 1 in 105, 73, 49, 60, 179 and 75 – which presented locos hauling loaded wagons from the Colliery to the Junction with a formidable climb. At Ibstock Junction sidings were laid and a small brick hut was built for the man in charge of the Junction. (No signal box was installed for many years: all that is known is that one had been by November 1875.

C. E. Stretton is the only source of information about the Colliery’s first engine. “The books of Messrs. Robert Stephenson and Co., engineers of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, show that in 1833 the firm built a locomotive engine for the Ibstock Colliery Railway. It ran upon the 4ft. 8½ ins gauge, had four wheels of 5ft. diameter, coupled by rods, and two inside cylinders 12ins. diameter and 16ins. stroke. As soon as this engine, the “Ibstock”, was put upon the line, it took the place of the horses previously used”. (Despite the apparently highly plausible account just given, it must be noted that there is a healthy scepticism of many of Mr Stretton’s statements, including this, the reason being that the records of R. S. & Co., in their present form, make no mention of this engine, nor do any other sources for the period. However, it must be said that the loco is mentioned in the March 21, 1896, issue of the Railway Herald (Did Mr Stretton get it from there ?) and that there is the possibility that the records of R .S .& Co. are not in their original form. On the other hand, the lack of any reference to this engine in the Colliery’s auction records of 1846 is regarded as significant by some, though the auction list simply says: “Railways and other effects connected therewith”, so the engine could have been included with the rolling stock and everything else under the generic title.)

In November 1846, the Midland Railway, which had taken over the L.&S.R., lodged a Bill for alterations to its new acquisition and for improvements to the gradients of the Colliery railway and this was passed in 1847. (This Act again gave the Colliery owners the power to purchase the land.) However, after making some small improvements to the gradients, the owners decided it would be far cheaper to sell their small loco (according to Mr Stretton again) and buy a far larger engine that would be capable of mastering the gradients. So, in 1849 they purchased an engine, Samson, that had been built as an 0-4-0 to work on the L.&S.R. but had been converted to an 0-4-2, retaining its 4’ 6” coupled driving wheels and inside 14” by 18” cylinders. It weighed 10½ tons and had a four wheeled tender. Mr Stretton claims that this worked the Colliery traffic from 1849 to 1862. It seems to have found life a bit of a struggle on the L.&S.R. and one wonders how well it performed on the heavily graded Colliery line. At least the Colliery’s output was not very great at this time, so presumably it managed to cope.

Mr Stretton observes that, at the time of writing (beginning of the 1900’s), the whole of the original permanent way had been taken up and replaced with a miscellany of second hand rails and chairs obtained from the Midland, Great Eastern and Great Northern. He also notes” Four-wheeled engines of modern construction continue to work the traffic over the line to the present day”. And the Colliery did indeed acquire another 0-4-0, new, c 1858, from Thornewill and Warham of Burton-on-Trent (believed to be a well-tank engine), presumably to replace Samson. Over the rest of its existence the Colliery acquired another five engines, four oc 0-6-0ST’s and one oc 0-4-0ST, though, apart from the last 0-6-0ST (FW oc 385/1878), which came in November, 1940 (from Digby Colliery in Notts.), their dates of arrival are either unknown or a bit uncertain. However, it seems most unlikely that more than three were present at any one time – at least in working order. Two of the 0-6-0ST’s had been built by Black, Hawthorn & Co. Ltd. of Gateshead, both of the same type, cylinders 14” by 20”, driving wheels 3’ 6”, boiler pressure 140lbs psi (later reduced to 120lbs), grate area 8.5 sq ft., weight 26 tons, including 665 gallons of water and one ton of coal. No. 416 of 1877 originally went to Wilkinson & Jarvis, contractors for the Great Yarmouth & Stalham Light Railway (soon to become the Yarmouth and North Norfolk Railway); No. 503 of 1879 went to the Lynn & Fakenham Railway Co. In 1893 they were taken into stock by the newly formed M.&G.N.R., the former receiving the number 7A, the latter 6A. Subsequently they were sold to T.W. Ward Ltd., who in turn sold them on to Ibstock Colliery at an unknown date. They became the Company’s Nos 1 and 2 (implying all earlier engines had gone) and both were scrapped on site, 416 in1928 and 503 in 1940. The other 0-6-0 was an 1867 product of Henry Hughes & Co. of Loughborough (cylinders 13 by 20, driving wheels 3’ 9”), again date of arrival unknown but scrapped on site c. 1949. (If Mr Stretton’s account is correct, then these three 0-6-0’s must have arrived after he wrote it). The 0-4-0 came from the Falcon Engine & Car Works Ltd. of Loughborough. No details of any sort are known except that it too was scrapped on site – in 1930. Presumably the Fox Walker was purchased to replace BH 503 and the HH engine lingered on as a spare to cover any emergency until the increasing infrequency of trips to the exchange sidings decided its fate. And, to return to the previous century again to consider another problem, it seems quite likely that there was at least one other, unrecorded, engine, after the TW 0-4-0, which must otherwise have soldiered on for 40 years or more, which is highly improbable, especially after the doubling of output in the early 1890’s, when both Colliery and Brickworks had increased dramatically in size. (There is a photograph of an 0-4-2, of unknown ancestry but L.N.W.R. in appearance, in the sidings at Ibstock, which could fit the bill. In view of the William Whetstone connection, was it one of the 0-4-0’s bought from the L.N.W.R. by Whitwick Colliery in 1865 and modified at some stage with a rear pony truck? Also, in this context, the loan of a locomotive at the cost of £194-19s is listed in the Colliery’s trading account for the 12 months ending June 30 1875.) The 1883 O.S. map indicates a very modest concern but the 1903 map shows numerous new sidings, together with new screens and sidings for the 1890 shaft, a third siding for the Brickworks (which had doubled in size, the number of kilns having trebled) and a new single line engine shed which lay on the north side of the Colliery line just before the junction for the Brickworks and Colliery. It is not known when the first bricks were despatched by rail but presumably very early on.

