Headframes Part 2- Northern France, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and The Saarland.

[Alex]

Part 1 Silesa, Poland can be found Here

These were all taken on a drive around Europe in October last year. I did get photos of a couple more but they were not very good so are not included here.

FRANCE

Marles-les-Mines - Headframe of Marles pit no 2. The headframe operated from 1921-1973, there is small museum on the site but I didn't have time to visit.

La Base. Shaft 11 was Sunk in 1891 and the mine closed in 1986. Saw this by chance when driving down the main road.

Shaft 9 + 9b, Oignies. Twin shafts which bought up over 4.8 million tonnes of coal in 60 years. The buildings are now used for other purposes, including a music hall.

Escarpelle mine headframe, now sat as a centre piece in an industrial estate.

Mining history centre at Lewarde. This was a working colliery from 1927-1971. There is some interesting pieces in the museum.

The heapstead and third shaft.

Arenberg. Coal production started in 1903 until 1989. The shaft with the A frame dates from 1954, and the others from 1903, however the headframes are likely newer. The pie was named after the manager of the mining company.

Sabatier Mine. Worked from 1910 until 1980, it was operated by the same company as Arenburg.

LeDoux colliery - Another mine owned by the Anzin mining company and named after one of the senior officials. Very little remains of this site, just the headframe in a field and an outlet for methane. Coal production started in 1905 and continued until 1988. This is shaft no 1 and was 759 metre deep. French wikipedia link

Wendel mine. Mining started out at the Wendel mine in the mid-late 1800s. It's located right on the France/German so over the years it's changed hands a few times and currently resides in france. It's the most complete mining site on this list and is now a museum. There is 4 headframes on the site, one of which is clearly seperate to the the rest. The pit closed in stages from 1989 until final closure in 2001.

 

[Alex]

Belgium
Can't remember where this one is at all, I know there's a discovery centre on the site which was closed when I was there.

Bois du Cazier. This site originally had 2 shafts, which were 765m and 1035m respecitvely, with a third one being added in the 1950s. It's now part of a museum which I did do the audio tour. The worst mining disaster occured here in 1956 when 262 were killed by an underground fire cause by cables which were broken when the cage was hoisted up too early. English Wikipedia

Le Pechon mine - This mine worked to a depth of 1115m and went underneath the Bois Du Cazier workings. Archive footage from the mine. They now sit in a bit of wasteland in the middle of Charleroi.

Blegny mine. The site was destroyed by bombing in 1940 so all the buildings are post war. It's now a museum where you can actually go on underground tours. You can also stand next to the shaft and watch the cage go and down to the loading area on the first floor.

The Marie shaft located around the back

Waterschei Colliery - this was the first mine in Genk. Worked up to 1200m in depth from 1924-1987. The mine is now home to some businesses and an exhibition on the mines history.

C-mine (Winterslag Colliery) operated from 1914 - 1988. Now used as a cutural centre and museum. You can go up the headframe but I didn't bother after seeing 4 buses of school kids going inside.

Beringen mine. There is a few headframes on this site, however there was alot of building work going on so they are covered up. The mine worked from 1907 to 1988 to depths of 800m but is now a mining museum.

Heusden-Zolder Colliery. Worked from 1930 untill 1992 it is now part of a cutural centre/museum.

Houthalen mine. This mine worked from 1938 until 1992. It was worked in conjunction with the previous mine from 1964. They don't look very sturdy!

Eisden Colliery. Worked from 1923 until 1987. Now situated in a pleasant country park.

Luxembourg

Bonus photos of a couple of adits from the Iron mines of Luxembourg.

Fond de Gras. Two adits, one is currently used to store the local and you can't see that far inside even with a torch. There is a lovely heritage railway there with the remains an aerial ropeway.

LaSauvage railway and mine. Saint Barbara (the patron saint of miners) guards the adit at LaSauvage. The mine was started in 1908 and electric trains go in 800 metres.

 

[Alex]

The Netherlands
NL isn't really a country that comes to mind when it comes to mining, but there is a few bits remaining. Coal mining ceased in 1974.

Oranje Nassau I mine. Now part of the Netherlands mining museum this is located in the centre of the city of Heerlen. Only a quick shot from the car as nowhere to park.

Nulland Shaft, Domaniale mine. This mine started producting wayback in 1815 and continued until 1969. The headframe is a very interesting design.

Saarland (Germany)

Bergwerk Saar Coal mine. This mine worked from 1815 all the way up to 2012, the final depth achieved was 1751m making it the deepest coal pit in Europe. Alot of the mines in this section are connected underground. As the Saarland is quite urban there has been massive issues with subsidence.

The biggest thing remaining is the 150m spoil tip, which I decided to walk up to try and get a good view of the headframe but instead I got treated to a weather inversion.

Luisenthal mine. Worked from 1820 until 2005. the shafts go down up to 800m. In 1962 there was a firedamp explosion which killed 299 people. Gas is still extracted and sent to the nearby powerplant.

Velsen mine

This mine was worked from 1899 until 1965 when it became part of another mine and coal winding ceased.

Dillsburg shaft. This shaft was part of Bergwerk Saar mine.

