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Woodhorn Colliery: Closure
At its peak, in the early 20th century - nearly 2000 men were employed at Woodhorn and 600,000 tons of coal were
produced a year. Production and levels of employment began to fall steadily in the 1970s when the colliery was
working lower and thinner seams. Production finally came to an end in February 1981, when only 500 miners were
employed here.
The winding engines and shafts remained in use for five more years, until October 1986, because they were linked to
Ashington Colliery which was still in production. During this period parts of the site were cleared under the
Ashington Reclamation Scheme, which had begun in 1974. The shafts were finally plugged by British Coal in 1989.
This diary was kept between 1947 and 1981 by a shaftsman at Woodhorn Colliery. These are the last entries in the
book and record the closure of the pit on 27th February 1981 and the start of salvage work.
Learn about Woodhorn today or look at more documents from the archive.
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