you never know whats under your feet!!!

since my parents moved to Riccall in 2005 i have birded the area quite a lot,its very seasonal with winter being the best.

recentley on my drive to Riccall i have been noticing signs for various mines in the area...........

Gascoingne wood

Wistow

Riccall

Stillingfleet

Whitemoor

North Selby

the thing is these mines are not in production anymore! just signs by the roadside,all thats left of the 'jewel in the crown of UK coal mining'

the Selby area is not your typical coal mining area,no pitheads to be seen,no miners welfare,no rows of housing, just nothing!

which exactly what it was meant to be,a coal mine in the middle of a tory heartland!.

it was originally to be called 'Escrick Mine' but people who lived in the village were dead against that name so it became the 'Selby Complex Combine'

coal was only brought to the surface at Gascoingne wood,which will explain why the 5 mines all look like non-descript factorys.

for a better description visit this site

wistow mine

as it looks today

wistow mine

Gascoingne wood

not much left now

map of the complex

BANNERS

selby combine

Gascoingne wood

this machine is still underground somewhere under

skipwith common

Riccall