Durham E-Theses the origins and treatment of derelict land in county Durham Hartley, Derek How to cite: Hartley, Derek (1998) the origins and treatment of derelict land in county Durham, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4648/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk The origins and treatment of derelict land in County Durham DEREK HARTLEY The University of Durham Department of Geological Sciences January 1998 This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree ofM.Sc. in Environmental Management Practice The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the written consent of the author and information derived from it should be acknowledged. This work is the copyright of Derek Hartley 1998 1 2 MAY 1998 ABSTRACT The study considers the programme of derelict land reclamation carried out in County Durham, which was largely dictated by considerations of economic development and visual impact. The origins of derelict land are however widespread and were originally related to the sources of raw materials. The geological background to mineral recovery in the county is therefore examined as this strongly influenced the extent and pattern of industrial development which subsequently became derelict. County Durham has, to a large extent, been dominated by coal. Records of past mining are examined and compared with those for derelict and reclaimed land. The nature of potential problems is assessed and categorised, noting especially the particular case of coke products and the impact of opencast mining. The same basic procedure is then followed for other minerals such as iron and vein minerals including lead. Surface extraction of clay and rock is considered in conjunction with the problems of waste disposal. Having looked at the origins, distribution, history and problems of suspect sites, the nature of the risk is assessed using recommended procedures, including verification of on-site conditions. Sites are then reviewed, in the light of government policy, to determine the need or otherwise for further examination or treatment. Consideration is given to pollution standards and other influences which may affect future policy. Conclusions are finally drawn on the effectiveness of the methodology used in this study and recommendations are given for further evaluation to ensure compliance with current standards. These include broad screening exercises leading in some cases to detailed investigations. Revision of records to enable easy analysis, should future legislation require this, would be a logical next step. CONTENTS Page Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 History ., 1.2 Past Reclamation .) 1.3 Current Policy 6 1.4 Study Content 7 Chapter 2 The Durham Coalfield 8 2.1 Geology 8 2.2 Coal Measures 10 2.3 Mining History 13 2.4 Reclamation 16 Chapter 3 Colliery Reclamation and Abandoned Mine Records 17 3.1 Records 17 3 .1.1 National Coal Board Records 17 3 .1.2 Local Authority Derelict Land Records 19 3.2 Screening 20 3.2.1 Abandoned Mines 20 3.2.2 Opencasting 23 3 .2.3 Analysis 26 Chapter 4 Coal Mining and Processing - Potential Problems 28 4.1 Importance of problems 28 4.2 Nature ofProblems 28 4.2.1 Visual Effects 28 4.2.2 Heaps 28 4.2.3 Gas 30 4.2.4 Shafts and Drifts 31 4.2.5 Shallow Workings 32 (i) 4.2.6 Longwall Deep Mining 33 Chapter 5 Durham Iron Ores 34 5.1 Ore Types 34 5.2 Sedimentary Ores 34 5.2.1 Claystone Ironstones 34 5.2.2 Blackband Ironstones 35 5.3 Vein Mineralization 36 Chapter 6 Ironstone Mining 40 6.1 Claystone Ironstones 40 6.2 Vein Mineralization Iron Ores 40 6.2.1 Wear Valley 40 6.2.2 Teesdale 42 6.3 Mines 42 6.3.1 Weardale 42 6.3.2 Teesdale 44 6.4 Methods of Working 45 6.5 Reclamation records 46 6.6 General Review 47 6.7 Screening 49 6.7.1 Red Vein - Rookhope 49 6.7.2 Cross Veins 50 Chapter 7 Iron and Steel Production 53 7.1 History 53 7.2 Processes 53 7.3 Developments 56 7.4 Further Changes 57 7.5 Recorded Ironworks 60 (ii) Chapter 8 Iron Mining and Processing - Problems 62 8.1 Mining 62 8.2 Processing 62 Chapter 9 Origins of Vein Minerals 66 9.1 Mineralization 66 9.2 Extent of Ores 68 Chapter 10 Vein Mineral Working 71 10.1 Zoning 71 10.2 Extraction 71 10.3 Lead 72 10.3.1 History 72 10.3.2 Sample Area 75 10.4 Fluorite 79 10.4.1 History 79 10.4.2 Workings 82 10.5 Sphalerite 82 10.6 Barite 83 10.6.1 Locations 83 10.6.2 Cowgreen 84 10.6.3 Deep Mines 85 10.6.4 Witherite 85 Chapter 11 Vein Minerals- Need for Reclamation 86 11.1 General 86 11.2 Lead 86 11.2.1 Sample Area Records 86 11.2.2 Other Mines 89 11.2.3 Observations 90 11.3 Fluorite 90 (iii) 11.4 Sphalerite 91 11.5 Barite 92 11.5.1 Lunehead and Closehouse 92 11.5.2 Cowgreen 93 11.5.3 Flushiemere 96 11.5.4 Witherite 97 Chapter 12 Vein Minerals - Problems 98 12.1 Nature of Concerns 98 12.2 Physical 98 12.3 Chemical and Biological 98 12.3.1 Lead 98 12.3.2 Barite and fluorite 100 Chapter 13 Cokeworks 101 13.1 History 101 13.2 Coal Sources 102 13.3 Sites 105 13.3.1 Major Recent Sites 105 13.3 2 Closures since 1951 105 13.3.3 Other Sites 107 13.3 4 Beehive Ovens 108 Chapter 14 Cokeworks - Problems 110 14.1 Production 110 14.2 By-products 110 14.3 Receptors 112 Chapter 15 Brick Clay, Rock, Aggregates, Waste Disposal 113 15.1 General 113 15.2 Materials 113 15.2.1 Brick Clay 113 (iv) 15.2.2 Rock 114 15.2.3 Sand and Gravel 115 15.3 Treatment 115 15.3.1 Rock, Sand and Gravel 115 15.3.2 Waste Disposal 116 Chapter 16 Problems, Policy and Risk 120 16.1 Risk Assessment 120 16.1.1 Nature ofRisk 120 16.1.2 Evaluation 121 16.2 Current Strategy 123 16.2.1 Government Approach 123 16.2.2 Other Views 124 16.2.3 Discussion 125 16.3 Existing Policy 126 Chapter 17 Policy and Treatment- Specific Sites 130 17.1 Extent of Problems 130 17.1.1 Coal 130 17.1.2 Iron 134 17.1.3 Vein Minerals 138 17.1.4 Cokeworks 143 17.2 Initial Observations 144 17.2.1 Coal 144 17.2 2 Iron 145 17.2.3 Vein Minerals 145 17.2.4 Cokeworks 147 Chapter 18 Policy Review 148 18.1 Factors 148 18.2 Standards 149 (v) 18.3 Metalliferous Mining 150 18.4 Coal Industry Act 151 18.5 Access 152 Chapter 19 Conclusions and Recommendations 154 19.1 Risk Present 154 19.1.1 Coal 154 19.1.2 Vein Minerals 155 19.1.3 Cokeworks and Smelting 156 19.1.4 Quanies and Claypits 157 19.2 Conclusions 158 19.3 Recommendations 159 Chapter 20 Executive Summary 160 Chapter 21 References 166 (vi) List of Figures Page Figure I.I Location Plan - County Durham 2 Figure 1.2 Pit Heap Reclamation Areas 5 Figure 2.1 Geology - Blocks and Troughs 8 Figure 2.2 Coal Cyclothem 9 Figure 2.3 Northumberland and Durham Coalfield II Figure 2.4 Bord and Pillar Working I4 Figure 3.I Derelict Coal Mines by Grid Square 22 Figure 3.2 Coal Mines- OS Sheet 33 24 Figure 3.3 Coal Mines- OS Sheet 27 25 Figure 5.1 North Pennine Orefield 38 Figure 6.1 Iron Mines - Weardale 41 Figure 6.2 Iron Mines - Rookhope 43 Figure 7.1 Ironworks - Historical 59 Figure 9.1 Alston Block 67 Figure 9.2 Alston Cupola 67 Figure 10.1 Lead - Coldberry 76 Figure I0.2 Fluorite Mines 8I Figure 1l.I Barite Mines - Cowgreen 94 Figure 13.1 Coal Rank - Area I04 Figure I3.2 Beehive Oven I09 Figure 14.1 Flow Diagram - Coke By Products IIO Figure 15.1 Brick Pits - Waste Disposal Sites Il9 Figure I7.1 Coal Shaft - Footpath I3I Figure 17.2 Coal Shaft - Agriculture I32 Figure 17.3 Iron Mine - Cover I35 Figure I7.4 Drift Entrance - Iron I36 Figure I7.5 Lead/Iron Shaft I37 (vii) List of Figures (Cont'd) Page Figure 17.6 Lead Shaft 140 Figure 17.7 Barite Mine- Collapse 142 Figure 19.1 Quarry- Teesdale 157 (viii) List of Tables Page Table 6.1 Iron Mines - Veins 45 Table 11.1 Lead Mines - Records 87-88 Table 11.2 Lead Mines - OS 89 Table 14.1 Coke By-Products/Hazards 111 (ix) Appendices 1/ Reclaimed Sites- not NCB 2/ Colliery Names - Shildon 3/ Coal Mines- OS Sheet 33 41 Coal Mines- OS Sheet 27 51 Iron Ore Extraction 61 Fluorite Mines (x) Acknowledgements My thanks are due to Dr J R Senior, Supervisor, for his support and constructive advice throughout the preparation of this thesis.