NEHL - Westoe was a late working on the North Durham coalfields, but also one of the last in the whole region to operate. Harton Coal Co. was an early adopter of new technologies such as the 1700hp electric winding engine (alongside Harton) and during sinking a freezing plant was used sinking the shaft through running sand. A Sulzar centrifugal pump was also used underground to lift 1000 gallons per minute.

The shaft connected directly to St Hilda’s Colliery underground and allowed easier access to the tunnels which were far away from the shaft at St Hilda’s. This was required as the tunnels grew incredibly long and would've taken a substantial portion of people's shifts even reaching the level.

The colliery occupied a cramped space between Westoe Cemetery and Bent House, though used the space efficiently with an electric railway network to St Hildas, Harton via Chichester Road and the Whitburn Colliery railway southwards along the coast. This was famously an electric line, suited to the heavily populated area reducing noise & pollution as well as the sharp curves and inclines.

Trade was still going well by the 80s - 2509 people were still working here and even by the 1990s was still productive and had enough coal to last into the 21st century. Foreign coal proved to be cheaper however, so the pit closed in March 1993. The area has been redeveloped for housing and commercial development.

Sunk in 1909, Westoe was heavily modernised in the 1950s with the construction of two tower mounted friction winders and a modern coal preparation plant. The site has recently closed and awaits demolition. Westoe Colliery was begun in 1909 as a man-riding shaft for the nearby St Hilda's Colliery. It became a producing mine when the old colliery closed in 1940. A major reconstruction scheme commenced in 1957. The early 1960s tall enclosed winding tower of the Crown Shaft dominates the site. An unusual but sadly lost feature of the mine was the electrically operated railway which connected the colliery with staiths at Harton adjacent to Mill Dam. The railway had been installed by the original German owned Harton Coal Company. Site now cleared for a housing development [2001]. - Sitelines