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2nd July 2011 saw Recreation Railways running along the route of the former Kilmersdon tramway at Haydon, returning rail service after an absence of 38 years and enabling passengers to travel a short section of this industrial only route, part of the last gravity operated incline in the country.
Kilmersdon Colliery It is believed that coal was mined in the local area during Roman times and there is documentary evidence of coal being dug on the Mendips in 1305 and at the area of Kilmersdon Colliery in 1437. Although officially named Kilmersdon Colliery, the pit entrance was within Haydon so locally named Haydon Pit. A shaft was sunk in February 1874 and the main shaft eventually reached depths of 1560ft/500 metres.
The complex geological disturbances that characterized the Somerset Coalfield made working conditions both difficult and costly. The coal often ran into faults where an earth movement had slipped across the coal seam causing fractures in the strata, making seams very difficult to follow. Coal was removed from Kilmersdon Colliery by hand using the “topple down” method. This method tried to ensure that the coal was removed along a downward passage to the waiting Coal Trucks below, to be dragged by a carting boys “crawling Like a crab” away from the face and down to the topple passage which was about 3ft high, 3-4ft wide and up to 60 yards from coal face to the tramway using a putt, guss & crook.
The Kilmersdon Shaft worked at 30 winds per hour, 90 trams of coal were wound in an hour this came to a total of 85 tonnes an hour.
To carry the coal a standard gauge railway and self-acting incline was laid to the GWR Frome to Radstock line.
The arising’s or spoil from the sinking of shafts and removing the material between seams was lifted from the working face to the surface before being transported by a locomotive across Kilmersdon Road along the colliery railway to the tip or batch (Western Corner of Haydon) located behind Haydon Village Hall/Que Club Now marked by a public footpath.
The tip has since been reshaped following a landslide in the early 1980’s, enhancing the fine views of the surrounding coal field and beyond, Ammerdown Tower can be seen. 
In 1896 the first known locomotive arrived to take over from the horses. Later a Peckett 0-4-0 locomotive arrived in 1929 and worked until the pit closed. This engine worked full wagons to the head of the incline and returned the empty ones back to the screens. Evidence of this track can still be seen running through the heart of Haydon. Three battery locomotives were transferred to Kilmersdon in 1966, of which two went into underground service ensuring the Colliery was able to function into the modern era. The coal removed mainly fed the demands of Portishead Power station, as well as local homes and businesses. Kilmersdon Colliery was the last of the collieries in the Somerset Coalfield to close during August 1973, ending 2000 years of coal mining in the Mendips. Kilmersdon’s winding wheel now stands as a monument outside the Radstock Museum.
A collection of images of Kilmersdon in operation can be found here. The Kilmersdon InclineThe self-acting Incline and tramway at Kilmersdon Colliery were constructed in 1877, to exchange coal at the siding of the GWR Frome to Radstock Railway.
The summit of the Incline was the initial tipping space until 1990 when the railway was extended to the main site on the west side of Kilmersdon Road.
The incline changed very little over the 90 years it was in operation from 1874- 1973.
Working the incline was a simple operation, a full standard 16 tonne wagon descended the northern track of the incline, pulling an empty wagon up on the southern track. These wagons were controlled by two brake levers between the tracks, which acted on brake bands on the two horizontal cable drums in the winding house at the head of the incline. Two stops were placed at the head of the incline to prevent wagons accidentally plunging over the edge, nonetheless most inclines have their tales of runaways and Kilmersdon is no exception. The most destructive is believed to have occurred in the mid-1950's when the Ruston diesel was unable to control the wagons it was shunting and was pulled over the top. The driver luckily jumped clear but the wagons were badly damaged.
Kilmersdon was the last gravity operated incline in the country. Evidence of the original route taken by the trucks remains visible highlighted by the original but now rusty gate on Haydon Hill opposite the industrial estate which has eradicated the old colliery site but various fixtures and fittings associated with the winding gear still remain in visible to the knowing eye. |
Recreating railways anywhere and everywhere
