OWNERS:

REFERENCES MINES DEPARTMENT:

LOCATION:

(A) Portion 10, Parish of Heddon, County of Northumberland

(B) This land, 640 acres, was the original grant made to John H. Garven; freehold and mineral rights purchased by the group.

(C) Neighbouring mines:

(i) Ayrfield No. 2 Colliery to the north-west
(ii) Stanford Merthyr Colliery to the south-east.

(D) Heddon Greta Colliery was situated between the Kurri to Maitland main road and the now disused Stanford Railway track. It was located in the area to the west on the slope behind the present Heddon Greta Hotel on the Kurri side.

DISTANCES:

(A) Heddon Greta Colliery was 7 miles 5 chains (11.3 kms) distant by road from Maitland Post Office.

(B) It was 1 mile 35 chains (2.3 kms) distant by road from Kurri Post Office.

(C) Heddon Greta Colliery pit-top screens were located 6 miles 13 chains (9.85 kms) distant by rail from the junction with the NSW Government Railways at East Greta Junction.

AREA:

640 acres freehold land.

SEAM:

Heddon Greta Colliery worked the Greta "top" seam. This seam at this point ran east 6º south, and dipped at an average of 45º.

In this colliery, this seam was 32 feet thick. The portion of the seam worked was the bottom 16 feet of the 19 feet section below the bands. First workings was the "bottoms" to a height of 7 feet, and then the "tops" coal for a further 9 feet.

There were two bands. The lower was a 2 inches of black stone at a height of 19 feet. The higher band was a 1 inch thickness of grey slatey clay.

COMMENCED OPERATIONS:

The 1889 Mines Department Annual Report informs that a group of West Maitland entrepreneurs led by Henry Trenchard, manager of the Maitland branch of the Bank of Australia, and including amongst others Samuel Clift and Henry J. Adams, had commenced mining operations at Heddon Greta on John H. Garven's land grant.

Mr Edwin (Ted) Pepper in an interview by a reporter for the Newcastle Morning Herald newspaper for its issue of 5th Jan 1904, stated that he had been engaged by this Maitland group of investors in 1890 to sink four bores on the Heddon Greta land. Later in the year (1890) the group had employed Messrs. Taylor and Wilkinson, contractors to sink a proving shaft. Mr T.W. Edgeworth David (later Professor) in the 1890 Mines Department Annual Report advised that during the year he had examined this shaft. Further that he had found the contractors had reached the seam at a depth of 56 feet and proved the seam to be 32 feet in thickness. The contractors had then driven a tunnel or drift-slope about 110 feet in length from the outcrop and at right-angles to the bottom of the shaft. The contractors had employed 5 men in this activity. The 1892 Annual Report informs that the Heddon Greta operation had been suspended during that year, but not before 45 tons of coal had been produced.

In its 1900 annual Report, the Mines Department advised that on the 29th November 1900, coal mining operations had resumed at the Heddon Greta Colliery Tunnel with Mr Thomas Innes as "permit" manager.

ENTRY:

Heddon Greta Colliery was worked originally from two tunnels about 600 feet apart. The main or haulage tunnel was 14 feet wide and 10 feet 6 inches high. It was driven into the outcrop in an easterly direction, with the incline averaging between 33º to 38º. It generally followed the seam to the barrier, a distance of about 1600 feet. The haulage tunnel was the "downcast" airway.

The second tunnel was situated some 200 yards north of the haulage tunnel. It was 8 feet 6 inches wide by 6 feet 6 inches high. Originally this was the "up-cast" airway.

A third tunnel, 7 feet wide by 7 feet high, was driven in late 1903 on the northern side of the first haulage tunnel.

When a surface furnace was constructed in 1904 use was made of the 1890 shaft to give good ventilation.

METHOD OF WORKING:

Heddon Greta Colliery was worked on the bord and pillar system. Levels on the flat were driven off from the main haulage tunnel every 160 feet. Bords down to the second "level-flat" were 19 feet wide and 7 feet high. The pillars were 24 feet wide. From No. 2 Level Flat down to and including No. 5 Level Flat, the bords due to the thickness of the seam were increased to 24 feet in width. The pillars were strengthened to 36 feet width. Below the No. 5 Level, the bords remained 24 feet wide and the pillars increased in width to 60 feet.

As the levels were driven out, a "jig heading and jig working" was made every 220 yards.

All mining was made under the "contract" conditions with all hand-boring. Heddon Greta Colliery during its short life does not appear to have had assistance given to the miners in the form of compressed air boring machines, coal-cutting machines or any underground electric lighting.