The final O.S. map of the Colliery (1929), right at the end of its existence, shows extended screens over No. 2 Pit’s sidings but none at No. 1. Presumably, with reserves running out and a need for economies, the decision had been taken to close one set of screens (see Footnote 2 and appendix). The Brickworks, though, are much as they were in 1903. The only other differences are what seems to be a tippler house and a tub track up the spoil bank, a siding off the Colliery line, 300 yards from the engine shed, running to the bottom of the spoil bank and another tub track crossing over the line to the Brickworks to a spoil bank south of the Brickworks.

Once the Colliery had closed, though, a new Brickworks was built to the north of it and traffic continued to travel from there over the Colliery line. However, the loads of brick and pipe going out by rail became increasingly intermittent and in the final years only the occasional train was required. Indeed, this situation seems to have been reached even before that according to Eric Jarvis, who worked in some of the local signal boxes. He recalled that the engine drivers in his day were Bert Ashton and George Baker and that Arthur Helmsley, who worked at the Brickworks, told him that it took them all their time to get the old loco (the Fox Walker 0-6-0ST was nearly 80 years old, having been built in 1878) in trim for the 1½ mile journey, twice a week, to Ibstock sidings. They even had to use some of the grey clay from down the pit to try to seal the tube joints! And the compiler has been told that such was the state of the Fox Walker that even a load of two wagons tested it to the limit up the inclines. The line was closed in 1956. In April 1957 the directors accepted a tender of £2,660 for the removal of the railway and by August the junction at Bagworth had been lifted.

And finally, an unresolved mystery concerning the Colliery railway must receive mention. A 25” O.S. map of 1929 shows a short section of double track about ½ mile from the Colliery, somewhere in the middle of the steep, rising gradients (from the Colliery). No explanation has been found for this, or for what seem to be 3 buildings between the 2 lines. (Nothing appears on any of the earlier 25” maps.) Can this otherwise unidentified feature be related to a statement made by Eric Jarvis (mentioned in the previous paragraph) in some railway reminiscences in Midland Record No. 17. He wrote: “There was one feature that this line (i.e. the Colliery railway) had in common with the original Leicester & Swannington Railway – it had one stretch that was too steep for locomotive haulage and that was rope-worked. The incline was about halfway along the line, with the winding house some 100 yards from the top of Bull Meadows. The rope was attached to the engine and wagons and, after being assisted to the top of the incline, the train would continue on its journey to Ibstock exchange sidings.” Lengthy speculation on all of this is pointless but two observations must be made. 1. No-one spoken to in the course of research for this monograph knew anything about a rope-worked incline along the course of the Colliery line nor was any mention made of it in any of the other sources. 2. This feature, as already noted, only appears on the 1929 O.S. map, not on the 1888 or 1903 (unfortunately no 1914 map was issued for this area). So, to accommodate all the ‘evidence’, and assuming that Mr Jarvis was correct – which seems reasonable as he was working in the area in the 1930’s, was this rope-worked incline installed in the Colliery’s latter years, perhaps during WW1, when output was high and the Colliery locos may have been becoming increasingly run down ?

