Wigan Album

It could mean "overwinding" on a pit cage Ron. The two vertical shafts with the balls on are steam regulaters, which were in use for winding men & disabled for winding coal, fast. Just a thought..;o)

When I worked at Stones pit, Garswood, The winders were fitted with this device.The 2 columns had the governors on. These came into action as the cage reached its optimum speed, and shut down the steam. After this the winding engine would "free wheel" for a while until it had slowed down again, after which the winder could control the cage until it decked. The "visors" were located in the headgear and these operated to hold the cage if ever it over-wound.On the top of the cage attached to the winding rope was a device known as an "Ormerod" This was a Wigan patent and if the cage went into the visors, this device would detach from the rope, leaving the cage wedged in the visors. I hope that this clears up the mystery.John Woods was a firm that made lots of machinery for mining in and around Wigan

Thanks for the info Fred. It's a good job there are still some old miners about<g>

I have access to a John Wood and sons Ltd , Haulage catalogue from 1926 with all the different types of winding and haulage engines in it , British engineering at it's best .

We have two John Wood engines in steam at The Brickworks Museum, Bursledon, Hampshire. Happy to supply details, photos etc. Steam dates can be found at https://thebrickworksmuseum.org/

Contact as above or utilities@thebrickworksmuseum.org