When serious heating and fires occurred after only a few, short years, quite large areas had to be sealed off. These seals were made from the common house bricks which were placed in solid walls ranging from 9 inches to 24 inches in thickness.

Bifold safety lamps were used in Heddon Greta Colliery. These lamps had two round wicks and double gauzes, with no deflectors. These lamps were manufactured by Messrs Abbott, Roby and Naylor of Wigan, England.

MINE HAULAGE:

In Heddon Greta Colliery, skips were "hand" or "shoulder" wheeled in the bords to the jig-headings. Here a "jig-cage" lowered the full skip to the level flats by gravitational means. Then in the same jig heading a "dummy" weighted skip raised an empty skip to the bord. A "jig-boy" or a junior employee controlled the simple brake apparatus to allow the wheeler to load or unload the skips.

Pit-horses were utilised to wheel on the level flats to bring the skip to and from the main haulage tunnel. Here a cage holding two skips, raised or lowered skips to or from the surface. A tank underneath the cage also bailed out pit-water.

The haulage tunnel cage was operated by a steam engine manufactured by R.J. Morison and Bearby of Newcastle. The engine had a pair of 22 inches diameter cylinders, each with a 4 feet stroke. The engine had a single 6 feet diameter drum. The steam for the engine was supplied by a Lancashire boiler, 30 feet long and 8 feet in diameter. This plant was capable of winding 700 tons of coal in 24 hours.

The haulage engine plant was housed in a 30,000 brick engine house. The bricks had been made by Mr F. Baker of East Maitland, who owned a brick kiln on land adjacent to the Heddon Greta Colliery.

PIT-HORSES:

Pit-horses were used to haul the coal skips on the level flats. The horses were brought to the surface via the "travelling road" tunnel daily.

VENTILATION:

In its first few years of operation, ventilation at Heddon Greta Colliery was by natural means. The Mines Department 1903 Annual Report informs that during that year, steam jets had been introduced to assist the natural ventilation at the Heddon Greta Colliery.

A very tall brick square-style furnace stack was erected in 1904 over an air shaft. The stack, square at the bottom, tapered in from all sides to become a smaller square at the top. The bricks were again supplied by Mr F. Baker from his kiln at Heddon Greta.

The shaft, over which the furnace was erected, is said to have been that shaft which was sunk by the contractors, Messrs Taylor and Wilkinson during 1890.

A brick partition running up inside the stack for a short distance divided the foul "up-cast" mine air from the products of the furnace combustion and bringing the mixture meeting higher up the stack. The draught caused by the heated air ascending the stack was sufficient to draw the foul air out of the mine, and fresh air to be replaced via the "down-cast" tunnel entrances.

Underground air "overcasts" were cut in solid coal instead of in stone, off-setting the cost of this installation by the value of the coal won.

It is of interest that the brick colliery stack stood for over 50 years, long after Heddon Greta Colliery has ceased operations. On the 12th April 1955, the stack was dropped by explosive charge. The reclaimed bricks were used as a solid base track by the Heddon Greta Stock-car Race Committee on the old racecourse site.

ELECTRICITY POWER GENERATION:

At no period in its short operation history, did Heddon Greta Colliery have a plant to generate electricity. From the records researched, at no time did Heddon Greta mine utilise any electrically-powered appliances, not even for surface or underground electric globe lighting.

All motive power appears to have been steam operated, pit-horse drawn or gravitational jigs.

PUMPS:

Heddon Greta Colliery certainly did not have any electric pumps. Research has failed to indicate the use of a steam pump. It would appear that Heddon Greta Colliery's total effort to rid itself of underground pit-water, was to rely on bailing-out by a tank, attached under the tunnel cage.

COAL WAGONS:

When Heddon Greta Colliery had commenced mining, and the promoters sought to form a public company, they showed to prospective shareholders in their prospectus advertisement in the Newcastle Morning Herald newspaper in the issue dated Wednesday 19th June 1901, that at that date the colliery had 100 wagons each with a capacity of 10 tons.

A 1920 photograph of East Greta Colliery Tunnels show some Heddon Greta Colliery hopper wagons standing amongst other East Greta wagons in the colliery rail sidings. The photograph shows these vehicles all to be about the one size. The photograph was not sufficiently clear to determine the actual colour the Heddon Greta Wagons were painted. It did show the Heddon Greta wagons were branded on both sides with the letters "H" and "G", one towards each end. The letters were made with white paint, and were 2 feet 6 inches high and 1 foot 6 inches wide. The outline of the letter was 2 inches wide. The wagon identification number was also painted white. The numbers were 1 foot high and the figure outline 1 inch wide. This number was in the centre of the hopper side between the two brand letters.