On the other hand, the compiler has been told that, after the Colliery’s closure and the construction (1934-5) of the new Brickworks to the north of it (known as North Works), a rope worked incline was installed to pull the wagons out of the brickyard up to the Colliery line where the engine came on to haul them to the exchange sidings. Is that the answer to the rope worked incline – though it doesn’t solve the problem of the stretch of double track. And it must be admitted that neither suggested explanation of this problem seems particularly satisfactory.

Footnote 1.

Fortnightly coal output and sales in 1855.

Coal got (tons) Coal sold (tons)

737 917 3/1

954 887 17/1

812 895 31/1

749 774 14/2

711 916 28/2

893 977 14/3

809 855 28/3

648 885 11/4

363 761 25/4

1115 1028 9/5

1001 800 23/5

576 612 6/6

678 747 20/6

532 632 7/7

613 715 18/7

776 695 1/8

554 706 15/8

543 521 29/8

596 625 12/9

704 836 26/9

793 641 10/10

540 926 24/10

947 887 7/11

1075 1089 21/11

809 1075 5/12

979 1036 19/12

Footnote 2.

The absence of any screens at No. 1 Pit on the 1929 O.S. map shows how serious the situation must have been. How many years previously the screens had been removed is unfortunately not known but a statement that appears in the book “Getting the Coal” by J. Carswell and T. Roberts, referring to the final years, must surely be related to that event: “There was a drift shaft and two vertical shafts at Ibstock.” So was No. 1’s downcast shaft abandoned, and a drift put in to bring the coal out by conveyor belt to No. 2 at some time in the mid 1920’s. An anonymous contributor to the same book observed: “Mr Torrance came to Ibstock as manager in 1917 from South Wales. He was employed with the idea of introducing coal cutting machines (cf. earlier problem with their rumoured introduction in 1895) and conveyor belting into Ibstock.” So was Mr Torrance involved with this drift and the installation of a conveyor belt to No. 2? And is that it running from the right side of the engine shed and over the lines of No. 1 to No. 2’s screens?

Appendix.

The compiler had just completed this fairly brief history of the Colliery when the Ibstock Historical Society acquired, on loan, a volume of the Directors’ Minutes Book (1899-1946) and very kindly provided access to this. As it dealt almost exclusively with the annual finances (though there were also a few tantalising and valuable references to the actual workings of the Colliery), it seemed preferable to detail such material in an appendix rather than attempt to incorporate it in the already finished text. So, a rough outline of the Colliery’s financial position over this period is given, together with any other interesting/relevant information.

Meeting of the Directors 13/10/1899.

R. D. Thomson and W. P. Sheppard (son of W. P. Sheppard) were appointed managing directors at a salary of £600 each per annum with free coal and light. The former was also appointed Chairman of the Directors and of the Colliery. (The Company had just become Ibstock Collieries Limited.)

29/5/1900.

It was resolved to try coal cutting by machinery and a Dynamo & coal cutter had been ordered from Messrs Clarke and Stevenson of Barnsley for this purpose at a cost of £5120-5s-7d. (Two questions in the text answered – date and make of the first cutters!)

9/6/03.

The output for the half year July-December 1902 was 150,257 tons.

28/4/04.

Interim dividend of 7½% on ordinary shares declared (less income tax).

25/11/04.

Mr A. Naylor of Shirebrook to be appointed agent and manager at the Colliery at a salary of £300 p.a. and to be allowed a free house, rates and taxes, coal and light.

6/11/05.

A water softening plant (Lassen and Hyort) has been fitted to supply both pits with softened water for the boilers at a cost of £409-10s.

A new and additional reservoir has been necessary at a cost of £273-18s-8d owing to having to store more water for loco purposes. (Was there a lot more work for the locos?)

