The Purbeck Mineral & Mining Museum
History of Ball Clay  - Swanage Railway
History of Ball Clay
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 Creech Area Mines 

Killed by Fall of Clay

WORKER’S TRAGIC FATE IN A DORSET MINE

First Fatal Accident there for Nearly Half Century

Click here for the 1943 Newspaper Cutting

 

 East Creech Mine (Creech Barrow)

Tucked away just below the summit of Creech Barrow in the 1970's was this Mine. Very little of it remains there today. It was the last (but one) of the mines that extracted Ball Clay from Creech Barrow. Aldermoor mine (at the foot of Creech Barrow) being the last. (Take a look at Matthew Randall's memories of Creech Barrow)

 

Creech external view of mine showing lorry loading area View of the south west end of the transhipment shed View of the north east end of the transhipment shed and the pit props. Mine outbuilding Hopper mechanismUnderground tubs in the Transhipment Shed Wagon brake device Turntables to take tubs to hoppers. Creech mine entrance.  

 East Holme Mine

 

East Holme loaded skips East Holme loaded skips at Mine entrance East Holme Underground in Feb 77 East Holme Inside Transhipment Shed Feb 77 East Holme Wagon awaiting tipping into Skip Feb 77 East Holme Hydraulic lifting gear on skip Feb 77

 Killwood


 

 

Killwood Transhipment Shed 1969 Killwood Mine Entrance1969 Killwood Track 1969

 

Greenspecks

GStranshipmentlongdistance.jpg (194784 bytes) GStranshipmentShed.jpg (224457 bytes) GStubsSiding.jpg (64674 bytes) GSviewFromMineEntrance.jpg (65402 bytes) GSWindingWheelWagon.jpg (68106 bytes) GSWindingWheelWagon2.jpg (56732 bytes)

Creech Grange

There are no pictures for the buildings at present, but Mike Giles has sent in these 2 photographs and the story behind them.

               

"Two more photos that came from the box Brownie / Kodak camera. They aren't very clear I know, but the images were captured as the only two miners who worked underground at Grange mine at that time, probably 1968, came up into the 'tranship' shed for their lunch. They had climbed up the air shaft ladders to the surface, about fifty yards away from the main winding shaft which was immediately to their left as they are seen here. The miner with the dark, collar up, shirt, vee neck pull-over and jacket, was Sid Lewis, and the other without much hair 'on top', was Rod Battrick. They used to start work at six o'clock in the morning, after arriving in a corrugated 'tin' shelter which had been placed in the tipper bin of one of Pikes' tipper lorries. How far they'd travelled thus, I don't know, I assume from the works at Furzebrook, but I do remember that Rod Battrick lived at Sandford and I've a feeling that he was picked up from there. They had to start early as the mine was within 'the Ranges', so we all had to be out in time for the Gunnery School to do their thing. Les Gover was the 'winder', and used to start at half past five in order to get the compressor going for the spaders, get the fire lit, and brew the tea."

 

The Ball Clay Heritage Society website also has photographs of the workings  Click Here to visit site
Don't forget to come back to us

 


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