In April 1868 John Bowes and Partners purchased the unfinished pit workings at Wardley which had been started by the Carr brothers in 1854. They were the owners of Felling Colliery who abandoned Wardley when it flooded in 1856. It consisted of two shafts about 50 fathoms deep. The pit then became the property of George Elliot and had since lain derelict. In February 1868 Elliot approached Charles Mark Palmer to suggest that Bowes and Partners might be interested in purchasing Wardley and its 700 acres and exchanging 350 acres of his Felling Royalty for a similar acreage at Hylton owned by John Bowes and Partners. It was agreed and Wardley Colliery was bought for £36,000. It was estimated that a further £27,264 would be needed to complete the pit workings and provide workmens cottages. The shaft was deepened and the Hutton seam opened out. Alfred Septimus Palmer arrived in 1868 to oversee the work and  became the agent and manager.  The Head Sinker was Morgan Robinson who had previously been employed by Mr. W. Coulson, a well known North Country sinker. The pit opened and they commenced to draw coal which was used for gas making purposes on the l7th. June 1871.
Tragedy had struck Hartley colliery, a Northumberland pit, in 1862 when an explosion killed 204 men and boys. As a result of the disaster Parliament made it law that all coal mines must have two shafts to help in the rescue attempt of those unfortunate enough to be trapped below ground. Wardley pit had a double engine house for two shafts, the downcast (l3ft in dia.) and the upcast (l0ft in dia). It had steam driven cages and two large ponds behind the pit provided the vast amount of water that was required for the boilers which had been made by John Abbot at Gateshead. Its two upcast chimney's were 83 feet high to take away the bad air and fumes from the workings.
The Colliery was on land formerly part of Wardley Forest and belonging to South Wardley and Manor House Farm. The area was traversed by three railway lines, the Leamside, Sunderland and the Pontop to Jarrow coal line. They formed a triangle into which the pit and most of the miners homes were located. The pit was linked to the Pontop and Jarrow line which took the coal to colliers at Jarrow staithes, and in later years to Monkton coke works.
The upcast shaft was sunk to the Hutton seam and to a total depth of 206 fathoms 4ft 10½ inches (1,240 ft 10½ inches). The upcast shaft, also known as the "smokey shaft, was used for ventilation of the mine workings and its two chimney tops were black and often smokey. Prior to June 1909 a furnace in the Maudline seam was used to draw out the bad air. The first attempt in the Northern Coalfields to produce artificial ventilation in mines by means of a furnace at the bottom of the shaft was at a nearby pit in Biddick (Fatfield) in 1732. From June 13th 1909 a steam driven fan costing £470 replaced it and then this was substituted on May 15th 1913 by an electric fan. This shaft (in the late 1940's it became known as No. 3 shaft) was also the emergency exit shaft with a cage that held ten men at a time.
When the pit opened in June 1871, the men were immediately in dispute with the management. The men were offered 15s for 20 tubs, each tub to contain 12 cwt of coal with the following penalties per tub, l2 lbs. of stone - a fine of 3d, 24 lbs of 6d, 36 lbs of 2s 6d. Near the middle of the seam the men were working, was a 16 inch band of stone and also a 4 inch thick band at the top and a smaller one near the bottom, This made the offer unacceptable to the men who refused it and the pit was laid "idle". The men were offered and accepted 17s a score and no tub laid out (no payment given) except if it was from the large band and which had over 45 lbs. of stone and the fine was not to exceed 3d and that it would not go on the average and lowering the payment to the men, Shortly afterwards, and without consultation, the fine was raised from 3d to 4d and the stone in the laid out tub included in the average. Two "keekers", management men who checked the tubs, fined men or laid out a tub, were also on the screens (a continuous belt of coal from which the stone was taken out or screened) when it was practice to have only one. The case went before the "Masters and Miners Association" on the 13th September 1872. The Association shocked the Wardley men with their decision; 28 lbs of stone a 3d fine, 56 lbs a 6d fine, 84 lbs to lose the tub (Wardley's tube was 13½ cwt on average 1,512 lbs) and they said "we would be in debt every day if we were to accept it” Charles Green, President of Wardley D.M.A., Thomas Carr, Treasurer, James Watson, Secretary, and the committee would not accept the decision and said they would stay in dispute until some mutually agreeable decision was reached.
