A prototypical colliery check from England.

The coal industry

Coal had been mined in the UK as early as Roman times, but it wasn’t until the 1700’s that mining started to venture deeper than surface level. Steam engines powering the industrial revolution from the mid-1700s needed coal, and arrival of railways in the 1800s helped move it more efficiently than canals.

In 1913, the coal industry in the UK produced 292 million tonnes of coal and by 1920, employed nearly 1.2 million people. The industry faced collapse in the 1920s and 1930s, finally being Nationalised in 1947. The “National Coal Board” or N.C.B. was formed, taking over around 800 privately owned collieries around the UK.

Rawdon Colliery

The Donisthorpe-Rawdon Colliery complex was located between Derby and Birmingham in England. Pits in the area, known as the South Derbyshire Coalfield, were first sunk during the 19th century. The shaft at Rawdon was sunk in 1821. Owned by the Hastings family, upon the death of Lord Donington, a company was formed to take over running of the collieries. This operated under several names and controlled various local mines until nationalisation in 1947.

Rawdon headgear and new heapstead building, 1953. Image credit: Northern Mine Research Society.

It became part of the South Midlands area of NCB. There is an excellent video with photos of the works at the Rawson mine. The two local collieries were originally separate entities but merged in 1986 to form the Donisthorpe / Rawdon Complex.

From 1980 all the coal from Donisthorpe travelled underground by conveyors to the Rawdon site and surface via a newly commissioned 2,200 metre surface drift.

Obverse

The check is square with a hole to hang it. Text reads N.C.B with RAWDON underneath. This dates it to between nationalisation in 1947 and the late 1980s. It is stamped with the number 389.

The check was likely a “Lamp check“. Brass lamp checks were used as a safety system to see who was in the colliery at any time and also for time keeping; for checking the miners shift time underground.

The number on the check was unique to each miner so could be used for a roll call of whom was underground in times of an explosion or other calamity.

Each miner would collect his lamp check from the Time Office on arrival at the colliery and would hand his check over to the Lamp Man in the Lamp Room in exchange for his safety lamp. The Lamp Man would then hang up the check in the Lamp Room until the miner finished his shift. Upon handing his lamp back in, the Miner would be given his check back.

Chase Water Railway Museum includes several similar (but rectangle) Rawdon lamp checks, as well as numerous other colliery checks, labels, and other artifacts.

Reverse

As with many checks, the reverse is blank. It is a good thickness, so the imprint of the number stamped on it is only just noticeable. Since these were generally stuck on hooks, the majority of this type of check were made holed and single sided.

The check is slightly bent, which I choose to take as a sign of a good working life. It had a sticker or something on the back at one point. I’m not as keen on that but didn’t want to risk damaging it by trying to remove it.

Closure

In 1987, the NCB renamed to the British Coal Company (BCC). The mine was the last operating at the end of deep coal mining in the South Derbyshire Coalfields in 1990.

Last production at the Rawdon side of the Complex was in 1989. At the time of closure, Donisthorpe was one of only two collieries nationwide still operating a steam winding engine.

The N.C.B. lasted 47 years, with the industry becoming privatised again in 1994.

BR Class 56 loco 56025 brings a loaded MGR out of Rawdon Colliery on 23 October 1989. The train is just approaching Moira West Junction, on the Leicester to Burton upon Trent line. Rawdon Colliery closed less than two years after this picture was taken. Credit Martin Loader’s Railway Photography.