Memories of Elemore pit which shut 50 years ago

The end of a mining era was reached at a Wearside colliery 50 years ago.

Three hundred and seventy workers at Elemore pit said goodbye to the place they had worked, many of them as man and boy.

Most of the workers moved to other collieries

And before boarding buses that took them to new jobs at different collieries, the miners of Elemore sang a rousing chorus of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” to the manager, Bill Hutton and then went through the gates for the last time.

The departure was laced with sadness and also relief.

There was sadness because of the comradeship at the site, but relief because of the conditions they worked in.

Dangerous conditions to work in

A Sunderland Echo report at the time explained more.

It told how the National Coal Board decided Elemore had to close because of difficult and dangerous conditions such as roof control problems and heavily-faulted coal faces.

They also made the decision in view of dwindling reserves and deteriorating quality of coal.

Of the 370 men employed at Elemore, only ten were made redundant with many workers moving to jobs at Eppleton and Murton collieries.

Elemore closed after 149 years of working.

If you worked there, share your memories by emailing [email protected]