Research Projects

by Dru Trenholm

The Village

Other amenities were limited to a few galvanised metal erections that comprised of the “tin” school in 1911 and also a Church/Church Hall. In the meantime, roads had been built to link the community to the rest of the area, the Coast Road between Blackhall and Hartlepool was opened in 1924 and the road between Blackhall and Horden in 1925.

A new Church (Church of England) was eventually purchased – second hand! It cost �300 and came from Stockton (St. Paul’s) and because the exterior was so dirty, it was rebuilt inside out at a cost of �6,000. It was re-named St. Andrews on 5th May 1930, but it is known locally as “The Inside-Out Church”. In 1929, the Middle Street schools were opened after a temporary school on the same site and by permission of the Horden Collieries Ltd.; the “Granary” building became a school for junior and senior boys.

In 1929, the Welfare Park was opened; this like many others in the Durham Coalfield was paid for by a weekly levy on the miners’ wages, initially 1pence and then later 2 pence.

The pithead baths were opened in 1934. For the miner himself, it meant that he could have a hot shower immediately on reaching the surface. He could get rid of his pit-dirt – leave his pit clothes in his locker and get changed into clean clothes. It must have been more welcome to the mothers and wives of miners. No more filling and emptying the tin bath in front of the fire. No more dirty pit clothes having to be picked up and banged against the back yard wall to get rid of the coal dust. No need for the kitchen or living room to serve as a bathroom and no need for the rest of the family to scatter while the miner had his bath.

In 1936 the railway station at Blackhall Colliery was opened by the Colliery Manager, Mr. E. Chicken, the first train going to Edinburgh on 25th July and the second train to the Miners’ Gala at Durham. Between the first and Second World Wars, new housing schemes were developed, some by private developers and others as a result of Council enterprise. The new Council House estates were built to a higher standard than the original terraced “numbered” miners’ houses. They were mainly semi-detached with gardens front and back and indoor bathrooms. They were however, always slightly inferior in appearance to the private dwellings which were more likely to be occupied by professional people, e.g., doctors, teachers, etc. This was remedied somewhat by the introduction, on the initiative of the coal companies of “scheme” housing. New dwellings on neat terraced estates were built by private developers and assistance was made to the miners in arranging mortgages.

From 1927 until re-armament in 1936, the coal trade was in the doldrums with excess capacity and low demand. The fall of France in 1940 brought a collapse in the export market of coal and as the bulk of Blackhall’s coal was exported, the pit was put on short time working – sometimes only one week in three. Some of the miners moved their families to the Midlands finding work in the pits and factories there. Others went to work in the shipyards at Hartlepool. However, later in the war, many of them returned to the colliery as demand for coal grew.

This is part of a series of projects, others are listed below:

Blackhall Colliery and Village (Part 1) - Early history

Blackhall Colliery and Village (Part 2) - Industrialisation

Blackhall Colliery and Village (Part 3) - Sinking of the shaft

Blackhall Colliery and Village (Part 4) - Housing and employment

Blackhall Colliery and Village (Part 6) - Post war years

Blackhall Colliery and Village (Part 7) - Full circle


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