Built into the North-East corner of the colliery yard was the "White House" which was at one time the home of Robert Hutchinson, the pit cashier. In later years it was occupied by Mansfield and Gerty Noble, John and Mary Ilderton and then the Askews.
In June 1873, Forster, the Partners' valuer put a figure of £454,010 18s 7p on Wardley which made it the most valuable colliery owned by Bowes and Partners. Household coal collieries were not so valuable as those producing coal for gas manufacturers. The valuation was probably an overestimation as in the early years of the 1870's there was a huge demand for coal in the booming iron trade and the coal owners were unable to cope. There resulted a "coal famine" and its price rocketed. Depression set in rapidly after 1873 when the average price of coal was about 15/- per ton and coke 36/- per ton. By 1878 it had fallen to about 5/- and 12/6 respectively and the Partners began to close some pits,
In 1874, 632 men and boys worked at Wardley but towards the end of the decade the pit must have performed poorly as it was reported in July 1880 "Wardley Colliery, which has lately been only miserably employed, seems to have worked more regularly recently than has been the case for a couple of years". Two years later, the workings had been expanded and the workforce increased. The pit was employing more people than had ever been the case since the pit had opened. It had not been an easy first ten years for the owners. A government official had expressed an opinion to the unsafe condition of the mine in March 1881 and the men were laid idle for four days while safety work was done. From speeches at a meeting held in the Infant School given the following year it was said that "Wardley Colliery, after weathering many troubles, is now on the high road to success. Great credit is due to all concerned and credit in no small degree to the pluck of the capitalists who were determined to fight and win, for many and many times, Major Palmer had to go before the owners with a very black sheet indeed".

Alfred Septimus Palmer left Wardley in June 1882 to take up supervision of Usworth Colliery and moved residence from Wardley Hall to Usworth Hall. It still stands today as an imposing building located behind the "Northumbria Centre" at Washington. To mark their appreciation, at a public meeting held at the Board School, the Chairman Joseph Greenwell read out a presentation address which stated: "We, the undersigned, on behalf of the subscribers to this testimonial, and who comprise amongst them every class of the community , young and old, rich and poor, in the neighbourhood, beg your acceptance of this address and of the accompanying gifts as representing to some extent the feelings of respect and esteem in which you are held by us. During the many years in which the majority of us have had the pleasure of serving under you, we have had many opportunities of witnessing the success that has attended your professional career, and the tact and energy displayed by you in conducting the various undertakings in which you have been engaged. In your private life, your urbanity of manner, your kindness of disposition, and the generous readiness with which you have ever met the appeals for sympathy and assistance made to you, you have won our hearts, and we feel that we could not allow you to depart from our midst without placing upon record our earnest appreciation of those qualities of mind and heart with which you are eminently endowed". Similar compliments were paid to Mrs. Palmer, especially for her work among the young people of the community. The document was signed by Morgan Robinson, John Burrell, Joseph Greenwell, Marshal Vasey, Edward Nicholson, Matthew Short, W.T. Curry, George Bell, John Erskine, Thomas Blackburn, Wm. Bell, Morgan Stephenson,  John Reay Cook, Ralph Strong and John Sedgwick, Wardley Colliery, June 1882. These do seem generous statements when we consider the poor working and living conditions of the miners. 
A fire was found in the coal near the bottom of the shaft in September 1883. The men refused to work in the pit and remained out for two days while the fire was extinguished. One month later, it was discovered the fire was still burning and had moved to the other side of the ventilation furnace from which it had started. The men were angry and claimed that the fire had burned for some considerable time and that officials had tried to subdue it, keeping the men in ignorance of its existence, and putting their lives in danger. The fire was 80 yards from the "goaf" where there was a large accumulation of gas and close to the "Dumb drift" through which came all the bad air driven from the workings by the ventilation machinery, This made the chance of explosion a possibility at any time. They contacted the Government Inspector who immediately sent Mr. Atkinson, a sub-inspector, who told the men not to return to work until they themselves were satisfied that the fire was out or to send for him to decide.
