This a check,that was produced for the
TURSDALE WORKSHOPS.This is the letter T over the
letter W.

ME NO UNDERSTAND ?????????????????????????????????

For those who maybe confused as to what Ivan’s referring to see the “Mystery Checks, Tallies & Motties” Section of this wed site. Follow the white text link above.

Webmaster

Many thanks for the info'.I can now see what the message is all about.

Sorry Mark,my mistake for not explaining the answer.
Only way i can get to reply to the questions asked on the website.Sorry again.

Ivan

Thanks for your information it is most appreciated. I will add it onto the appropriate "Mystery Item" page on the main part of the web site.

Where did you come by the answer to this one? Was it via an ex-employee of the workshops or someone similar? The Workshop Buildings are still in use and are located on the site of the long since closed Tursdale Colliery about 5 miles south of Durham City close to the Bowburn turn off on the A1M.

Has anyone got a picture of a lamp check from Tursdale Colliery they could post on the Forum. They are pretty rare. I've seen one poor condition pre 1947 example issued in the name of the pit's once owners, Dorman Long & Co. Ltd. plus a couple of examples of the pre 1947 DMA Tursdale Lodge badge/token. I understand that the NCB checks for Tursdale were of the same style as those used at Dean & Chapter, Chilton, Fishburn and other south-west Co. Durham pits. These post nationalisation checks do not carry the NCB initials on them and could easily be mistaken for pre 1947 issues.

Thanks

Mark

Tursdale Colliery D. L. & Co Ltd
40mm embossed brass. Plain rear

Tursdale Workshops were the NCB's 'Central Workshops' for the collieries that formed the No 4 Area of Durham Division. Workshops for two of the other areas of Durham Division were at Whitburn (No 1 Area) and Lambton Engine Works (No 2 Area).

A mining engineering training centre was also located at Tursdale and when I visited there in early 1962 the Tursdale shaft was only used for ventilatio and I was given to understand that it had been so used for a good number of years prior to that. The shaft may also have been used as an emergency exit at that time but I cannot be certain of this.

I do not have any information on when Tursdale Colliery ceased working.

Alan Vickers.

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www.beamishcollections.com/collections/display.asp?ItemID=4213 - Cached
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Tursdale - Keys to the Past
Tursdale Colliery was opened in 1854 and produced coal until 1968. It employed over 800 men at its height. The coal was mainly for industrial use and was ...
www.keystothepast.info/DURHAMCC/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?...PRN... - Cached

The information on the 'Keys to the Past' website seems to relate more to Bowburn Colliery, of which Tursdale Colliery became a part.

Norman Emery in his book "Banners of the Durham Coalfield" states that Tursdale was taken over by Dorman Long & Co in 1923 and later combined with Bowburn and that Tursdale coal was drawn at Bowburn shaft from that time with Tursdale being used as a man-riding shaft. The Durham Mining Museum website has no information on coal being worked rom there after 1930 but says that there were at that time 773 emplyed at the colliery.

The last coal was drawn from Bowburn in 1967 and Bowburn, along with Tursdale closed in 1968, however Tursdale had not been a coal producing unit for many years.

The colliery buildings were demolished and workshops and a mining training centre bilt on the site. The Tursdale shaft was also used as a means of access for trainees going to the underground training gallery. I referred to an engineering training centre in 1962, however I do not recall if the mining training centre was in use at that time.

It seems to me that there are two types of tokens for Tursdale - the first one being the Dorman Long Tursdale Colliery token shown by Charles and the Tursdale Workshops token identified by Ivan. As it seems that the Tursdale was not a coal producing unit at the time of nationalisation there may not have been a post nationalisation token for Tursdale Colliery, or if there were then perhaps very few in number.

Alan Vickers.

Thanks to everyone who as passed on some very intresting information.Surprising what knowledge some folks have on a brilliant industry.

Hello Mark,

I was sent the check,after writing to the workshops
when they were still working and i was still in the industry.Had a very nice letter with them,which explained there use.This was kept by the ex wife.

Thanks Ivan

You can't get a better provenance than that.

So what were these checks used for and when? Where they numbered on the back for use as time or tool checks by the staff at the worksops or where they just promotional key ring fobs or similar?

Thanks

Mark

Can't be sure,what they were for.If i could get the letter,which will be long gone,i might have been able to answer this for you.

I am wondering if Bowburn checks, or variations of them, were used at Tursdale at any tiime from the early 1930s up to the final closure in 1968.

I wonder if the Tursdalw Workshops checks were used when borrowing tools, for example. Bowburn History Society have a strong mining interest and may be able to provide more information on Bowburn/Tursdale checks and their use at Tursdale Workshops.

In my earlier posting I mentioned the workshops at Whitburn and Lambton Engine Works. I worked at the latter for two years in 1953 and 1954 but no checks were in use at that time although there was some system in place, possibly using clocking in cards, in order to borrow special tools.

Alan Vickers.