Unsupported information advises that these wagons were added to the East Greta Coal Mining Company's fleet after that company's purchase of Heddon Greta Coal Mining Company on the 28th July 1915.

RAIL CONNECTION:

With the construction of the Stanford Railway and its completion in September 1901, the Heddon Greta Colliery had prepared its colliery rail yard consisting of two loop sidings, both on the eastern side of the Stanford Railway. Both loop lines ran under the pit-top screens to permit large and small coal loadings. These loop lines were laid at a uniform falling gradient of 1 foot in 86 feet from the southern end towards the northern part of the colliery rail yard. This permitted the empty wagons to be gravitated through under the screens and after loading to the loaded wagons standage area. A short "dead-end" spur siding ran off from the entry rail track. This siding serviced the colliery workshop facilities.

Down inwards trains or empty wagons were placed into the empty wagons standage sidings via a reverse movement crossover interlocking points at the Stanford Merthyr end of Heddon Greta Colliery rail yard. Using the Stanford Railway as a "running-road", the engine return in the East Greta direction to enter the loaded vehicles sidings via facing points movement to lift the outwards train.

First train of coal was despatched from Heddon Greta Colliery during June 1902.

In late 1904 when Heddon Greta Colliery was reaching its peak number of employees, (1905 - 231 men), and with consequent greater output, a need was found for increased wagons standage sidings capacity. To achieve this the entry points to the empty wagons sidings were moved further towards Stanford Merthyr to almost double that capacity. The entry points to the loaded sidings were removed and moved 250 yards back towards East Greta. Two more short sidings that converged to make a loop were constructed on the East Greta side of the previous sidings. These new sidings each accommodated 25 vehicles.

SPECIAL PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

(A) PIT-TOP:

Heddon Greta Colliery Pit-top was of fairly simple design and construction. The raised poppet head with its two solid tall vertical members were supported on both sides and ends by four equally heavy timbers, that kept the vertical members at huge right angles to the ground. The solid timber landing staging or decking based on similar heavy timbers carried the skip-rail-tacks and skips from the tunnel cage to the tumbler, screens and picking belt. All members and supports were at least 14 inches rough squared.

From several photographs found, it would appear that the pit-top had always been bereft of any roofing cover or weather protection. A very primitive and cheap construction.

Mr Azariah Thomas, the general manager of the East Greta Coal Mining Company, as a private consultant mining engineer, in an authoritative report for the Heddon Greta Company prospectus had stipulated the need on pit-top for creepers, picking belts, boilers, dams, etc., etc. It seems reasonable to assume that most of his recommendations were implemented.

(B) ENGINE HOUSE

The steam winding engine had been installed in mid 1902. The Newcastle Morning Herald newspaper in its issue for Saturday 24th January 1903 gave a vivid and colourful description of this plant. It stated that tenders had been called for the erection of a brick engine house. Further that 30,000 bricks for this purpose had been ordered from Mr F. Baker who was operating a brick kiln near the Heddon Greta Colliery. Mr Baker was later associated with the brick-yards of East Maitland.

A 1906 photograph shows this small but fine building standing on the eastern side of the colliery yard sidings. It had a galvanised corrugated iron hip roof.

(C) DAMS

Unsupported information advises that the Heddon Greta Colliery dam was of fairly shallow construction. It is said to have been in the gully or depression opposite the entrance road to Kurri Golf Club.

(D) COLLIERY CHIMNEY STACK

Mention and description is made on page 115 in the "Ventilation" section of the very tall brick square style stack.

(E) SLACK-BOX

A heavy timber elevated "slack" or "small" coal holding bin box was constructed over the two Heddon Greta Colliery rail yard sidings at some little distance from the pit-top on the East Greta side. It had a capacity of 500 tons, and was built in July 1902. If small coal was not required to be loaded direct into coal hopper rail wagons, the coal was conveyed in a special skip, which ran up a sloping track over the middle of the holding box. This sloping skip track ran over the lowest end of the box, that closest to the pit-top toward its highest end, that towards East Greta. The skip appears to have been "winched-up".

When required the elevated "slack" box appears to have been unloaded into coal hopper rail wagons by gravitational means.

(F) WORKSHOPS

Only one reference has been found indicating that Heddon Greta Colliery had a workshop. This appears on page 22 in a book by Mr Gifford H. Eardley entitled "South Maitland Coalfields Railways" in which he refers to a workshop in a general description of Heddon Greta Colliery.

FIRST COLLIERY MANAGER:

Mr Thomas Innes, "Permit" Manager appointed 20th November 1900.