The management were not always dangerously negligent of the danger of fire and explosion in the workings, they would prosecute workmen who endangered lives. Henry Carriage was charged at the County Police Court for taking Lucifer matches down Wardley pit in May 1885 and was fined l0s and costs. By August, the colliery must have been in a bad way. Charles Mark Palmer M.P., the managing partner of Messrs John Bowes and Partners who owned the pit and who had founded Jarrow's Palmer's shipyard in 1852, visited the colliery in the company of Alfred Septimus Palmer, his brother and manager. Instructions were issued that the miners and mechanics employed at Wardley were to be told that their services were no longer required after September 5th. Between 700-800 men and boy's were employed at the time and most of them received their notices. However, the pit did not close as by the end of October the mine was still being worked, but at a meeting in the Lodge rooms, the President, Mr. Foreman, stated that a number of the men would have to leave owing to a reduction in the number of hands unless they agreed to work the night shift. This the men refused to do but they agreed to have "cavils" (a draw to see who should leave).
At the end of January 1887 another mass meeting of 700 men from Wardley, Usworth and Felling was held on Boldon Fell, near the White Mare Fool. It was decided to send a deputation to Mr. Palmer, the manager, to discuss the mens various grievances and, if they were not resolved, to cease work forthwith. Mr. Palmer would not meet the men and 1300 men of Usworth and Wardley came out but for some reason the men of Felling did not. Mr. Palmer asked Mr. W. Crawford, MP, to help resolve the dispute.  back to the top

There was an alarming accident at the end of November 1888. On a Monday night the cage in the downcast shaft was nearing the surface when the rope snapped and it fell to the bottom of the pit. No one was injured but a great deal of damage was done. Mr. Brown, the engineer, was quickly on the spot with a team to discover the problem and repair the damage. Morgan Robinson, the sinker and engineer who had stayed at Wardley and was under manager for 17 years, had retired early that year. He was a popular man among the local people and, when he passed away six months later at his Newcastle home, his funeral at High Usworth Church was well attended by the Wardley men. A year later, another local mining engineer of Wardley, Mr William Moses, obtained the important appointment of mining engineer to the Chinese Engineering and Mining Company of Teintain, North China, He was 35 years old and educated at the Royal Grammar School and at Croft House College. Mr. Moses, his wife and family left on August 1st for China, via America and Japan.
The Miner's Welfare Hall opened one Sunday in August 1889. It was a plain two storey brick building which cost £960, including the site which was freehold. It consisted of a large hall on the second floor with seating for 600 people and a reading room and library below. It served the recreational and educational needs of the miners and had living accommodation at the back for the caretaker or Lodge Secretary. A few weeks later, one of the first lectures in the Hall was on the "War in Egypt and the Sudan".
At the fortnightly meeting of the miners in the Welfare Hall in December 1907 the men decided to forward 10s a week to the Free Meals Fund organised by the Felling Education Committee and which were provided to needy school children. Also treats for aged miners and their wives, widows, permanently disabled miners and other deserving cases were to be planned and organised and the money to come from a levy on themselves. The following December about 150 persons received 8s each which, due to the increase in applicants, was 3/6 less than the previous year.

John Bowes and Partners began the sinking of Follonsby Colliery on September 30th 1907 and employed Mr. Jas Johnson and Sons Ltd of Boldon for the work. John Taylor was in charge of operations. The 16ft shaft was sunk to a depth of 9 fathoms 1ft 6ins onto a stone head. It was then walled up and they commenced to build the winding engine house and erect pulley legs etc. They resumed sinking on September 28th 1908 and finished the shaft on March 15th 1911. The Christening of the pit took place on Friday, October 2nd by Mrs. C.B. Palmer with refreshments catered for by William Teasdale of the Railway Hotel. The shaft had a depth of l441ft l0ins to the Beaumont Seam. One of the sinkers, Clark Smith, who was residing at Pelaw, was killed in a fall of stone on June 30th 1910 and another 3 men seriously injured. During 1912, the contractor had about 5 men opening out coal seams and on 31st October 1912 their job was completed and Bowes men commenced work. Those of the 762 workmen who were formerly employed at Wardley and had found employment at Follonsby had to accept lower wages or continue to be unemployed. There had been a wages agreement that if the men had been re-engaged by the company within six months that the management would be obliged to pay the former wage scales. Whether the timing was deliberate or not is not known.
