# Ledston Luck Colliery, West Yorkshire, October 2019



## HughieD (Oct 10, 2019)

*1. The History*
Ledston Luck Colliery was a coal mine between Castleford and Micklefield. The pit was sunk in the 1870's and later formed part of the super-pit of interlinked workings around Selby. The two winding Houses were built in 1911 and where among the first to use electric winders, at a time most other mines were still using steam. The pit was linked with the nearby Peckfield Colliery via rail, allowing the coal to be transferred to the main line for distribution. The 2ft 6in gauge line took coal for processing at Peckfield Colliery, using elderly Hudswell Clarke 0.6.0 engines.

A couple of archived external snaps:


Ledstone Luck 3 by HughieDW, on Flickr


Ledstone Luck 4 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Ledston Luck miners were the last to return to work after the miner’s strike in 1984, a year to the day after the National Coal Board (NCB) announced plans to shed 20,000 more jobs in the next financial year. The pit would be closed less than two years in 1986.

A couple of old internals:


Ledstone Luck 2 by HughieDW, on Flickr


Ledstone Luck 5 by HughieDW, on Flickr

All that remains of Ledston Luck Colliery are the unique winding houses which are on the English Heritage list of scheduled ancient monuments.

*2. The Explore*
This place used to crop up quite a bit circa 2012/13 but less so more recently. There isn’t a lot left bar the two winding houses but given their design, it is still a worthwhile explore. The one closest to the road is pretty easy access but the other one took a bit more working out. Both have now had all the winding gear removed but there are still enough bits and bobs to make this a very enjoyable explore. There’s then the nearby Pitstop café in the former canteen building which dies ace sausage, bacon and egg butties.

*3. The Pictures*

No.1 winding house first. Inexplicably I failed to take a picture of the front of the building. A couple of externals:



Ledston 11 by HughieDW, on Flickr


Ledston 01 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The first floor:


Ledston 08 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3431 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3430 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3435 by HughieDW, on Flickr


Ledston 07 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3425 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Then up to the second level:


img3423 by HughieDW, on Flickr


Ledston 03 by HughieDW, on Flickr


Ledston 05 by HughieDW, on Flickr


Ledston 04 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img3422 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3416 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3421 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Then on to Winding House No.2:


Ledston 15 by HughieDW, on Flickr


Ledston 12 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3456 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3460 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3444 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3445 by HughieDW, on Flickr


Ledston 13 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Recesses where the winding machines once where:


img3452 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3449 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3448 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img3446 by HughieDW, on Flickr


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## Sabtr (Oct 11, 2019)

Excellent!
Sat here in a pool of excitement..

Still a few goodies to see inside them despite the metal thieves being through it all.
I knew of this one and as you say it sometimes pops up in places such as coal mining group chats on the net. Surprised that it's still standing but then again we're struggling to find use for many old buildings in this country. I do hope it's all saved and not allowed to simply crumble. The outsides are very pretty.

I'm unsure about what was done with surrounding land following closure? Like most old mine sites I've a feeling that a Winter visit will show many more things once the vegetation dies back.

Thanks for showing those internals. Always good to see them


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## Explorer97 (Nov 17, 2019)

Amazing pictures, great find. Thank you for sharing


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## HughieD (Nov 17, 2019)

Sausage said:


> Excellent!
> Sat here in a pool of excitement..
> 
> Still a few goodies to see inside them despite the metal thieves being through it all.
> ...



Never said thank you for your kind words. So. Thank you!



Explorer97 said:


> Amazing pictures, great find. Thank you for sharing



No problem mate!


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## BikinGlynn (Nov 18, 2019)

Yeah thats a nice one that mate, well took!


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