For the record… letters and articles from the Review re potential flooding of Northern United site.
•Northern’s S4 supply road which, says Mr Morgan, is close to the development site and gives an indication of what conditions could be in existence.
The report by mine manager Paul Morgan into the underground workings at Northern United.
‘Let me introduce myself…
My name is Paul Morgan, I am a born and bred Forester, a Freeminer and the holder of an Home Office Mine Surveyors Certificate, being the second working Forester to ever obtain this qualification.
The late Stan Jordan was the first to obtain what was the coal industry’s most coveted qualification followed by myself, and then Graham Jones and Bill Meredith. It is interesting to note that all four of us were Lydbrook boys, in fact three of us were from Worrall Hill and those three all went to East Dean Grammar School.
I started work at Waterloo (Arthur and Edward Colliery) in 1948 working as a colliery linesman – the lowest level of the survey chain. Later I was given a Coal Board Surveyor’s apprenticeship before qualifying.
Mine surveying is a very exacting science and requires team work to obtain these standards. I was privileged to be part of the Coal Board team operating in the Forest and under the leadership and guidance of the late Bill Handy, Group Surveyor, provided a challenging force.
I was the last resident surveyor at Northern United Colliery, being there from the early 1950s until I finished working for the National Coal Board in 1964.
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THE proposals for the Northern Arc site, as shown on the internet sketch layouts, would be a pride for Cinderford and the Forest.
Unfortunately, the site chosen is just about the worst that could have been selected.
The area in question is undermined by workings, dipping at gradients of 1-in-2 to 1-in-4 from Northern United Colliery and any development in the Steam Mills area would be sitting on an hydraulic water cushion of anything from two to 10 feet or even more. While the water remains, there probably is no problem, but any change could have catastrophic results.
Remember when Waterloo was flooded in 1949, properties at the Pludds were seriously damaged with their gardens subsiding when their water support was lost.
Concern of undermining was taken seriously by The Great Western Railway, later British Rail, who had an office in Swindon dealing with colliery workings in their area and had qualified mine surveyors and staff protecting the railway’s safety. The Railway Authority would send their surveyor to Northern at least twice yearly to ensure that no coal extraction took place under any of their railways, even ones which had been abandoned for years. It is obvious that the Railway Authority was being extremely concerned with possible subsidence – so should we!
Again, with the fear of damage to the Forest Church, a barrier was placed around the church prohibiting any coal extraction.
All the lower series mines in the Forest are water connected with the lowest run off point at Old Norchard Colliery, now the site of the Dean Heritage Railway. This effectively gives the ara an underground lagoon of approximately 25/30 square miles. Northern Arc development would be constructed on this water table.
Water is already over 200 feet up Northern United shaft, at the same level as the Norchard outfall, so the situation can be clearly visualised.
It is difficult to forecast, or even imagine, what could change the water level. Water extraction could very well do this and with the ever increasing demand on fresh water nationally, this could be one real possibility. Some 7,200,000 gallons of water from the Norchard outlet are wasted into the River Lyd daily. With treatment, the supply is unlikely to be any worse than the recycled water being currently obtained from the River Wye extraction. I am aware that other people have been requesting professional examination and analysis of this possibility for some considerable time.
Ground movement is yet another possibility. The Forest coalfield is littered with geological faulting. Only just down the road from the development site is the “Staple Edge Fault” where the strata was folded over giving a vertical thickness of over 100 feet of coal in Eastern United Colliery. Could there be any possibility of this or any other movement happening again?
Could other mining drifts open up under water pressure with, even if they were at a higher level to Old Norchard, and act as a syphon to the lagoon?
There are the added problems of workings in the Upper Coalfield Series. These are, of course, nearer the surface. The area around Steam Mills has probably more recorded shafts than anywhere else in the Forest and that is not to mention the number of shafts, and their workings, which have not been recorded. To add to these problems there could be many “Bell Shafts”, put down particularly during the 1921 and 1926 strike period, which again would not have been recorded.
Only recently, and quite close to the development site, Duck Pit collapsed. Surely this must be a warning shot as to what problems could be experienced in the future, not only the added cost implication but the potential danger to the site. Duck Pit was around 400 feet deep!
Dr F.M. Trotter D.Sc reported in “Geology of the Forest of Dean Coal and Iron-ore Field,” published in 1942, the following detail around this site:
“Shaft 1025yds S 30o E of Steam Mills Halt. Depth 150 feet.
George’s Folly 900yds S 16o E of Steam Mills Halt. Depth 186 feet.
Shaft 430yds W 10o S Steam Mills Halt.
New Bowson Deep Shaft 800yds SW of Steam Mills Halt. (Depth 473 feet obtained elsewhere).
There are no details available of the abandoned pit shafts of the following:
Regulation No. 1, Regulation No. 2, Regulation No. 3, Broadmoor Engine, Victory, No Fold, Protection, Whimsey, Waterloo, Churchway Land, Churchway Deep. Also Arkill, Old Fire Engine, Pearce Shaft and Duck Pit 800yds S 7o W of Steam Mills Halt is mentioned.”
As previously stated, Dr Trotter’s book was published in 1942, but with mining taking place since the Romans were here what more could be expected from this site?
It should not be forgotten that with all the above mentioned shafts there are unknown workings with no possibility of anyone being able to verify their extent. Any construction work undertaken in this area will require exceptionally high contingency percentages added to the original tender to save looking for added and embarrassing finance at a later date, something that is more than probable.
Conclusion
I have endeavoured to produce a factual report on the underground workings in the vicinity of the proposed Northern Arc development and, as will be seen, this is a very vulnerable area and possibly not the location to site a college where six or seven hundred young people could be gathered at any one time or even an hotel for that matter.
It could be argued that little evidence exists of subsidence in the area but this is not a professional response and the “Lutine Bell” has rung for Duck Pit!
I would prefer to put my faith in “Murphy’s Law” which states: “If something can go wrong it will go wrong.” But again that is also not a professional response.
Public liability in any public building is very daunting at the best of times but with such a vulnerable site insurance quotations should be obtained before any work is even contemplated.
To those elected members and officers responsible for considering the future of this site I would invite them to ask themselves the following questions:
1: Would I be prepared to build a house for myself on this site, with my own finance?
2: Would any financial authority grant me a mortgage on this site knowing its history?
3: Would I?be prepared to agree an unspecified sum of money for unidentified site work?
4: Am I happy in spending public funds, ie taxpayers’ money, on such a vulnerable site?
Answers to these questions alone could very well determine the future of this area.’
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