The Wardley miners lost two of their representatives in April 1912 with the sudden deaths of Hugh Barker and Thomas Owens. Mr. Barker was 60 years old and had succeeded John Errington as checkweighman, a position he held until the pit closed on December 30th 1911. He and his wife had been actively engaged in preparing soup for the children at the Miners Welfare Hall and it was said the closing of the colliery "had much prayed upon him"  He "possessed virtues that could render the character amiable and life respectable. He was generous to the extreme and always ready to assist any charitable appeal or support any worthy object. His experience and general knowledge was more than that of the general miner but his humility suppressed it.  He had attainments without pride". Mr. Owens was "a popular man in the district and for some years had been a member of the Heworth School Board. He was 63 years of age and had represented the miners as assistant checkweighman, miner's secretary, compensation secretary and President of the Wardley Branch of the Durham Miners Association.  In politics Mr. Owen was an advanced Labour advocate but could not possibly be called an extremist. He was instrumental in forming for a short duration, a branch of the Independent Labour party at Wardley. He was at all times conscientious and was always able to support his position by well-formed arguments from his extensive knowledge. He possessed a very extensive library, considering he was a working miner, and he was always eager to possess the latest publication on economics".
In May 1912, John Taylor who had been in charge of sinking operations at Follonsby, announced that he was to move out of the area. "During his stay he won the respect and esteem of all those who came in contact with him. His sympathy for poor bairns prompted him to form a fund for the assistance of Wardley workmen who had been unemployed since the closing of the colliery. With the co-operation of a committee of Wardley workmen he raised the sum of £8 for the commencement of a well supported soup kitchen which distributed soup and buns twice a week. A presentation to Mr. Taylor took place at Mr. W. Teasdale's 'Railway Hotel' and, after the applause, said he had done nothing to merit such recognition, but he "had always tried to do his duty to his fellow workers and at the same time faithfully discharge his duties imposed on him by his employers. He hoped he had succeeded in his effort".
John Errington, who had been a Durham Councillor for 22 years and made a Alderman 2 years previously, was appointed in May 1914 as General Treasurer of the Northumberland and Durham Miners Permanent Relief Fund. He was born in 1855 at Haswell, Co.Durham, and moved to First Street, Wardley, in 1876 and eventually became checkweighman. In 1904 he took the position of Agent for the Miners Permanent Relief Fund. Another member of the community, Robert Brown, passed away in October 1915 and the "miners of the district lost a most valued and trusted representative". He had arrived in Wardley about 1881 and was said to be "most unobtrusive in manner and sound judgement. In a quiet, determined manner, he speedily asserted himself as a man in whom the workmen could place great confidence. His first appointment was to the office of delegate, then the responsible position of treasurer. He never cared much for public life but had been for a short time elected to the School Board. He had been for 23 years assistant checkweighman. At the closing of the colliery he had only gained employment for a short time prior to his illness which terminated the career of a man, noble in spirit and full of human sympathy".
