NSW Government Archives - Page 2 of 3

Mining Techniques in the 1800s

May 4, 2023

Below is an extract from the Royal Commission in 1886 where the commissioners chatted with the manager of Ferndale Colliery;

65. You have worked the coal under the Maitland Road, I believe? Yes.
66.. What depth is the coal from the surface under that road? It is about 1.5 feet from the surface down to the roof of the coal.
67. Of what rock is the roof composed ? Soft past.
68. And to the south -west of the Maitland Road, what is the depth of the coal ? It crops out just beyond the Maitland Road.
69. In that swampy hollow formed by the elbow of. Tighe’s Creek, is the coal found? Yes, it is found in the swampy hollow at Tighe’s Cheek.
70. Then, between the Ferndale workings the outcrops to the south-vest of the Maitland Road, has the coal been worked by other parties ? It was last worked by Mr Bevan, and by Chas. Austin, and several small owners.
71. Are the workings of these small collieries connected with those of Ferndale? Yes.
72. Were any barriers left between them ? I left a barrier of coal between Tighe’s Hill and Peppertown.
73. But in these little collieries that you have spoken of, do you know what Was the nature of the surface deposits above the coal -seam ? It was clay and conglomerate, and in the crop it would be mostly composed of this rotten post, with a body of clay on the top of it.
74. Do you know whether these surface deposits gave these owners any trouble? I do not think so.
75. Was the surface of the crop-workings covered by the tide in that position ? No.
76. Have the pillars in these collieries been taken out? Yes we took out all the pillars in Peppertown.
77. But I am now speaking of these little collieries? ‐ Yes the pillars were taken out.
78. Did they take them out to the very crop? Yes, they took all they could.
79. Then these collieries being connected with Ferndale, will now be drowned out? ‐ Yes; every one of them.
86. On looking at your tracing of the plan, the coal workings are represented to terminate abruptly and follow a curved line,‐does this curved line represent the position of the outcrop?‐ Yes.
87. This is where the coal has become lost in the level deposits? Yes.
91. And did the surface come down and cut out the conglomerate? Yes.
92. Then in that case what was in front of the coal seam? Sand and clay.
96. Towards the crop, did the conglomerate give place to sand suddenly or gradually? Sometimes there would be a portion of post in it. Sometimes it would be 6 or 7 inches, and in others as high as a foot, and cut out the conglomerate.
97. When you struck the surface deposits to the north‐west and north, did these deposits give you any trouble? Only in one portion of the mine.
98/99. Have you taken out the whole of the pillars in this section? …. I mean that section to the west? We have taken out all the pillars to the west of Waratah Railway, excepting under the Maitland Road.
100. Did you experience any difficulty from the surface in doing so? No.
101. What measures did you take to prevent it filling up the workings? We took no measures at all. We took the pillars out and let it fall.
102. Was there any surface‐water? None whatever.
103. Contiguous to the shaft I believe you experienced some difficulty from “cave‐in” Did it give you some trouble? Yes.
104. Would you tell us about it? In the flat of Tighe’s Hill, in four different places, the roof fell in, and worked out to the crop, so that there was no covering to support the crop, and we had to construct a dam to keep the water back.
105. Did any water come in along with the sand? Yes; a considerable quantity came in, but we made these dams, and kept it back.
106. I understand this part of the workings is above tidal influence? Yes; But there is a great body of water in the sand, down about 15 feet.
119. Had you any considerable growth in water from the Ferndale workings? Yes.
120. Where did the water come from? From a flat in the old workings to the west of Ferndale shaft.
121. How much water did you get? We were pumping in No8 16,000 gals. an hour.
161, And you have told us that you pumped 16,000 gallons an hour from that pit ‐ was the water fresh or salt? It was salt water.
162. Where did it come from? Principally from the hard roof of conglomerate.

Ferndale Colliery

Mine Water from Abandoned Mine Workings

May 4, 2023

Permanently flowing from under Maitland Road Mayfield we have mine water coming from abandoned mine workings.

Mine Subsidence Authority suggests the water is coming from old mine workings that were abandoned in the 1800s. Over the last years, the mine water in these abandoned mines has spread from one building, to now affecting all 3 buildings. It has also spread to our neighbours properties as well as Myola Street and Litchfield Park.

abandoned mine water

mine water 38 Maitland Road Mayfield warehouse

mine water 38 Maitland Road Mayfield Carpark

mine water 38 Maitland Road Mayfield warehouse wall

mine water 38 Maitland Road Mayfield warehouse pillar

mine water 38 Maitland Road Mayfield containers

mine water 44 Maitland Road Mayfield workshop

Meeting Room Water A

mine water 38 Maitland Road Mayfield warehouse entrance

Mining Under Maitland Road Tighes Hill

May 3, 2023

From the Royal Commission;

It appears that No.2 south headings were commenced with the ulterior intention of working out a considerable area of coal owned by the company south of Tighe’s Terrace street, and probably, also, of anticipating some of the small colliery owners referred to in working the coal from under the Maitland Road in the direction of the bridge across that creek.

