Contributor Leaderboard

At the Doctor pit, in the early days, the main winder and the John Pit ventilation fan were driven by steam engines. As with all steam engines, each had a boiler in which coal was burnt to produce the steam to drive the engines and each had a chimney high enough to provide sufficient draft to efficiently burn the coal. The chimney of the main winder was 160 feet high and was demolished in 1921 when an electric winder was installed. I don’t know when the John pit fan was converted to electricity but the chimney was demolished in 1952.