In March 1928 George Harvey was elected as Councillor for the East Ward which he represented till March 1937. He had also been a member of Durham County Council 1919-22 and a pioneer of the Felling Trades and Labour Council. George wrote to the Lodge in March 1913 and applied and won the position of checkweighman. In an election address "To the Hewers of Follonsby Lodge" published in The Socialist he wrote "Fellow slaves of the slave-class society. Seeing you are in need of a checkweighman, I submit myself as a candidate for the post. I am 28 years of age, a hewer at Handon Hold Busty pit, and have worked my time in the mine with the exception of the year 1908, during which time I was in residence at Ruskin College, Oxford, holding a private Scholarship awarded to me by the College authorities. It is little to do with checkweighing, but may I say that I am a Revolutionary Socialist and a strong believer in Industrial Unionism, believing in one big fighting union for the mining industry of the country, and this to be linked up with other big unions of transport and other workers, so that, when necessary, we can paralyse the whole show and bring capitalists to their knees. I am opposed to conciliation, arbitration and other frauds, and I am strongly opposed to the kind of men we have so long kept at Durham, and whom we, in our ignorance, believe are tin gods. I state all this because I want no post under false pretences and I hope I have made myself plain to you. If you want a gentle Jesus, Temperance preacher, for God's sake don't consider me as likely to suit. Yours for Fighting Unionism, George Harvey." Its not known how many copies of The Socialist were read at that time in Wardley Colliery but his plain speaking got him the job. Although I am told he was not a great speaker he must have had real grit and good organising abilities. He was the author of many political/economic booklets, among them were "Industrial Unionism and the Mining Community", "Capitalism in the North East Coalfield", "Capitalism in the S. Wales Coalfield" and "The Mighty Kings of North-East England". During the 1926 strike Harvey organised the men to riddle the original pit heap in front of the school and chapel for small coal and duff which was sold and the money used for a soup kitchen and families in need.
During the August 2nd 1935 strike, Bowes and Partners had issued 14 days notice to 1300 men and offered to re-employ 400 of them on new terms and a grading system. It was refused. Harvey said "the men are standing firm in their dispute and are prepared for a long and bitter struggle". The men stayed out for 45 days and stuck to their principles even though the 400 men offered work were refused unemployment benefit or any payment from the Durham Miners Association. The North-East Guardian's Committee set the relief payment to the miners dependants at 15s a week for a wife and 3s for each child under 14 years. The remainder of the men who did received benefit gave a third towards the relief of the 400 men who had theirs suspended. Food collections took place in neighbouring mining villages, 75 Durham Lodges gave financial support and money was raised by a women’s football team. The men eventually won the dispute but Harvey was also determined to win the 400 men the £3,300 benefit money they had been denied and travelled to London to put the mens case before an Umpire which he won. He also demanded the £700 union money which had been withheld by the Durham Miners Association during the stoppage because they had said the men had acted against orders. In an open letter by local Lodge officials it was alleged that the DMA agents "both ran away from the fight….. had accepted Mr. Kirkup's (owners representative) word as gospel and that Mr. John Swan (DMA man) actually placed the bosses case against that of Follonsby Lodge". The letter was signed by John E. Dowd, President, Thomas Smith, Treasurer, Syd Brown, Delegate, and Secretary Harvey. George Harvey was something of a hero in the community. He was elected Chairman of Felling U.D.C. in 1933 which also carried with it the honour of being a serving Justice of the Peace.

Since 1922, the Mining Association of Great Britain had by Act of Parliament set to one side 1d per ton of coal sold to go towards the miners welfare. Pit head baths, hospitals, ambulances, playgrounds, institutes etc. are the result of the funds. In 1928, the Durham Miners Association set to work to find a suitable building to use as a convalescent home. They inspected Conishead Priory and lost little time in acquiring it. It was situated on the North West promontory of Morecombe Bay, 2 mile from Ulverston. Every fortnight up to 150 residents were admitted. Many Wardley men spent two weeks there to help them recover from mining injuries. The same year it was reported that the 3 collieries on the Felling district, including Wardley, were in possession of an ambulance for removing accident victims to hospital.   back to the top

Harvey wrote in his capacity as Lodge Secretary to the Council in February 1933 regarding the danger from motor traffic at the White Mare Pool bridge which the men had to cross to get to and from the colliery. There were no kerb stones or proper footpath and the bridge, like many others in the area, was built for nothing faster than someone on horseback or a horse and carriage. It was now becoming well used by the growing number of motor vehicles on the road. Four weeks later, unknown to Harvey, 300 men and boys would not be using the bridge; they were discharged from Follonsby through the closing down of the Low Main and Hutton Seams. It was on the suggestion of George Harvey that the remaining 900 men in the Beaumont Seam agreed to share the available work with their unfortunate comrades. On rotation, the men worked three weeks on and one off and qualified for unemployment benefit for the idle week. In November, Follonsby Collier's Under-Manager John Robert Smith died at the early age of 43 years. He came from New Delavel and lived at 1 Follonsby Terrace. He had been well liked and respected during the six years he had been Under-Manager. Harvey, Tom Smith, and a large body of Follonsby workmen attended the funeral.
