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