Bradford Colliery

Damage to buildings in the area around the colliery caused by subsidence led to it becoming uneconomic despite its sitting on large reserves of high-quality coal, and it was closed in 1968.

The extraction of coal caused that fault to reactivate in the 1960s, resulting in a scarp that seriously damaged Crompton Hall, a residential complex built in the early 20th century.

Coal has been mined at Bradford since at least the early 17th century, when the endeavour could be very profitable albeit with significant financial risk.

[9] The early mines were shallow, exploiting seams close to the surface of what was a largely rural area until the growth of nearby Manchester.

Colliery records date from 1740, when Oswald Mosley of Ancoats Hall granted a 200-year lease of mining rights.

By 1856 the colliery was in the ownership of Thomas Livesey, and had two 18-foot (5.5 m) diameter shafts to the Parker mine at a depth of 540 yards (490 m), providing ventilation.

[11] The high price of coal at the end of the 19th century persuaded the newly created Fine Cotton Spinners and Doublers Association to mitigate the effects on its members by purchasing the colliery in 1900,[12] thus ensuring a cheap supply of fuel for their steam-powered mills.

[14] The ready supply of coal encouraged the development of Manchester's chemical industry around the colliery and in the northeast of the city generally.

The transport of coal underground was improved by the installation of three-ton mine cars hauled by a battery-powered locomotive and a system of conveyors.

A new headgear and winding engine were built at the Deep pit shaft; ventilation was by means of two axial-type fans installed in an underground chamber.

[5] After 1947 a 460-yard (420 m) tunnel 55 yards (50 m) below ground level was driven to the Stuart Street Power Station, to provide coal direct from the colliery.

[19] The NCB's plans for the colliery included extending the mines beneath Collyhurst, Cheetham, and Ancoats, but the risk of causing yet more subsidence proved to be unacceptable.

[22] The 17-acre (6.9 ha) site, renamed Eastlands, was cleared and its two deep shafts capped with reinforced concrete in a scheme costing £8 million before redevelopment.

[22] Francis Taylor is the first recorded fatality at the colliery, killed by a roof fall at "Bradford coal pitt" in 1622.

[25] In 1924 a number of tubs transporting miners being hauled to the surface derailed and dislodged a pit prop, causing a roof collapse,[26] known locally as a crump;[27] three men were killed and nine injured.