The two storey Miners Welfare Hall burned down on the morning of January 5th 1938. The barking of Harvey's dogs saved the lives of himself and his wife Jean. He ran to the Post Office next door from where they were able to telephone the firebrigade but the building was burned to a shell and much damage was done to the living accommodation at the back of the Hall. It was rebuilt the following year as a single story building but the Harvey's were not. there to see it opened. In October 1938 Follonsby Colliery closed and George Harvey and the men were out of work. The Harvey's moved to Fatfield and he found work at Harraton Colliery.
Within six months the Washington Coal Company showed an interest in the old Wardley Colliery and, with encouragement from the new Lodge Secretary "Anty Joyce", it was reopened by the summer after being closed for 27 years. Follonsby was reopened by the same company and it was decided to use Wardley as a man riding shaft and a ventilation pit while coal would be brought up at Follonsby which would be known as Wardley No. 1 Colliery. When the new Miners Hall opened on Saturday, October 26th 1939, it was Mr. Kellett, director of the Washington Coal Company that Presided. Mr. J. Gillilant and Mr. J. Swann, agents of the D.M.A. were at the opening ceremony and Mr. F. Garvey, Chairman of Felling Education Committee. Councillor Anthony Joyce, the Lodge Secretary, spoke of the hard luck the men had by the closing of the pit and the huge debt they had to face with the cost of the new miners hall. Coun. Tom Smith, Lodge Treasurer, spoke of the courage of the local people and said that there were good hopes for the future. The colliery was closed and re-opened twice in the early part of the war and was finally re-opened in 1942.

In June 1941 men called up for the forces were requested, as a vital part of the war effort, to volunteer to work in the coal mines. By November 1943 "Bevin Boys" were conscripted to do pit work. Some of those who came to Wardley were John Morrow, he later set up a solicitors practice in Newcastle, two eighteen year olds were Reggie Wood from Kent and Jackie Morley from Stockton, they had digs at Sarah Studam's on Abbotsford Road, Felling. Reggie was later to marry her daughter. Others were John Morrison who married Nancy Adamson who lived in Leam Gardens and Stan Monday who married Wardley girl Jean Lowdon.
Nationalisation of the Coal Mines took place on "Vesting Day" January 1st 1947 by the returned post war Labour Government, Charles Hanson, a consulting mining engineer of Ashmore, Brampton, Cumberland, calculated the compensation value of the Washington Coal Company Group of Colliery' s, which included Wardley and Follonsby, at £494,982.
There were now far fewer workmen at Wardley pit, by the summer of 1947 it was just over 300 men and the output was rising week by week. By June 2,431 tons of coal were produced in a five day week. The oldest hewer was Jack Henderson, aged 64 years, and the youngest Edward Langston, both were Wardley men. In 1948 it was decided to reconstruct Wardley and Follonsby and combine it with nearby Usworth Colliery at Washington and have a total output of 2,750 tons a day to be wound up the Follonsby shaft. Wardley and Usworth were to be man riding shafts only.
Work commenced on 6th September 1948 to sink the upcast shaft (No. 3 shaft) to the Brockwell seam. It was completed on the 11th. June 1949. A further 67 fathoms 4ft 11½ inches was added to its depth which now stood at 1,583.06 feet. New cage 4 inch circumference guide ropes were ordered this year from Glaholm and Robson rope makers of Hendon, Sunderland.

