NEHL - A modest local coal working named Tynedale Colliery was situated near Acomb, on the lane between St John Lee Church and Salmonswell.

The shaft was first sunk in 1900 next to the Toddle Burn. At this time it was owned by William Wood & Sons working a limestone coal formation. It had no rail connection which will have always stunted its growth, relying purely on road transport. It was fraught with dispute from the earliest years too.

In 1903 there was a disagreement with wages and conditions of work. 27 miners were brought from North Wales after the local workforce were given their notice, but they too refused to go down in solidarity learning of the dispute. Apparently, the management was the key issue as everyone refused to work for them. The Welsh did stay though, and Mr Thomas Hughes from North Wales remained manager of Tynedale Colliery for 17 years. He died in 1924 and had his funeral at Morpeth.

The first fatality at the colliery came in 1906, when a young man named Robert Walton died in the pit alone due to an explosion. He was badly burnt, likely due to the pumping engine being driven by oil. I have to say it is unusual to hear someone being totally alone down there. At this time the pit was operated by around 67 people - 55 below and 12 on the surface. Another fatality came in 1915. George Oliver was killed by a fall of stone - a man who had played for Acomb United and Hexham Athletic.

The colliery continued operations through 3 separate names - William Wood, the Tynedale Coal Co. and the Acomb Coal Co. Mining continued until the mid 1920s. By 1921 only 16 people worked here, a sharp drop from 67 in 1915, and it was abandoned by 1924. It officially wound up by 1926.

The site today can still be identified as a rectangular boundary on the old path which seemingly looks abandoned. Sadly there are no known photographs of the working.