One from a while ago this.
After my second fail to get into Mansfield General Hospital, myself and ZeroUE decided to try our luck at Clipstone. At this point I hadn't really done any Industrial locations and wasn't expecting much to wow me, but as soon as I was in I was blown away. Like a kid in a sweet shop :-D
Some (borrowed) history -
The new village of Clipstone, was built on the site of Clipstone Army Camp in 1926 by the Bolsover Mining Company. It was built as a model village with the latest housing and facilities to provide accommodation and recreation for the mines workers.
Clipstone was one of the first post war examples of the 'Koepe' or Friction winding system, but surprisingly, here the NCB went for ground based winders, rather than the by now more usual system of winders installed in towers over the shafts. This required the use of headframes or headstocks, and the ones at Clipstone have pulley wheels or 'sheaves' located one above the other being designed specifically for the Koepe winding system. The winding house contained the two electrically driven Koepe winders, and two motor generator sets to convert the local AC supply to DC. This configuration remained virtually unaltered until closure in 2003. The heapsteads are the two brick buildings beneath the headstocks. The central winder house is a modern design of brick and glass. The two magnificent headstocks, which were the tallest in the UK when built, standing at approximately 65m high, and act as local landmarks as they can be seen for a miles around dominating the skyline.
The 1950s headgear and winder house were listed in 2000 as an "early example of the 'Koepe' system". Whilst they are not the first built, it seems that they are the earliest in situ example left in the UK. The architecture of these buildings is excellent for a post war twentieth century colliery.
This technical interest has not stopped demolition proposals. In 2003, a referendum in Clipstone was held and the villagers voted for demolition of the whole site. The Coal Authority has made a listed building consent application for demolition, and everything except the tallest all metal headstocks in the country and the winder house and other immediate buildings have been demolished including the baths and coal hoppers.
Even though the colliery never recorded a loss it was closed in 1993 and mothballed. It was re-opened in 1994 by RJB Mining (now UK coal) but finally closed in April 2003.
As we look at the pic above the next few are from the left hand section
The next ones are from the middle section where the serious stuff happened!
Winder No 1 control
Winder No 2 control
Next, a few pics from the section on the right -
I never did get to see inside Mansfield General but I suppose you can't have everything.
Hope you enjoyed the collection
After my second fail to get into Mansfield General Hospital, myself and ZeroUE decided to try our luck at Clipstone. At this point I hadn't really done any Industrial locations and wasn't expecting much to wow me, but as soon as I was in I was blown away. Like a kid in a sweet shop :-D
Some (borrowed) history -
The new village of Clipstone, was built on the site of Clipstone Army Camp in 1926 by the Bolsover Mining Company. It was built as a model village with the latest housing and facilities to provide accommodation and recreation for the mines workers.
Clipstone was one of the first post war examples of the 'Koepe' or Friction winding system, but surprisingly, here the NCB went for ground based winders, rather than the by now more usual system of winders installed in towers over the shafts. This required the use of headframes or headstocks, and the ones at Clipstone have pulley wheels or 'sheaves' located one above the other being designed specifically for the Koepe winding system. The winding house contained the two electrically driven Koepe winders, and two motor generator sets to convert the local AC supply to DC. This configuration remained virtually unaltered until closure in 2003. The heapsteads are the two brick buildings beneath the headstocks. The central winder house is a modern design of brick and glass. The two magnificent headstocks, which were the tallest in the UK when built, standing at approximately 65m high, and act as local landmarks as they can be seen for a miles around dominating the skyline.
The 1950s headgear and winder house were listed in 2000 as an "early example of the 'Koepe' system". Whilst they are not the first built, it seems that they are the earliest in situ example left in the UK. The architecture of these buildings is excellent for a post war twentieth century colliery.
This technical interest has not stopped demolition proposals. In 2003, a referendum in Clipstone was held and the villagers voted for demolition of the whole site. The Coal Authority has made a listed building consent application for demolition, and everything except the tallest all metal headstocks in the country and the winder house and other immediate buildings have been demolished including the baths and coal hoppers.
Even though the colliery never recorded a loss it was closed in 1993 and mothballed. It was re-opened in 1994 by RJB Mining (now UK coal) but finally closed in April 2003.
As we look at the pic above the next few are from the left hand section
The next ones are from the middle section where the serious stuff happened!
Winder No 1 control
Winder No 2 control
Next, a few pics from the section on the right -
I never did get to see inside Mansfield General but I suppose you can't have everything.
Hope you enjoyed the collection
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