With profits earned from their Nottinghamshire pits, the Barber, Walker & Company initiated some exploratory boreholes in the Bentley area in the late 19th century.

[6] The initial workforce at Bentley were those already in the employ of Barber, Walker and Company, who had been tempted away from their pits at Watnall and High Park in Nottinghamshire.

[7] The colliery (and the Barnsley Seam in general) always had problems with methane gas being released during the mining process.

[11] In 1939, the mine was second only to nearby Rossington Colliery in using diesel-powered flameproof locomotives for the movement of men, materials, and coal underground.

They also had sporadic incidents of strikes in 1988 after management accused three developmental miners of not making sufficient progress.

The colliery manager wrote to all the miners stating that the dispute could only be resolved once the pit was back at full production.

[16] At 5:45 pm on 20 November 1931, firedamp was ignited in the North East Colliery Face of the mine which caused roof falls preventing the men from reaching the shaft and the pit-head.

[18] Four men went down the pit wearing breathing apparatus and had to carry the injured over 2 miles (3.2 km) to get them to safety.