Haig Colliery Mining Museum
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Haig Colliery Mining Museum
Haig Colliery Mining Museum was a visitor attraction in Kells, on the site of Cumbria's last deep coal mine on the cliffs above Whitehaven in Cumbria, England. It closed in January 2016 due to insolvency. History The museum was an independent, volunteer-led project to provide a permanent archive of the local mining history and community resource within the remaining winding engine house, which became a scheduled monument in 1998. One of the two massive steam winding engines had been returned to working order, and many artifacts were on permanent display to help describe the life of the local miners and the social history of the area. Coal mining in Whitehaven dates back to the 13th century when the monks from St Bees Priory supervised the opening of coal mines at Arrowthwaite. This long history ended abruptly in March 1986, when Haig Colliery, Cumbria's last deep coal mine, finally closed. During this time, the gassy nature of the mines caused numerous violent explosions. Ov ...
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Kells, Whitehaven
Kells is an area of Whitehaven in Cumbria, England, elevated on a cliff to the south of the town centre, overlooking the Irish sea. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 2,437. Kells was built as a coal mining community. A cable railway, the Corkickle Brake, was opened in 1881 to connect the pits at the top of the steep incline to the railway line in Whitehaven town below. As the pits closed, the Corkickle Brake was abandoned in 1932. It was re-opened in 1955 to serve the Marchon chemical works (later a division of Albright and Wilson) in Kells. When the Brake was again closed in 1986, it was the last standard gauge cable railway operating in the UK. With the change from phosphate-based detergents, the Marchon works was the victim of a gradual winding down process and finally closed in 2006. Kells Amateur Rugby League Football Club was first formed in 1931, and played in the Cumberland League The league is run by the British Amateur Rugby League Association (BAR ...
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Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is the administrative seat of the Borough of Copeland, and has a town council for the parish of Whitehaven. The population of the town was 23,986 at the 2011 census. The town's growth was largely due to the exploitation of the extensive coal measures by the Lowther family, driving a growing export of coal through the harbour from the 17th century onwards. It was also a major port for trading with the American colonies, and was, after London, the second busiest port of England by tonnage from 1750 to 1772. This prosperity led to the creation of a Georgian planned town in the 18th century which has left an architectural legacy of over 170 listed buildings. Whitehaven has been designated a "gem town" by the Council for British Archaeology due to ...
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Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's county town is Carlisle, in the north of the county. Other major settlements include Barrow-in-Furness, Kendal, Whitehaven and Workington. The administrative county of Cumbria consists of six districts ( Allerdale, Barrow-in-Furness, Carlisle, Copeland, Eden and South Lakeland) and, in 2019, had a population of 500,012. Cumbria is one of the most sparsely populated counties in England, with 73.4 people per km2 (190/sq mi). On 1 April 2023, the administrative county of Cumbria will be abolished and replaced with two new unitary authorities: Westmorland and Furness (Barrow-in-Furness, Eden, South Lakeland) and Cumberland ( Allerdale, Carlisle, Copeland). Cumbria is the third largest ceremonial county in England by area. It i ...
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Winding Engine
A winding engine is a stationary engine used to control a cable, for example to power a mining hoist at a pit head. Electric hoist controllers have replaced proper winding engines in modern mining, but use electric motors that are also traditionally referred to as ''winding engines''. Early winding engines were hand, or more usually horse powered. The first powered winding engines were stationary steam engines. The demand for winding engines was one factor that drove James Watt to develop his rotative beam engine, with its ability continuously to turn a winding drum, rather than the early reciprocating beam engines that were only useful for working pumps. They differ from most other stationary steam engines in that, like a steam locomotive, they need to be able to stop frequently and also reverse. This requires more complex valve gear and other controls than are needed on engines used in mills or to drive pump A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or ...
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Scheduled Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term "designation." The protection provided to scheduled monuments is given under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, which is a different law from that used for listed buildings (which fall within the town and country planning system). A heritage asset is a part of the historic environment that is valued because of its historic, archaeological, architectural or artistic interest. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have extra legal protection through designation. There are about 20,000 scheduled monuments in England representing about 37,000 heritage assets. Of the tens of thousands of scheduled monuments in the UK, most are inconspicuous archaeological sites, but ...
