Wigan Album

Thank the lord we don't have to put up with these people holding the country to ransom any more. Well done Margaret.

do you know that miners lost their lives at this pit due to an explosion ? . what an utterly disgraceful comment to come out with . i bet you jump up & down with pure joy when you get your over inflated utillity gas , lecky & water bills . thanks for that too maggie.

I seldom if ever reply to a critical comment on the site.(everyone is entitled to their opinion)
HoweverI am incandescent with rage at the comment by Mr.Maloy , his comment " these people " used as though they were a different species . I would ask the gentleman to type into his computer Golborne pit disaster , he will read of 10 of "these people "who were killed at this colliery 18th March 1979.
The only excuse I can make for his comment is that he is not from a mining background and thus he is unfamiliar with the great hardships that were suffered by miners and their families.
I am from a mining family and am aware of the thousands of lives lost in The Wigan Coalfield; apart from the people who lost their lives at the coal face thousands upon thousands died because of lung disease. As a child I would see ex miners unable to walk a little more than yards , they would walk from one windowsill to the next and pretend to be looking round , the truth they could not walk another yard.

He obviously does not remember Maggie Thatcher the milk snatcher whups

He's not referring to Maggie the milk snatcher is he whups

A sad day indeed. https://www.wigantoday.net/news/golborne-disaster-will-always-stay-me-739759

What Thatcher did to the mining industry wasn't anything to do with the economy of the country or politics - she allowed a personality clash and her vindictive nature to bring about the outcome, and the UK had to then pay over the odds for coal shipped from China and other countries.

All the miners wanted was a decent wage to live on, especially with the dangerous and hard work they had to do, and doing so at 2000 feet, 609 metres or so underground.

The miners kept the wheels of industry in the UK turning, especially so when they did their bit during the war digging out the coal to make steel and brass for ammunition, also the gas and electricity for the factories to function not forgetting the hospitals and homes. So Tony Maloy, I respect that you have your opinion, but shall there be an apology forthcoming for the crass comment you made? and no I wasn't a miner, but a son proud of a father who was.

Well said Tom and Cyril, and I am the proud sister of a miner, who worked 30 odd yrs underground. Mr Maloy should try it.He wouldn't last a week.

Thatcher arch enemy of the working class!

Fact beats opinion hands down. There was more money wasted in the coal industry than most of you could imagine.
Golborne Colliery was in the No. 3 St. Helens area of the North West Division of the National Coal Board. All coal mines in our area were in the South Lancashire Coalfield.

(ex B.A,C.M.)

No money wasted on zero hour contracts that's what the Tories want

The North has always been starved of investment. If it were me I would divide the map in half and shift the Houses of Parliament and Buck Palace to the middle line , same applies to the City, that would go as well . One side will never be allowed to have more than the other. Now, like always, the Capital gets first with everything . The Tories believe that there has to be an upper class and a lower class, like those who dine and those who serve. The upper classes go to the City and the lower class went down the pit or into the factory to learn a trade. Tories are the first to sing Land Of Hope and Glory , yet want one half to be weaker than them, this DIVIDES the country. If they invested in the country equally , then everybody would benefit and join in the singing together.
. Why do we need a Capital like London anyway? Isn't a country about its people? The Tories are not fulfilling the potential of the country because they are investing more in one part of the country than the other. The is not good business sense any way you look at it . Do you build a good team by buying only strikers?

thatcher the job snatcher sammys.

as a pit alone golborne made money, but as part of the complex it was made to run at a loss & once golborne was shut the other 2 in the complex was shut shortly after . very well said mr walsh & cyril .

as far as "facts" go mr hindley isnt it true that coal played a MAJOR PART in the 1st & 2nd world war by keeping the industries going who made planes , ships, ammo & virtually everything else associated with the wars ? . if they had,nt we would be speaking a diffrent language & you would,nt be living in a free society . i think that whatever the cost acrued by the mines & it,s workers has more than paid it,s way in our country & throwing mud at them is,nt the thing to do . you owe them a debt of gratitude for the life you have lived & the family you have had in a free society .

Well said Whups

Golborne Colliery Opened 1865 closed 1986. Prior to nationalisation It was part of The Wigan Coalfield,
see map. .

You are correct in what you say Mr. Whoops and I agree. But it doesn't hide the fact that the coal industry was a money pit (excuse the pun). I should know, I had 38 years in the industry under my belt.

No doubt it was expensive to run a huge nationalized industry, however it provided education, training, and secure employment to hundreds of thousands of men and women, and probably supported twice as many jobs in associated industries. Not forgetting it provided the nation with a secure supply of fuel for energy production.

tommy golborne closed in 1989 .

no matter how much you think it,s a "money pit" the fact remains that it was due to the mines & it,s workers that kept kaizer bill & adolf away from your doorstep . like iv,e said it more that paid its way . you wernt the only 1 who worked in the indusrty me & my dad had 55yrs between us .

Whups , you are of course quite right. another site gives the opening of the pit as 1880.

Tom, prior to nationalisation Golborne Colliery was part of Haydock Collieries, all in the South Lancashire Coalfield.