Five men were hurt in a fall of stone at the colliery on Good Friday, April 1953. Two of them, James Humphrey (38) married of Whitemere Gardens and George Kerridge (48) married of Hartington Street Gateshead, were admitted to Newcastle RVI, the former with back injuries and the later with injuries to his back and leg. The three others, Joseph Gunn (56), Stanley Morrison (20) and John Blagman (34) were treated for injuries but not detained, The men had been erecting girders near the bottom of the shaft when the fall occurred.
The first stage of a nearly £1,000,000 modernising scheme was completed in September 1956 when a new 2,000 yards locomotive roadway 1500 feet below the surface connected Follonsby and Usworth pits. Coal from Usworth, formerly transported overland, was now to be conveyed by underground roadway. A new 2,000 H.P. winder, larger headgear and cages had also been installed. It was at this time that they stopped using 8 pit ponies and they were brought to the surface and retirement, One was called Nelson because of its one eye. The last horsekeeper was Jack Brown.
A further stage was completed during 1957~58. All the buildings at old Wardley were remodernised and new pit head baths added (the first pit head baths in Durham were built at nearby Boldon Colliery in 1927). A new canteen, offices, medical centre, locker rooms, lamp cabin etc. which can still be seen today. They were officially opened by Mr. C. Whiteley, Regional Officer of the National Union of Mineworkers (C.O.S.A.) on Saturday 15th February 1958, Others present included Mr. S. Watson, General Secretary of the Durham Area of the N.U.M. and Mr. N.F. Nattrass, Industrial Relations Director, Durham Divisional Coal Board. The "old smokey" upcast shaft (No. 3) was filled in during these changes. Shortly after reconstruction began at Wardley in 1956 it was producing 18 cwts of coal per manshift, in 1961 it was 29 cwts.  When the mechanisation of the pit was completed it was hoped to raise production from the 1958 annual level of 490,000 tons from Usworth and Wardley to 639,000 tons by 1961.
There was great optimism among the 800 work force in 1957. Edward Justice, the 45 year old I.U.M. Lodge Secretary, said "The future of mining is bright" and "the future of this pit is particularly bright. It must be because I have let my 16 year old son come into it", There was a shortage of experienced miners in 1957 and although Heworth and Whitburn pits had provided miners "Green" labour was brought in. Wardley's manager, James Nicholson, said "We have 200 men in from outside jobs who have stayed with us.. they have settled in very well". Not only was the pit increasing production but also its safety record. This year the pit was the holder of the group shield for fire fighting, the area cup for underground tidiness and it had also won the surface tidiness competition. Mr. Nicholson, manager of the pit for the past year, also said "The mine is thriving and it is the men who are making it thrive". Bob Alger had been its training officer for two years and had been in the pit since he was 16 year old. He had also been Lodge chairman for 12 years but now at 65 year old was about to retire. Bob said "We have had exceptional boys here who will make good pitmen. They take notice and they learn quickly. They are good on safety and they're hard workers". In a Durham N. C. B. competition on mine safety in 1959 for medium size pits Wardley was awarded second prize, Heworth won first prize.

Follonsby Lodge continued to provide an annual Christmas Party for aged miners, their wives and widows and in 1958 it was held again in the Miners Welfare Hall. The meal consisted of ham, tongue, salad and cakes with a small gift of 12s 6d for each person presented by Mrs. E. Justice, wife of the branch secretary. A vote of thanks was moved by Mr. Harry Byfield who also thanked Mr. R. Oliver for his good work as Welfare Secretary. The entertainment was provided by Mr. Byfield, Jack Felton, Harry Simpson, Tom Morton, Ned Dowd, George Slowther and Mr. W. Cowling.
In March 1963 Anthony Joyce passed away aged 80 years. The family lived in West Crescent. He had retired five years previously and was for 33 years Secretary and Treasurer of Follonsby Miners Lodge. He had also served as a Felling Councillor for 33 years and was twice its Chairman. "Anty" Joyce had the honour of having his portrait on two of the Lodge banners. Life as a pitman began for Mr. Joyce at the age of 12 and for his many years of devoted service the Wardley miners held a party at the Railway Hotel in September 1957 and presented to him a 21 inch television and a pipe with tobacco. The family came to Wardley Colliery from Ushaw Moor in 1911 and still live in the area. The last Lodge banner to be made has been on permanent loan to Gateshead M.B.C. since 1988 and is on display at the Civic Centre.