The colliery officials, on being interrogated on the point, affirmed that these bords, on reaching the western fence of the road, were stopped. Mr Inspector Dixon, however; suspected that these bords had crossed the road, and had been driven towards or under the creek, which here forms a sharp elbow, and sweeps under an escarpment of conglomerate.

On being called upon to do so, Mr. Mackenzie, Examiner of Coal-fields, produced a plan of older date than the one put into the hands of the Commission, in which the faces of the bords under review were shown to cross the road, and were stopped under the bed or channel of Tighe’s Creek.

Upon. this low-lying and flooded land, nearly opposite Bryant-street, and about 2 chains from the margin of the creek, a small colliery (now owned by Messrs Broughall. &Griffiths) has been sunk.

The depth of the shaft, is only 23 feet to the top of the coal-seam, and, like Ferndale, is entirely composed of fluviatile or estuarine deposits. Some bords worked from this colliery had been pushed under Tighe’s Creek towards Ferndale workings ; And one bord, shown on No. 1 plan, has reached within 10 or 11 yards of the advanced workings from the last-named colliery at the date of the inundation (18th -March, 1886).

The uncertainty that existed as to the correctness of the underground plans, and the terrible nature of the catastrophe that had occurred to the adjoining collieries, presumably acted as an incentive to the Government officials to serve notices upon Messrs. Broughall. & Griffiths to cease working.; and, although the Law Officers of the Crown, probably with reason, did not see their way clear to place an injunction on these gentlemen to cease working, the action taken has has the good effect of preventing any further work in the bords approaching Ferndale from being prosecuted.

Maitland Road Mining Tighes Hill

Bailers Needed to make Mine Workable before Accident

May 3, 2023

From the Royal Commission;

A few months before the accident as many as twenty-one water-hailers were required to keep the working-places and roads in a comfortable and passable condition.

Two special steam-pumps were placed at the bottom of the pumping-shaft that forced about 16,000 gallons of water per hour to the surface. These pumping-engines were supplied with steam from boilers on the surface.

Ferndale Colliery Tighes Hill

Full Hydraulic Connectivity – Mayfield Mines Permanently Flooded

May 3, 2023

From the Royal Commission;

“To the south and east, and in close proximity to this shaft, three small collieries have worked the coal from under a number of building allotments, leaving no barriers.

The workings to the west of these “headings” approached the Maitland Road, and a ‘spirited rivalry or competition seems to have existed among the conterminous small collieries as to which could work the greatest area of coal from under this important thoroughfare.

No restrictions seem to have been imposed on the workers. In consequence, this road has been honeycombed with workings for a considerable distance, and is at present supported by pillars so thin as to be almost invisible.

It is alleged by the owners of Ferndale that they left a sufficient barrier of solid coal around each of the small collieries shown on plan, No. 1 Appendix, but that this barrier, as well as the top-coal, and as many of the pillars as could be got at, were removed by these small owners; and in this manner – and by reason of their own thoughtless cupidity – the twenty small collieries, or thereabout, on this ridge have been communicated with each other.

As a result of these inter-communications, when Ferndale was inundated the whole of these collieries were filled with water.”

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134 years later, Professor Fityus in his report to Legacy Mines confirmed that “All mine workings in the area are likely to have full hydraulic connectivity”.

So does this mean that due to poor mining practices, all mines have been connected together, left unattended since the 1800s and purposely kept quiet from land owners?……more about this later.

Maitland Road Mining Mayfield

Royal Commission into Collieries 1886 Newcastle

May 3, 2023

Before we explain our current situation, its important to understand the historic legacy mines in our area. With the great help of the Royal Commission into Collieries document, I will be quoting word for word abstracts. Later, I will use current day reports and evidence to match with historical data.

The Royal Royal Commission into Collieries 1886 was initiated because of the Lithgow Valley and Ferndale Colliery disasters and a near disaster at Maryville Colliery in 1886. With regards to Ferndale Colliery (the major colliery in the Tighes Hill region), on the 18th March 1886 a miner drowned and “water had flooded the mining plant and works as well as adjacent small collieries and were irretrievably lost”.

