Fence Houses » Lambton Coke Works

Fencehouses Station c.1960

tech — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 20:02:36 +0000

Dennis,
I got this from E-bay, my dad seems to think this is around 1960 of Fence Houses station. I donated a copy of this to the Fence Houses book last year.

Regards

Andrew

Former colliery transformed into country park

tech — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 20:09:29 +0000

THE transformation of a heavily contaminated colliery and cokeworks site into a green oasis was celebrated yesterday.
Elba Park, formerly the site of the Lambton pit and cokeworks, was officially opened, with its colliery past remembered in a mining memorial artwork unveiled by ex-Sunderland and Newcastle United star Paul Bracewell.
The Homes and Communities Agency, the national housing and regeneration body for England, has invested over £25m in reclaiming the Sunderland site, where industrial activity came to an end with the closure of the cokeworks in the 1980s.
The 140-acre park includes a range of public art chosen by local people to commemorate Lambton’s history.
The new park has been named after Elba, the village which once stood by a curve of the Durham Junction Railway where it passed through the site, but disappeared as industrial activity expanded in the 19th Century.
At the centre of the new park, which is near the villages of Shiney Row, Burnmoor and Fencehouses, stands the memorial to miners at the colliery, where 127 pitmen are known to have lost their lives during its 364-year history. Artist Colin Wilbourn joined forces with local people in the Lambton Memorial Group to create the tribute artwork.
Nearby stands a series of wrought iron sculptures in the style of miners’ banners, created by children from four local schools with artist Craig Knowles, with additional funding from Sunderland City Council and the Coalfields Regeneration Trust.
In the 1990s both Colin and Craig worked on the series of artworks which line the regenerated St Peter’s riverside at the mouth of the Wear.
Meanwhile, a new bridge over the burn on the Lambton site includes a handrail made from miners’ pickaxes.
A further artwork inspired by the Wearside folk legend and song The Lambton Worm is set to be installed in the coming weeks.
Contractors moved over two million cubic metres of soil as part of the process to make the site safe, as well as planting 77,000 trees and creating 3,700 metres of new footpaths. The project has also paved the way for 359 family homes, now being built on an adjacent part of the site by David Wilson Homes. The housing will include a range of energy-saving and green features, such as rainwater harvesting and solar roof tiles, which will generate electricity which can be sold back to the national grid.
“We have worked side by side with local people for the past seven years to reclaim this site and make it safe for the community,” said Pat Ritchie, North East Director of the Homes and Communities Agency.
“Today is a chance to honour Lambton’s proud industrial heritage and to celebrate a new future for the site, providing green space and family homes for a new generation.”
Mike Roberts, managing director at David Wilson Homes North East, said: “We are looking forward to making Elba Park a thriving new community.”
The reclamation project has been supported by the Homes and Communities Agency, Sunderland City Council, the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, the Land Trust and the Lambton Memorial Group, as well as Groundwork North East, who will play a key role in maintaining the park and organising community activity.
Oct 2 2010 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

http://www.journallive.co.uk

Coke workers

tech — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 15:33:12 +0000

Another old coke worker from the early 60,s, Stuart Hunter, 64 yrs old, passed away last year, not many left now.

Posted by Norman Sweeting

Lambton “D” Pit

tech — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 18:16:49 +0000

This photo is of Lambton D Pit in the back ground you can see the Coke works next to the pit head in the foreground this was the canteen and miners baths. I can remember shining my shoes on a machine which was just in the door way of the canteen on my way back from Lambton baths (after been chucked in by Mr Murtagh.) Happy days.

Photo supplied by Geoff Robinson. Cheers Geoff

Lambton Coke Works

tech — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:34:31 +0000

I took this photograph in 1983 whilst learning about photography. I am
the brother of Norman Sweeting whose article you have on your site. It`s strange but I didn`t
have anything to do with work there, I went into the RAF.

Yours
William Sweeting

Life In Lambton

Money Penny — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:18:30 +0000

Norman Sweeting in 1985

" width="203" height="152" />

Life in Lambton

By Norman Sweeting

“A bit smelly and dirty but lots of fun” is how Norman describes life at the Lambton Coke Works before it closed in the 1980s.

I started work on my 16th birthday, September 1966 and worked at the Lambton Coke Works until it closed in February 1986. The plant was a big part of my family’s life.

My father and brother were there when I started and, later, two of my uncles started. There were several family groups there as, in those days, people were given jobs if they had relatives working there. My oldest brother worked at Hawthorn coke works.

" width="203" height="130" />Derek and Norman in 1969

With only about 320 people employed there it was a close-knit community and you virtually knew everyone’s name. My closest mate (Derek, alias DOC) started one year earlier and we are still working together at Caterpillar, Peterlee.

My father worked for the company that built the coke works and started work at the new plant straightaway in 1955 and retired in 1983 and so missed out on the big redundancy payments in 1986.

Collapsing cooling tower

It was a great place to work, a bit smelly and dirty but lots of fun even with management. Not a great deal happened over the years, but a few notable events occurred, like in 1968 the tall wooden quenching tower used for cooling down the red hot coke, which was transported in a large bucket wagon from the ovens, collapsed.

I think it was hit by lightening, which ended up with a group of men with big hoses quenching the coke down for months afterwards while it was repaired.

" width="155" height="120" />Lambton Coke plant workers

“On the day we finished there in February 1986 there wasn’t many dry eyes when we said our goodbyes.”

Norman Sweeting

Lord Robens visited us in 1970 to open the new Blending plant. Everything in the Blending plant was run from the main control office. We had 20 large bunkers filled with different coals from around the world and they were mixed together to make top quality coke for foundry work and household use.

Lightening does strike twice

In around 1980 lightening struck again. This time it struck the lightening conductors on top of the tallest chimney. It did not damage the chimney but shot down the copper strips hit the ground and set fire to everything around it, and what a noise it made when it hit.

In all the time there, there was no one killed or even seriously injured and once we won the top safety award as well as the tidiest plant award (takes some believing but it did happen).

We didn’t just work together we went out socially as well. We also had our own football team, crown green bowling team, which I joined and was one of the youngest playing.

" width="131" height="200" />Norman working the vice in 1970

We played our football games at Fencehouses Y.M.C.A. which sadly was demolished only months ago to make way for new houses.

My trade was a maintenance fitter and I learnt a vast array of skills, including lead burning which I loved doing. We were trained off an old timer who used to line the insides of the tall chimneys with lead. Never had to use it since.

On the day we finished there in February 1986 there wasn’t many dry eyes when we said our goodbyes. Some people we never saw again, only reminded when we found out they had passed away.

Fencehouses Y.M.C.A. crica 1973

" width="300" height="184" />

Now Norman can you name them?

Left to right, back row,

Trevor Bellas–Chris English- Alan Eliott- Matty Hoggin- Mel Newton- Norman Sweeting-Mickey Foster.

Left to right, Front row,

Andy Softley-Phil Taylor-Bobby Crozier-Alan Travena-Alan Fife.

Well done Norman One or two lads there should have gone to Roxby’s

www.BBC.co.uk/wear