Gottelborn mine. Mining started in the early 1900s and ended in 2000, In 1994 a new headframe was built and at 90m it was the tallest in the world. There is over 137km of tunnels in the Gottelborn - Reden complex. Possibly the best site I've visted as theres a public path right throught the middle of the sites, you can walk right up to the doors of shaft 4, and right by 2 and 3. You can see remains of conveyor belts on site and narrow gauge track are everywhere.

Shaft 4, 1200m deep. Now capped with a 70m plug.

The three remaining shafts in a line. From front to back Shaft 2 (1920), Shaft 3 (1926) and shaft 4 (1994)

King mine -Shaft Wilhelm I. This mine started in 1820 as a drift, which can still be seen bu now bricked up. This shaft was sunk in 1844. The other headframe was removed and put up at the Luisenthal mine which you saw earlier. It closed in 1968 as coal was wound from Reden instead.

Itzenplatz mine. First shaft on this was sunk in 1860 (headframe removed) Shaft 2 in 1876 and Shaft 4 in 1886. The shaft 3 headgear is original where as shaft 2s was replaced in the 1950. Coal winding stopped in 1968, where it was sent to Reden. Materials winding continued until 1992.

Reden mine. This one is basically the hub of all the smaller mines in the area, all the coal came up the twin 886m shafts. Mining on this site ran from 1850 until 1995 where the coal went to Gottelborn until that also closed in 2000. The two Reden shafts are kept in operational condition as it's used to control the water drainage in the area. The other side of the building had a brick missing and you could see one of those small rescue pods hooked up to it.

The fans were on.

Some of the water is used to heat buildings in the area and the rest goes into this water garden. It's also full of tropical fish that love pellets.

Shaft 3, the only mining remenant of the Sophia-Jacoba mine which operated from 1914 until 1997. A small museum is now on the site.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures, I did take me about 3 hours to do.

 

[C/B]

That looks like you had an amazing trip over there. Glad to see so many pits preserved. How's the washery looking at Wendel now? It was really starting to fall apart over ten years back.

 

[petemonkhouse]

Part 1 Silesa, Poland can be found Here

These were all taken on a drive around Europe in October last year. I did get photos of a couple more but they were not very good so are not included here.

FRANCE

Marles-les-Mines - Headframe of Marles pit no 2. The headframe operated from 1921-1973, there is small museum on the site but I didn't have time to visit.

La Base. Shaft 11 was Sunk in 1891 and the mine closed in 1986. Saw this by chance when driving down the main road.

Shaft 9 + 9b, Oignies. Twin shafts which bought up over 4.8 million tonnes of coal in 60 years. The buildings are now used for other purposes, including a music hall.

Escarpelle mine headframe, now sat as a centre piece in an industrial estate.

Mining history centre at Lewarde. This was a working colliery from 1927-1971. There is some interesting pieces in the museum.

The heapstead and third shaft.

Arenberg. Coal production started in 1903 until 1989. The shaft with the A frame dates from 1954, and the others from 1903, however the headframes are likely newer. The pie was named after the manager of the mining company.

Sabatier Mine. Worked from 1910 until 1980, it was operated by the same company as Arenburg.

LeDoux colliery - Another mine owned by the Anzin mining company and named after one of the senior officials. Very little remains of this site, just the headframe in a field and an outlet for methane. Coal production started in 1905 and continued until 1988. This is shaft no 1 and was 759 metre deep. French wikipedia link

Wendel mine. Mining started out at the Wendel mine in the mid-late 1800s. It's located right on the France/German so over the years it's changed hands a few times and currently resides in france. It's the most complete mining site on this list and is now a museum. There is 4 headframes on the site, one of which is clearly seperate to the the rest. The pit closed in stages from 1989 until final closure in 2001.

Fabulous!

 

[Imageo]

Great set of pictures. Here's a couple of pix of an unusual concrete headframe I visited at Noyant d'Allier in central France a few years back. The local community is keen to maintain their museum on the site, lots of old gear lying around. Grotty weather on the day.

 

[Hell's Nightmare.]

I love the Saarland one, very different, why couldn't more be like that?

 

[SmileySquad]

Really wonderful set of photos, thanks a lot for posting Alex.

I've seen a number of these sites on my annual trips down to the Maginot line and adjacent mines in Alsace Lorraine and the Saarland but this is a great target list for the future.

One museum site that's really worth a look is the former training mine for the entire Saarland coalfield at Erlibsnisbergwerk Velsen, just south of the collosal Volkingen Ironworks. The mine volunteers are all former miners (including one from Fife) and if you let them know you are a mine pervert, you can have a go on literally everything. We did rock drilling, operated a remote excavator, moved some hydraulic props, used a cable haulage/crane system, and had rides on their cage , three different trains, and even tried man-riding the conveyor. If anyone wants an intro for a visit, drop me a pm.

Velsen lacks it's own headframe, but there's one next door

Erlebnisbergwerk Velsen · Saarbrücken

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[Monty_Stubble]

Went down Blegny Mine over the new year. A bit sanitised but worth a look. You do have to book as places are limited (they say!).