Below from the report;

“At the present moment the summit and sides of this ridge present a scene of confusion, caused by innumerable pit-falls, denoting where attempts have been made to remove the small-sized pillars of coal that supported the roof.

The Maitland Road crosses the southern margin of Tighe’s Hill. Under it the coal-seam measures 16 feet in thickness, and is found under the surface at a similar depth.
The coal has been worked from under this road, but the thin pillars have not been removed, and these at present form its sole support. Towards the west (opposite Bevan’s and Spennymoor* ) the coal crops out under the creek, and has been worked to within a few feet of its tidal waters.

The pillars that maintained the integrity of the surface have subsequently been removed, and the water has obtained access to the workings, and rises and falls every tide.”

* Spennymoor is the colliery that Professor Fityus referred to in his Legacy Mines report 2020 as being the workings underneath our properties.

Maitland Road Mining

Mine Water Just Like the Zombie Shows

April 24, 2023

Have arrived to work today to find our very last workable area for our electronic workshop has mine water. We have moved our equipment so many times to find workable area and this was the last position.

Absolutely shattered as we are unable to move the equipment anywhere else in the building. We might have been able to use a small space close to the Myola Street entrance but both Hunter Water and Newcastle Council continue to ignore stormwater flooding issues that have plagued us for more than 10 years – this results in stormwater coming in off the road as well as through the brickwork as all drains are completely full.

With the mine water, its just like the zombie shows, once affected you know what is coming.

Electonic Workshop Flooding

Electonic Workshop Flooding Start All Over Again

Mine Water Flow directly under Maitland Road Mayfield

April 23, 2023

Urgent stablization was required to secure the telegraph pole in front of our property at Maitland Road Mayfield NSW.

Mine water is flowing directly underneath the road, under the footpath, and then directly into our lower warehouse permanently flooding us.

Authorities have stated they believe its from old mine workings. Historic records confirm this – miners back in the 1880s were supposed to leave barriers of coal/soil between various mines, however, they failed to do so resulting in full connectivity of all the mines in the area. Also, mining was to have stopped before Maitland Road however records suggest that mines did go beneath the main arterial road.

Mine water and the deteriorating legacy mine network has caused damage to Maitland Road, the footpath, to the telegraph pole, and permanently flooding our building.

NSW Government, Mine Subsidence Advisory, Legacy Mines, Newcastle Council and other agencies have been made aware of the issues for over 14 years.

Even when sink holes (some 2-3 metres in diameter) open along Maitland Road it takes an incredible amount of time to get the problems solved. The last hole took more than 7 months for City of Newcastle to action the repair – letters from us to Newcastle Council including directly to the Lord Mayor and councillors, request from Mine Subsidence Advisory and request from Legacy Mines all failed for City of Newcastle to act. If was only when the local MP Tim Crakanthorp wrote to Newcastle Council that the hole was repaired.

Telegraph Pole Repair Street Level A

Telegraph Pole Repair Street Level

Telegraph Pole Repair

Maitland Road Mayfield Subsidence

April 21, 2023

Subsidence issues have been reported to all authorities including Newcastle Council, Mine Subsidence, NSW Government, local MPs and councillors for well over 12 years – maybe more than 100pc of evidence sent to authorities.

Newcastle Council has written to us saying that the stormwater pipes are not causing our issues, but what has this got to do with stormwater issues? Other authorities have mentioned they are investigating (for years…) or they keep silent.

Here are today’s photos of subsidence along Maitland Road Mayfield.

Maitland Road Footpath Subsidence

Maitland Road Subsidence

How to Destroy a Business – NSW Government & City of Newcastle Council NSW

April 20, 2023

It started as “seepage” in our warehouse in 2008, which then becomes 20,000,000 litres per year. This building is permanently flooded. Water then starts spreading onto our neighbouring properties where in 2019 water starts “seeping” into our office.

After a little time, water was now running permanently through our office brick cavities, internal walls, through concrete slab and out of the wall facing Maitland Road.

Now, this building is permanently flooded. “Seepage” has starting with our neighbours. You know how this finishes…… The NSW Government and City of Newcastle have completely ignored this problem.

It is mine water that is flowing from abandoned mines (its taken us years to find this information due to the lack of support and secrecy of authorities). Mine Subsidence Advisory in their report rejected helping us.

Their inspector then said; “The seam outcrops below the subfloor likely carrying water from nearby abandoned workings below Maitland Road”

This is how NSW Government & City of Newcastle Council NSW destroy a business.