Further Information
View a detailed map showing the location of this site (opens in a new window)
Photograph of Welbeck deep mine
Welbeck Colliery during May 2010 brought its last tonne to the surface. But whilst production has ceased on the last coal face due to the exhaustion of workable reserves, it will be some months before the Welbeck winding wheels stop turning.
About 70 of the 410 employees who worked there in recent years will remain to recover equipment, and to safely seal off and decommission a mine which has exhausted three seams of coal since work on sinking the twin shafts began in 1912.
Coal washing and blending operations will also continue at Welbeck for several months, with the product being transported by rail to nearby power stations for electricity generation.
UK Coal Chief Executive Jon Lloyd said: “This is a sad day for UK Coal, the coal industry and the communities which have had an association with Welbeck for almost a century. But being an extractive industry, this day was an inevitability. Our gratitude and thanks is extended to everyone who has contributed to the success of Welbeck over the years, and our best wishes go to those who are moving on to new challenges at our other mines and elsewhere.”
In its heyday, Welbeck employed around 1,400 miners and enjoyed an annual output of around 1.5 million tonnes.