Weetslade Colliery, Spoil heaps

There are three spoil heaps at Weetslade (NZ 2547 7264, NZ 2542 7214, NZ 2570 7210). The main one, which rises up to 25 metres high, is a prominent landscape feature visible from Newcastle city centre and from all surrounding routeways. The mine first appears on Ordnance Survey third edition of 1920, and at that time there was only a spoil heap south of the pit, fed by sidings. By 1951 the spoil heaps had grown in a non-homogenous manner to the west, east and north of their earlier range. The large northern spoil heap is recorded in its incipient phase on Ordnance Survey seventh edition of 1958. By 1966 this had reached about 30% of its final extent. All spoil heaps incorporate associated features such as railways, trackways and roads. The large flat-top spoil heap incorporates a wider range of features including a plateau-like summit, drainage ditch along the south side, terraced flat top with a discrete cairn at the south west side, the remains of a former wagonway in the form of partially buried sleepers, a deep hollow-way running into the centre of the summit from the south and a road running up to the peak from the south-east.