Mexborough & Swinton Times – Friday 05 August 1932
Petit Pit.
Jump Miner Digging For Abdy Seam
Pluck plus Luck
There is at least one optimist in the world of mining. Mr. William Gedney, of Jump, has embarked hopefully upon the sinking of a colliery at Hemingfield. The enterprise has aroused a good deal of interest throughout the district, and sinking operations, which commenced this week, have attracted much attention. It is expected that the colliery will be yielding coal in two or three weeks.
Mr. Gedney has acquired about two acres of land in the centre of the village opposite the Milton Arms. The land is intersected by the L.M.S. railway and is known as Mexboro’ Glebe land. It is overlooked by Top Row, and is skirted on the other side by the Wombwell Council’s recreation ground. The site has as excellent building frontage of fifty to sixty yards.
The actual sinking of the mine was commenced on Wednesday and within a few hours a temporary headgear had been erected, Mr. William Gedney, senior, supervising the operations, assisted by his two sons. He hopes to strike the Abdy seam 21 yards from the surface. Mr. Gedney has had a good deal of experience in projects of this kind. Formerly employed at Hoyland Silkstone, he has developed small mines at Gawber Hall and Dovecliffe. For three or four years he has worked the Barnsley seam at Gawber Hall. He has also been connected with other experimental enterprises and is well-known on the Feast grounds. He has a large collection of engines and wheels and a good deal of fairground paraphernalia at Kitroyd. Jump. The new mine at Hemingfield offers convenient access to the main road and is also in proximity to the railway.
Mr. Gedney holds decided views on the question of personal responsibility in industrial problems. To a “South Yorkshire Times” representative he expressed the view that the country would be much better off if individuals took the opportunities that came their way and were prepared to take a risk and adapt themselves to conditions. He realises that the new project is a big speculation, but he is quite hopeful about it.
Mr. Gedney did not state whether he had taken expert advice regarding the prospects of successful mining operations at Hemingfield, but there may be some significance in the fact that the great Hemingfield fault cuts diagonally across the close in which he is working. This is shown on large-scale mining maps and the fact is known to a good many miners in the district. Where the shaft is planned is almost on the exact limit of the fault, and, of course, the question as to whether he is on the right side of is a matter of practical consequence to him. The first phase of his work will be one of exploration.
The presence of the Alby seam near the surface at Hemingfield is well known to miners in the district. It crops out in the Hemingfield Reservoir and also appears in the hillside at Dovecliffe, which is probably the only place where it has been worked for profit. No other seam is nearer the surface in this district. The nearest point to Hemingfield at which large-scale coal-mining has been carried on is the old Lundhill Colliery. Records show that at that point the Abdy seam was reached at a depth of 77 yards, the Beamshaw at 100 yards, the Kent Thin at 120 yards, the Kent Thick at 145 yards, and the Barnsley seam at 216 yards. Elsecar Main being on the other side of the fault, the Abdy seam is not shown at that colliery. It occurs, however, at Wombwell Main and at all other mines on the northwest side of Hemingfield at depths ranging from 25 to 100 yards.
Apparently, the only seam which offers practical possibilities to Mr. Gedney is the Abdy seam, but if the operations are developed on a larger scale it may be possible to tap the Beamshaw ream, which is only 2S yards deeper. The Abdy seam is less than a yard thick and is of exceptionally good quality for domestic purposes. From the point at which Mr. Gedney is sinking it will fall away from the surface and therefore power will be required for haulage.
Owing to the fact that Hemingfield stands on a fault, the village is honeycombed with outcrops. Several of these, including the Wath Wood or Melton Field seam, come to the surface on the high fields known as the Makins, to the north of where Mr. Gedney is working. The Barnsley seam, which was only 150 yards deep at the old Hemingfield Colliery at Tingle Bridge crops out near Elsecar Reservoir. Mr. Gedney’s pluck will commend itself to all who are interested in the development of mining, and the district will wish him luck.
Keen interest in Mr. Gedney’s operations has been shown by unemployed miners of the district, and no doubt their fingers have itched to “have a go.” They will agree that Mr. Gedney knows what he is about and is the right type to tackle a project of this kind.