Owing to bad trade the Brickworks had to go on half time from 22/11/04 to 18/4/05.

Fortunes fluctuated wildly over these years. E.g. for the period 30/6/06 to 31/12/06 the Colliery made a loss of £3925-16s-10d and the Brickworks a loss of £155-14s-1d. Over the next 6 months the Colliery made a profit of £3199-7s-1d and the Brickworks £338-2s-7d.

And then 30/6/07 to 31/12/07 profits of £4217-17s-11d and £336-1s respectively. For 1908 profits were £2408-3s-9d and £233-11s-8d but in 1910 there were losses of £6398-4s-3d and £1342-16s-10d respectively. Losses continued on the same scale in 1911 yet for the first 6 months of 1912, despite the miners’ strike from February 29 to April 10, the Colliery showed a profit of £1357-0s-8d and the Brickworks of £692-19s-10d.

6/8/10.

It was resolved that it was desirable that Mr Naylor’s services as Colliery Manager be dispensed with. (No reason given.) Mr John McBride of Motherwell replaced him.

In 1913 two second hand coal cutting machines were ordered from T. Johnson @ £116-13s-4d (those seen in the photos ?), whilst £157-6s-5d was spent on repairs to the boilers and £400-1s-9d on repairs to locos (so at least two were operational, possibly three).

10/3/14.

It was resolved to open up the Brickworks’ clay hole more rigorously and get down to deeper and better clay, to increase the output of bricks, floor bricks and quarries and to put down a pug mill and mixer. A new brick kiln is being erected to try to get better results in firing.

7/1/15.

Attention was drawn to the very serious loss on the manufacture of bricks which would quickly bring that branch of the concern to a finish, as it would expire through loss of capital. The losses varied from £30 to £50 a week. Coal consumption was very high, and it was crucial to raise the output to 90,000 bricks a week (present output 60,000). Shortage of manpower and stoppages from illness and wet days were also noted.

25/10/18.

It is regretted that the coal output since the last meeting has only averaged 1,100 tons per day instead of the expected 1,300. It is hoped a special effort will be made to increase it to at least 1300 in view of urgent Government requirements.

25/7/19.

It was resolved to increase the prices of all coals and slacks by 6 shillings per ton as per instructions from the controller of coal mines dated 18/7/19.

31/10/19.

The Colliery made a loss of £10,813-6s-5d for the half year ending June 30. A new chain coal cutter was expected by 1/11/22.

29/4/20.

All Colliery workers have been granted by the Coal Controller an increase in wages by 20% or 2 shillings per day, whichever is the greater, from March 20.

21/5/24.

The appointment of E. W. Lane as agent and manager was confirmed.

31/12/24.

The balance of profit for the year ending 31/12/24 was £36,590-5s-11d. The Directors recommended a dividend of 5% on preference shares (less tax) and 12% on ordinary shares (less tax).

At the end of 1925 new screens were installed at a cost of £18,039-0s-4d. Was this the point at which the screens were removed from No. 1 Pit and all the coal was screened at No. 2?

The twenties, up to and including 1926, appear to have been reasonably successful financially but after that the situation slowly deteriorated on the Colliery side.

Bibliography.

The Leicestershire and South Derbyshire Coalfield 1200-1900. Colin Owen.

Moorland Pub. Co. Ltd.

Dig it, Burn it, Sell it. The inside story of Ibstock, Britain’s largest independent Brickmaker.

Michael Cassell. Pub. Pencorp Books.

Midland Record No. 17.

N.U.M. volumes

Material from The Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland.

Various Mining Journals and Colliery Guardians.

O.S. maps reproduced from 1888, 1903 and 1925 editions with kind permission of the Ordnance Survey.

Acknowledgments.

With grateful thanks to Steve Adnett, Giles Brown, Steve Duckworth (Coalville Heritage Society), Roy Etherington, Ray Fox, Kidderminster Railway Museum, The Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland and, in particular, to Andrew Ward (Ibstock Historical Society) for their generous provision of photographs and information, and to Colin James for supplying material from some Mining Journals. Thanks also to Jan Jones of WQE1 College, Leicester, for reproducing this article in booklet form.

The compiler would be most grateful for any further information on Ibstock Colliery – and for corrections of any errors. Please contact him at:

10, The Fairway,

Kirby Muxloe,

Leicester LE9 2EU