NEHL - East Howle Colliery transformed this whole area. From 1872, the land south of Cookson's Green was transformed into a large colliery and modest pit village, featuring around half a dozen terraces, multiple chapels and a school nearby.

It was opened by the East Howle Coal & Fire Brick Co. and soon after came under the ownership of the North of England Industrial Coal & Iron Co. and was short lived, only operating until the mid 1900s. The pit was beset with unrest and industrial action almost from day dot. The most notable came in 1876, coinciding with a slump in the coal trade. 300 men and boys received a fortnights notice stating their services were no longer required from the 7th April. The scarcity of work was given as the course which caused "great alarm in the district". The piece however does not reference the strike which came only a couple of weeks before when a group of workers were charged with leaving the workforce without giving proper notice. This ground were named the ringleaders of 182 men who also struck work that day. It is stated this was due to changes in the working conditions and were told to go to work later and finish later, for which they weren't given notice for. They received support from the DMA and ended up winning the case, however as you can see the colliery decided to threaten their contracts not long after which only goes to highlight the brutality of industrial employment and the minimal rights for pitmen in these days. This wasn't the end of it though - strikes are recorded in the following years for various reasons, but mainly down to scrupulous working conditions and unfair changes to contracts.

The colliery itself was attached to the Bishop Auckland & Ferryhill railway, and on site featured 200 Beehive ovens, a pit pond and significant pit heaps. The colliery operated over 2000 acres of farmland too employing over 500 men and boys. The village stood to the south of the pit, with its own hotel presumably for workmen who had just moved for employment. There was a Christian Lay Church, Primitive Chapel and a post office. East Howle School was located between here and Metal Bridge (https://www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/features/east-howle-school).

The pit only operated until 1905. The Brockwell Seam was exhausted with any remains coals unprofitable. I can't imagine the industrial action helped either.