He was replaced by Mr William Ledger on 23rd December 1901. 

FIRST COLLIERY ENGINEER:

Mr Peter Whalan.

FIRST COMPANY SECRETARY:

Mr Alfred Beckett.

(Author's note: Mr A. Beckett at this time was also secretary of East Greta Coal Mining Company.)

COMPANY'S FIRST BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Mr Henry Trenchard (Chairman), Mr James Wolstenhome, Mr K. Clift, Mr Charles Earp, and Mr E.P. Capper.

COMPANY'S CAPITAL:

75,000 shares at £1-0-0 ($2.00) each.

COMPANY'S REGISTERED OFFICE:

Heddon Greta Coal Mining Company
Earp's Building
Bond Street, Newcastle.

COMPANY'S FIRST SELLING AND SHIPPING AGENT:

Earp, Gillam and Company Limited of Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne and London.

COMPANY'S FIRST BANKERS:

Bank of New South Wales,
High Street, West Maitland.

COMPANY'S FIRST SOLICITOR:

Mr F.A. Bowen Street,
West Maitland.

BRIEF HISTORY:

Following Mr T.W. Edgeworth David's (later Professor) report on his proving of the Greta Coal Seam at Abermain, and which was published on Tuesday 3rd August 1886, a number of entrepreneurs had shown interest in opening coal mines on this new South Maitland field. One such group was formed by a Mr Henry Trenchard, manager of the Maitland Branch of the Bank of Australia, together with other local West Maitland businessmen. The group engaged Mr Edwin (Ted) Pepper, a mining contractor, in 1890 to sink 4 bores. When the bores proved the coal seam, Messrs Taylor and Wilkinson, contractors, were directed by the small Maitland syndicate to sink a shaft on John H. Garven's grant of land at what is now known as Heddon Greta.

Mr Edgeworth David had inspected this shaft on behalf of his employer, the N.S.W. Mines Department during 1890. His report on the shaft appears at page 226 of the 1890 Annual Report. David stated that the contractors had reached the seam in the shaft at a depth of 56 feet, and found it to be 32 feet thick. The contractors had also driven a tunnel or "slope" about 110 feet in length from the outcrop to the bottom of the shaft. In his report, David stated that the contractors had 5 men employed at the shaft. For some unknown reason and although it had produced 45 tons of coal, work is documented in the 1892 Annual Report as being "suspended during the year". Possibly cessation was due to the lack of distribution transport or the then slackness of coal markets.

After proving the seam in 1890, Henry Trenchard, Henry J. Adams and Samuel Clift had acquired ownership of the freehold land (640 acres), which had formed the original grant given to John Hill Garven in the Parish of Heddon, County of Northumberland. John H. Garven had married Margaret Brown, sister of James and Alexander Brown.

There appears to have been a very close association between the Heddon Greta mining group, the Stanford Greta tunnels group and the East Greta Coal Mining Company, this mainly from common shareholders. The sale on Wednesday 1st August 1900 of the Stanford Greta tunnels to the East Greta Coal Mining Company and J. & A. Brown Limited firm had greatly helped the finances of some shareholders in the Heddon Greta Colliery Company, and in turn in all probability the fortune and future of that company.

The Mines Department 1900 Annual Report states that on the 29th November 1900 coal mining operations had resumed at the Heddon Greta Colliery tunnel with Mr Thomas Innes as "permit" manager.

On the 29th May 1901, Mr Azariah Thomas, General Manager of the East Greta Coal Mining Company, as a consultant coal mining engineer, prepared an authoritative report for inclusion in a prospectus by the Heddon Greta Colliery group, who were endeavouring to float a company. In his report, Mr Thomas estimated that 520 acres of the total freehold land were "coal bearing". He further estimated that this area had some 34,820,608 tons of coal, which at an annual production of 100,000 tons would take 156 years to exhaust. The annual company profit should be £16,500-0-0 ($33,000.00). (Author's note: Heddon Greta Colliery only operated for a very short period, some 8½ years from April 1902 until December 1910. In that time its total coal production only amounted to 472,916 tons).

In their prospectus published in the Newcastle Morning Herald newspaper in the issue dated 19th June 1901, the Heddon Greta Colliery group advertised that a test of Heddon Greta coal had been made on the 28th May 1901 on the ship "Namoi", which belonged to the Newcastle and Hunter River Steamship Company. Mr Alex Tivendale, the shipping company's engineer, forwarded a letter of reference, which documented that it was the best coal the ship had ever used.

