South Yorkshire Times December 8, 1951
Denaby’s Good Year
Pit Output Raised By 38,000 Tons
Denaby Main Colliery increased output during the last 12 months by 38,000 tons. This is despite the fact that Denaby has been used as an experimental pit for new machinery in the No. 3 Area of the North-Eastern Division of the N.C.B.
Three Innovations
Mr. J. Burton manager of the colliery, told a “South Yorkshire Times” reporter on Monday that there had been three major innovations at the pit, not including the use of diesel locomotives on the roads. These were experiments with duckbill loaders, a Samson stripper and a new type of coal cutter.
The Samson stripper had not proved a great success at Denaby. It had not been able to operate properly at the pit owing to a thinning of the seam which occurred soon after the installation of the machine, and it was on this account that it had eventually been withdrawn. In no way had the officials and workmen in charge of it been at fault. They did, in fact, receive congratulations for the amount of work they had extended on the machine.
The main “enemies” were the pit conditions—”clot conditions” (where a five-feet thick seam may contain clots of dirt perhaps three feet thick) bad roofs and soft floors. The duckbill Loaders, three of them, had given “as good results and figures as anywhere else in the country.” Their success was shown last week, in fact, through the efforts of four men. Between them they filled over 500 tons of coal in one week. That is well above average, even for a mechanical loader, and a man working with an ordinary shovel for six days a week would be doing exceptionally well if he got through 60 tons.
The new coal cutter has also met with a certain amount of success.
Misunderstood
Mr Burton also took the opportunity, on Monday, of clearing up a misunderstanding about something he had said when speaking the week before at the annual dinner of the Denaby and Cadeby joint branch of the National Association of Colliery Over then, Deputies and catch up five, reported in last week’s issue of the “South Yorkshire Times.”
Mr Burton asked at the dinner: “What is the matter with Denaby?” And he pointed out on Monday that he was referring to the poor attendance at the dinner of Denaby officials. Due to condensation of our report Mr Burton’s meaning was not fully brought out.
In the latest reference to the officials, Mr. Burton said that Denaby had not enjoyed “a good name as a pit,” he had meant to stress that troubles were due to pit conditions and not, of course, to the miners or other personnel.