Hareshaw Head Coal Mine

(Maybe referred to as Hareshaw Head Drift). Origins

The geology of Northern England shows the ‘coal measures’ mainly north of the ‘Tyne gap’, which is the boundary separating Northumberland and the Cheviot hills to the north, from county Durham and the Pennines to the south. The River Tyne flows through the gap before it splits into the North and South Tyne at Hexham.

The road to Hareshaw Head farm on the way to Otterburn

The pit was on the right of the road in the above photo, and the miners' cottages and the village hall were on the left. In the far left of the photo is a brick structure which was part of the garage for the coal delivery wagons.

There were three pits at Hareshaw after coal was found in the late 1800s. The first pit was worked conventionally from a vertical shaft which was closed due to flooding. The pit ponies were drowned in the disaster.

The other two later mines were worked from drifts. The final commercial workings only went into the hill a few miles, but they connected to the earlier drift workings which went up to the hill called 'The Beacon', over which the byroad ran over the fell to Woodburn.

Getting to work

Very few miners had their own transport which at best was a motorbike. Others got to work by pushbike or were collected by the coal wagon if it had been kept overnight in Bellingham. On many occasions some would walk to work over the fells past Blakelaw farm, Callahues crags and Hareshaw House farms to the pit.

Mine workers - 1916

(Note the shorts worn by some of the men underground due to the heat. The thick woolen socks were home knit by their wives from wool purchased from Otterburn Mill.)

Pit accidents

1951: Jackie Stevenson of Bellingham was the second person to be killed in Hareshaw pit. It is reported that the accident occurred because he failed to follow safe practice under direction of Deputy Arthur Pick when propping the roof, and a stone fell and hit him on the head.

The first person killed was Henry Riddle who died on 8th April 1848 from the consequences of a coal fall.

Hareshaw Village

Five of the miners' houses (see photo below) were built of stone and four with wood frame with corrugated iron cladding. Each house had one main room downstairs used as the living room and kitchen for cooking.

Stone houses at Hareshaw Hot water came from the 'set pot' heated by the fire on the opposite side to the oven. On the back of the house, under the long sloping roof was the 'back kitchen' where the stairs went up to the single bedroom. The washing was done in here in a barrel and poss stick before being put through the mangle. There would be a boxed in area for the coal. The pantry would be the other half of this area with a door on it. In some houses there was a loft above the pantry for storing odds and ends.

There was no front door, and the only door for the house went out from this back kitchen.

The village hall was built with corrugated iron cladding and was the centre for meetings, social activities, and the Presbyterian church services and Sunday school.

Schooling

There was a school at Hareshaw from 1929-1931 when numbers justified it, and the education authorities approved, but in later years when numbers declined, children walked the four miles to Bellingham.

Walking distances was accepted by children in those days and it was not until road transport became common that they were taken by car to and from the Reed's and Council school each day.

Thanks to Dr Clive Dalton.

Family Pit Closes at Hareshaw

17th September 1952. After 200 years the last shift has been worked at Hareshaw Head drift one of the few remaining family pits in Northumberland which never came under national control.

In its lifetime the drift has yielded some 200,000 tons of coal and has given employment to succeeding generations of a few families in the Bellingham district.

The pit has a remarkable record of only two fatal accidents in its entire history (corrected from the article which refers to a single accident).

It has been in the family of the present managing director, Mr. Bart Armstrong, since the drift was just to the coal face and many of the ancestors of men who undertook the first working of the drift were employed there until recently.

At one time it supplied most of the domestic needs of the people in the Bellingham district. At peak production it yielded 5,000 tons a year and gave employment to 30 men.

In more recent years the employment has slumped and supplies have had to be supplemented by "imported" coal from other areas.

The people of Bellingham district will continue to receive their supplies through Mr. Armstrong but they will now come from National Coal Board pits outside the North Tyne area.

The Armstrong family has its roots deep in North Tyne history, being linked with the days of the Border Reivers and figure prominently in Border ballads and legends.

The story of Hareshaw pit itself is just one remarkable chapter in the history of a remarkable family.

Further Information

The Durham Mining Museum online information provides further historical reading abut this mine.