Maltby Main Colliery

Maltby Main Colliery was a coal mine situated on the eastern edge of the township of Maltby, South Yorkshire, England, some 7mi east of Rotherham. The mine was closed in 2013.HistoryThe first shafts at Maltby Main Colliery were sunk in 1910, and the first coal produced four years later. Situated in a wooded area on Tickhill Road the colliery was some distance from the township of Maltby and in order to gain a workforce the colliery company commissioned the building of Maltby Model Village, an estate of 1,000 houses. The colliery was opened by the Maltby Main Colliery Company, a subsidiary of the Sheepbridge Iron and Coal Company. Before nationalisation the owners were given as Amalgamated Denaby Collieries Ltd.An explosion in the pit occurred 28 July 1923, resulting in 27 deaths.The two shafts were deepened in the ten years from 1951 and this allowed horizontal access to the Barnsley seam. This also gave access to a new Swallow Wood seam. By 1969 the Barnsley seam was considered exhausted and production went over to Swallow Wood. In 1981 a major project commenced to mine the Parkgate seam. Costing £180,000,000 the first coal was brought to the surface just one year later.The colliery was mass picketed during the 1984–1985 miners' strike during attempts by contractors to carry out building work at the pit.The colliery was bought by RJB Mining, later renamed UK Coal, in 1994. Silverwood Colliery, the adjacent mine, closed in 1994 but had good reserves which could be worked from Maltby. Uncertainties with contracts, notably with the electricity generators, production was stopped in 1997. The pit recommenced operations and coal was gained from both the Parkgate seam, which is estimated to be exhausted by 2014, and the Silkstone seam, which will extend the life of the pit beyond that date.