North Walbottle Colliery

The first shaft sunk at the colliery was 'Old Fred Pit' started in 1891, and North Walbottle Colliery opened in 1892. Subsequently, Betty Pit opened in 1893 and Mary Pit was sunk in the same year and completed in 1894. Its coals were almost certainly transported to Lemington via the inclined plane. The Betty and Mary shafts were served by two magnificent steam winding engines (circa 1900) which were in turn served by boilers, of which two were the original hand-stoked versions. Also working until modern times were two steam powered water pumps and a steam powered drop-hammer. The colliery was notable for its drifted access saving travelling time underground, its pithead baths, its associated colliery village and for several other features. The principal owner before 1947 was the North Walbottle Coal Company. The colliery closed in 1968.
The site was redeveloped for housing in the 1970s, and the locations of two of the shafts are now preserved as flower beds with low stone walls in the verge of Mandarin Close, between numbers 4 and 10.