Anxious to see at first hand how other people had to earn a living, Mr. Bernard Conlan, prospective parliamentary Labour candidate for Gateshead East, paid a visit on October 18th 1963 to Wardley Colliery. It was his first ever descent to the coal face and he was accompanied by the manager Mr. D. Storey and Lodge secretary Ned Justice. It was necessary for the party to crawl about 200 yards over a damp coal strewn surface to reach the coal face. Mr. Conlan commented "The men who hew coal in such conditions, everyday of their working lives  are the keystone of Britain's economy, for they produce our most important raw material  without which much of our industry would not survive". He also said "It was the most strenuous visit I have ever made to any industry. I was pleased to see at first hand how our coal is produced and I salute the miner for his fortitude",
Sadly, such praise was not enough. Along with many more throughout the country, old Wardley pit closed in 1969 as the NCB started to streamline the industry and keep only its most economic and viable collieries open. A consultation committee of management and union representatives had meet on the 14th Nov. 1968 to agree to the combined Usworth and Wardley mine being re-organised with the lose of 70 Jobs at Wardley. Follonsby was to be kept open to bring out Usworth coal and the employees transferred onto Usworth Colliery books. In early January 1969 a decision was made over the future of Wardley's 500 miners. It was agreed to transfer 228 Wardley men to Usworth, 172 to Boldon, Washington Glebe, Kibblesworth and Wearmouth Collieries and 100 over the age of 55 to be made redundant. The old workings at Wardley were sealed off by 6 feet of concrete at the 1280 seam to prevent flooding, a pressure release valve ran through it which was used to drain away the build up behind the plug. Before the pit closed the Lodge sold the Miners Welfare Hall to a Felling jazz band and donated to the Gateshead District Aged Miners Homes Association the sum of £1,211 16s 9d. In a letter of thanks to the Wardley miners Mr. J.W. Bragg (President)  Nichol Jessop (Treasurer) and Joe Hall (Secretary) said that the 59 homes under their control were originally supported by 17 Miners Lodges and now it was only 4. It was a charitable institution and the money had been most welcome. The National Coal Board itself was once one of Britains biggest landlords, managing more than 140,000 homes  By January 1996 only 14 properties in Northumberland and 21 in Tyne & Wear were left and it was hoped to sell these along with the remaining 216 elsewhere in the country by March of that year.
It was a miserable and worrying time for the mining community and worse was to follow. The 660 employees of Follonsby/Usworth Collieries saw the last tub of coal sent to the surface by onsetter Lewis Hall in car No. 703 on August 8th 1974, It contained coal from Usworth pit which, like Wardley, had been sending its coal to the Follonsby shaft. The last shaft deputy was Billy Walker. Follonsby Colliery then closed as a coal drawing shaft but remained open for a number of weeks for salvage purposes. More than 500 tubs, which held 2½ ton of coal and were 27 cwt empty, and six loco’s were left below ground with other equipment. The pit site is now vandalised. At the end of 1996, one of the buildings which was used to store hay for a nearby pony stables owned by Graham Lamb, caught fire and it was demolished. It is not known if some of the remaining buildings will be preserved to remind people of Wardley Colliery, its village and coal mining history.
In 1989 R.J.B. Mining (U.K.) Ltd built the "Wardley Disposal Point" at Follonsby as a replacement for Swalwell disposal point which was on land now forming part of the Metro Centre development. The coal arrives by road and goes through a dry blending, screening and crushing process preparing a fuel for the power station market. It is transferred through a series of covered conveyors and bunkers, to rail or road wagons for onward delivery. Most of the coal is transported to customers by rail and around 36 wagons, twice a day, are loaded on the move with 1100 tons of coal in less than an hour. These trains are the only ones which now use this small section of the Leamside railway line which closed in 1965 and which today continues to carry on the tradition of carrying coals through Wardley.

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