Description and History of Site:-
Winding house in Art Nouveau style. Red brick on an ashlar plinth. The north side has openings for the drive cables to the winding gear. The western of a pair of winding houses. Ledston Luck pit was originally sunk in the 1870s by the Micklefield Coal Co. and finally closed in 1986. It was one of the first collieries to use electric winding (rather than steam) and the two winding houses (both listed Grade II) were built in 1911. According to The Electrical Review of September 27, 1912, the lease under which the development was permitted stipulated that no chimney should remain on the site once the sinking had been completed and also the provision of "an ornamental winding-engine house and the planting of the dump with trees and shrubs." The Electrical Review described the winding arrangements in some detail. By 1912 the company had installed one complete AEG-Lahmeyer winding equipment and were preparing to erect a second, near duplicate building alongside. The erecting and commissioning of the electrical works was carried out by AEG-Leeds to raise 1,500 tons in 10 hours, 36 cwt per lift, from a depth of 300 yards. Electricity was delivered by the Yorkshire Electric Power Company at 10,000V, 3-phase, 50 cycles, and transformed to 2,000V on site. The 2000V supply was converted to 500-0-500 Volts DC to supply the winder motor using a fly-wheel (of nine tons) coupled rotary converter.

Further Reading and References:-
The Electrical Review, Vol 71, No 1818, September 27 1912, Alabaster Gatehouse & Co.

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Key Words :- colliery coal mine winding house

Address :- Ledston Luck Enterprise Park, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS25 7BF
Grid Ref :- SE 42929 30790
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.771689 , Long -1.350145
Local Authority :- Leeds Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Listed - Grade II
Historic England List No - 1264026,
Site Condition :- Site refurbished to industrial / commercial use
Site Dates :- 1911 - 1986
Record Date :- 24 April 2018

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Nick Nelson