The same prospectus advertisement outlined a report of a test made by Mr C.R. Robbins, manager of the Wallsend and Plattsburg Gasworks, on the 16th May 1901 on a truck of Heddon Greta coal weighing 4 tons 17 cwt 2 qrs (5,529 kgs). Mr C.R. Robbins stated that this quantity of coal had produced 10,300 cubic feet of gas per ton, as well as 13 cwt (0.6604 kgs) of coke per ton. He further reported that the coal was clean, and was a first class coal for gas works.

The Heddon Greta Coal Mining Company was incorporated and immediately commenced the development. By the 22nd April 1902, 20 men were employed. The Stanford Railway had been completed and officially opened on Friday 6th September 1901. Heddon Greta Colliery despatched its first train of coal on the new railway during June 1902. In January 1903 the Heddon Greta Colliery received a contract to supply the Newcastle and Hunter River Steamship with the colliery's coal.

The N.S.W. Lands Department in providing land for use as building allotments for coal miners at the new town of Kurri set a trend. This practice was also adopted by the East Greta Coal Mining Company on its colliery freehold land to start what is now known as Gillieston Heights. The Heddon Greta Coal Mining Company followed this lead and sub-divided part of its freehold land, but reserved for itself the right to mine underneath. By October 1902, 200 building allotments had been sold, and about 100 new wooden houses had been erected. This new permanent Heddon Greta township soon eliminated the "calico mining village", which had started to grow around the colliery. In early 1903 Mr J.W. Scobie, architect of West Maitland, designed a two storey, 18 bedroom brick-construction hotel. Castlemain Brewery accepted the quote of £1850-0-0 ($3700.00) from the Pilgrim Bros. to erect this hotel. In March 1904 the local residents persuaded the N.S.W. Department of Education to open a school. The Department had taken steps to build a new school at Kurri, and it decided that its school at Stanford Merthyr would become redundant with the new Kurri school. The Department arranged for the Stanford Merthyr school building to be shifted to Heddon Greta. The school opened on this new site in January 1906.

On the 13th February 1905 an underground fire in the Heddon Greta Colliery caused the "sealing-off" of the whole of the north section of the workings. This section was re-opened after 117 days on the 14th June 1905. When the heating and fire again re-kindled, a smaller area of the colliery's north section was sealed off permanently.

Mr William Ledger, Heddon Greta Colliery Manager, on 1st July 1908 sought permission from the Mines Department to sink a prospecting shaft to prove there was a seam lower and under that then being worked. Because of some heatings at the time this project was shelved.

Heddon Greta Colliery was subject to a great deal of heatings and underground fires, and as a result lost considerable working time. A serious underground heating and fire in the latter part of 1910 again in the northern section, finally caused the "sealing-off" of the whole pit. Despite the efforts of the then manager, Mr James Barnes and his miners, who on Thursday 8th December 1910, made an outlet on the northern side of the colliery from the surface to No. 6 Bord, the pit remained closed for the whole of 1911 and well into 1912. On 15th August 1912, an attempt was made to re-open, but the fire was still burning fiercely. During this attempt to re-open the colliery did not produce any coal. The pit was re-sealed, and mining operations ceased.

The East Greta Coal Mining Company on 28th July 1915, acquired the assets of the Heddon Greta Coal Mining Company, the pit-top, the rail wagons and including the colliery lease itself. During 1921 the Heddon Greta lease became part of the Stanford Merthyr Colliery lease, Stanford Merthyr Colliery being a wholly-owned subsidiary of the East Greta Coal Mining Company.

R.W. Miller and Company on the 16th December 1923 obtained a lease from the East Greta Coal Mining Company to open a mine on part of the previous lease of the Heddon Greta Coal Mining Company's holding. The Mines Department shows that this pit commenced during August 1925. In August 1925 a Mines Department inspector, Mr J. Jack found water seeping into the new mine from the old Heddon Greta Colliery workings. In July and August 1926 a tunnel was made from Ayrfield No. 2 Colliery No. 1 Bord into the Heddon Greta Colliery No. 2 Bord to allow an exploratory party to examine the cause of the flooding. After two abortive attempts, a third try found the water levels. A scheme was devised by the Mines Department and Ayrfield Colliery Company by boring at appropriate locations, the Heddon Greta water could by syphoned away and controlled. This scheme allowed Ayrfield No. 2 Colliery to be operated freely. (See page No. 109).

The surface area of Heddon Greta Colliery is now owned by the Department of Technical and Further Education.

CLOSURE:

August 1912.

PRESENT POSITION:

The area has been cleared of all indication of mining activities. Low scrub has again taken over.

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