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Coal Mining
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United Kingdom and South Africa, a coal mine and its structures are a colliery, a coal mine is called a 'pit', and the above-ground structures are a 'pit head'. In Australia, "colliery" generally refers to an underground coal mine. Coal mining has had many developments in recent years, from the early days of men tunneling, digging and manually extracting the coal on carts to large open-cut and longwall mines. Mining at this scale requires the use of draglines, trucks, conveyors, hydraulic jacks and shearers. The coal mining industry has a long history of significant negative environmental impacts on local ecosystems, health impacts on local communities and workers, and contributes heavily to th ...
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St Bees Priory
St Bees Priory is the parish church of St Bees, Cumbria, England. There is evidence for a pre-Norman religious site, and on this a Benedictine priory was founded by the first Norman Lord of Egremont William Meschin, and was dedicated by Archbishop ThurstanWilson, Rev J, The Registers of St Bees Priory, The Surtees Society 1915. of York, sometime between 1120 and 1135. From sculptural and charter evidence the site was a principal centre of religious influence in the west of the county, and an extensive parish grew up with detached portions covering much of the Western Lakes.See John M. TodThe pre-Conquest Church in St Bees, Cumbria/ref> The Priory was dissolved in 1539, and since then the buildings have been the Anglican church of St Bees parish, and is now a grade I listed building. The Pre-Norman Church There is sculptural and place-name evidence for the existence of a pre-Norman religious site; though no existing buildings from that time. The St Bees place-name is derive ...
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Haig Colliery
Haig Colliery was a coal mine in Whitehaven, Cumbria, in north-west England. The mine was in operation for almost 70 years and produced anthracitic coal which is most useful for coking coal. Situated on the coast, the underground workings of the mine spread westwards out under the Irish Sea and mining was undertaken at over out underneath the sea bed. History The mine was sunk in 1914 with production not starting until 1916, and full production not starting until 1925. The mine was named after Douglas Haig, the First World War commander. This followed a typical pattern of naming pits after famous figures of the day in Cumbria (Ladysmith after the battle and Wellington after the former Prime Minister). The colliery was connected to Wellington Colliery in 1922 and the two mines worked in conjunction with each other until Wellington closed in 1932. Initially Haig was operated by the Bord and pillar method, with Longwall mining taking over from the late 1930s. Operations The mi ...
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Solway Firth
The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in Cumbria, to the Mull of Galloway, on the western end of Dumfries and Galloway. The Isle of Man is also very near to the firth. The firth comprises part of the Irish Sea. The firth’s coastline is characterised by lowland hills and small mountains. It is a mainly rural area, with mostly small villages and settlements (such as Powfoot). Fishing, hill farming, and some arable farming play a large part in the local economy, although tourism is increasing. The northern part of the English coast of the Solway Firth was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, known as the Solway Coast, in 1964. Construction of the Robin Rigg Wind Farm in the firth began in 2007. Within the firth, there are some salt flats and mud flats that can b ...
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Methane
Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Earth makes it an economically attractive fuel, although capturing and storing it poses technical challenges due to its gaseous state under normal conditions for temperature and pressure. Naturally occurring methane is found both below ground and under the seafloor and is formed by both geological and biological processes. The largest reservoir of methane is under the seafloor in the form of methane clathrates. When methane reaches the surface and the atmosphere, it is known as atmospheric methane. The Earth's atmospheric methane concentration has increased by about 150% since 1750, and it accounts for 20% of the total radiative forcing from all of the long-lived and globally mixed greenhouse gases. It has also been detected on other plane ...
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Museums In Cumbria
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these items available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. The largest museums are located in major cities throughout the world, while thousands of local museums exist in smaller cities, towns, and rural areas. Museums have varying aims, ranging from the conservation and documentation of their collection, serving researchers and specialists, to catering to the general public. The goal of serving researchers is not only scientific, but intended to serve the general public. There are many types of museums, including art museums, natural history museums, science museums, war museums, and children's museums. According to the International Council of Museums (ICOM), there are more than 55,000 museums in 202 countries ...
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