Calverton Colliery A Brief History Of The Old Village Mine

Colliery Timeline continued

1993 : The Conservative Government announce that the pit will not after all be closed, just that the workforce will be trimmed down. They say 640 miners will have to go within 16 days.

November 19 : British Coal closes the Colliery

1994 :

May 23 : A company comes in to lease the mine for a 10 year period that firm is R.J.B Mining. They say they are to increase the workforce from 150 to 300 men.

1996 : R.J.B extends their lease to 25 years - Calverton Colliery has a very bright future it seems.

1997 : R.J.B. Mining suspends all investment in the colliery

1999 : Press release - 9th April 1999 - Mining is to cease at Calverton Colliery and the operating lease and licence returned to owners The Coal Authority by current licensee operators R.J.B Mining. Calverton was closed by British Coal in 1993 and reopened by R.J.B the following year. Since then,the mine has produced over 2.5 million tonnes of coal. But R.J.B announced today that deteriorating geological conditions in the limited remaining accessible reserves, leading to higher production costs, have made "ongoing operations unviable, both now and in the forseeable future." Production at Calverton,will cease next week. About 40 men will be retained to secure the underground areas and recover items of equipment, and about 100 will be offered transfers to other R.J.B mines. Redundant employees will receive severance payments based on their earnings and years of service, as well as three months' pay in respect of the statutory 90-day consultation period. Richard Budge, R.J.B's Chief Executive, said: "Given the dedication and effort that everyone has made, we are disappointed that we have been unable to maintain operations for a longer period. We can only hope that the commitment our employees have shown will encourage new employers to take advantage of their undoubted skills."

Some 25-30 million tons of coal remained in the ground at Calverton.

Three hundred jobs were lost although, reflecting an ever more mobile population, only around 40 miners lived in Calverton by this point.

April 16 : Production finished by R.J.B. Mining at the colliery

July 9 : The mine was closed for good and handed back to the Coal Authority

September : Filling of Number 2 shaft begun

October 29 : First demolition of colliery buildings (part of Number 1 Pit Top near Tippler)

2000 :

January 19 : Demolition of Number 1 Headgear