Rother Vale Collieries were a group of coal producing pits originally in the Rother Valley parishes of Treeton, Woodhouse and Orgreave, nowadays on the south east Sheffield / Rotherham boundary, in South Yorkshire, England. In the early 20th century a new colliery at Thurcroft was developed.
The Fence Colliery Company was formed in 1862 with the purchase of Fence Colliery, a small coal pit sunk alongside the main Sheffield to Worksop road at the lower end of the village of Fence. This pit had already been in operation for over 20 years and under new ownership was considerably developed. It closed as a coal producing unit in 1904, coal from its reserves being brought to the surface at Orgreave, but it was retained as a pumping station and later became the National Coal Boards workshops, finally closing in the 1990s.
Orgreave Colliery (1982)
Orgreave Colliery, then a small concern, was bought by the company in 1870. It was situated less than a mile from Fence, adjacent to the main line of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, to the west of Woodhouse. It was joined to this railway by a steeply graded but short branch line.
Five years after the purchase of Orgreave colliery the company changed its name and became Rother Vale Collieries Limited extending its empire just two years on with the sinking of a new pit at Treeton. A railway branch was constructed by well-known contractors Logan and Hemingway between Orgreave and Treeton to link the collieries to the Midland Railway at Treeton. In order to gain a foothold in the traffic at Treeton the M.S.& L.R. gained authorisation for a branch line, unusually, under its "Extension to London" Act, 1893. This opened for traffic, including the Paddy Mail, on 10 October 1898.
Thurcroft Colliery (1977)Church built for Rother Vale Collieries in Thurcroft
Moving further eastwards the Rother Vale Colliery Company began the sinking of a new colliery at Thurcroft in 1909. Although the Barnsley seam was reached in 1913 extraction became difficult. The point of sinking was situated over a large geological fault which had thrown the coal out of its normal position.
1: Pre 1974, most coal mines in South Yorkshire were actually in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Those annotated with a number 1, were closed before 1974.
2: The Selby Coalfield straddled the border of North and West Yorkshire
Treeton is a village and civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It is located about 4 miles (6 km) south of the town of Rotherham and 5 miles (8 km) east of Sheffield City Centre.
Woodhouse railway station, is a railway station serving Woodhouse and Woodhouse Mill in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The station is 5.25 miles (8 km) east of Sheffield station on the Sheffield to Lincoln Line.
Orgreave Colliery was a coal mine situated adjacent to the main line of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway about 5 miles (8 km) east of Sheffield and 3.5 miles (6 km) south west of Rotherham. The colliery is within the parish of Orgreave, from which it takes its name.
Woodhouse Mill railway station was opened in 1840 by the North Midland Railway on its line between Rotherham Masborough and Chesterfield.
Rotherham Main Colliery was situated in Canklow, about 0.5 miles south of Rotherham town centre in the Rother Valley. The area was the site of an ancient crossing of the river set below the crag on which were Canklow Woods, an ancient woodland area.
Sir Frederick John Jones, 1st Baronet was created a Baronet of Treeton in the West Riding of the County of York in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom on 23 May 1919.
Orgreave Colliery platform was a workman's halt built to serve the miners working at Orgreave Colliery in South Yorkshire, England. These workmen's trains or "Paddy Mails" were operated between Sheffield Victoria and Treeton Colliery at shift change times being hauled along the main line to Orgreaves Colliery Sidings where the main line locomotive was exchanged for one belonging to the colliery company, usually "Rothervale No.6" which was fitted with vacuum brakes.
The Orgreave Train Collision occurred on 13 December 1926 near Orgreave Colliery signal box on the Great Central Railway line about 41⁄2 miles (7.2 km) east of Sheffield. A goods train had collided with a preceding goods train on the same line, and the wreckage had obstructed the adjacent passenger line.
The Birley Collieries were a group of coal mines set in the Shire Brook Valley in south east Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They were connected to the railway system by a branch line from the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway at Woodhouse East Junction, about 800 yards east of Woodhouse station.
The Sheffield Coal Company was a colliery owning and coal selling company with its head office situated in South Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.
The United Steel Companies was a steelmaking, engineering, coal mining and coal by-product group based in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England.
Treeton Colliery was a coal mine situated in the village of Treeton, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England.
Tinsley Park Collieries were a group of coal mines situated in the Tinsley / Darnall area to the east of the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.
Kilnhurst Colliery, formerly known as either Thrybergh or Thrybergh Hall Colliery, was situated on the southern side of the village of Kilnhurst, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England.
High Hazels Colliery was a coal mine situated between the parish of Catcliffe, near Rotherham, and the parish of Handsworth, near Sheffield. It was adjacent to the main line of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway between the stations of Darnall and Woodhouse.
Thurcroft Colliery was a coal mine situated in the village of Thurcroft, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England.
Warren Vale Colliery was a coal mine, also known as Piccadilly Colliery, situated alongside Warren Vale Road, between Rawmarsh and Swinton, South Yorkshire, England, in the valley of the Collier Brook, which runs east, for about two miles towards Kilnhurst.
Roundwood Colliery was a coal mine situated in the Don Valley, about 2 miles north of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England on the borders of Rotherham and Rawmarsh.
Fence Colliery was a small colliery sunk at the lower end of the village of Fence, South Yorkshire, England alongside the main Sheffield to Worksop road in the 1840s, shortly before the opening of the North Midland Railway through the Rother Valley.
Beighton Junction is a set of railway junctions near Beighton on the border between Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, England.
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