Don’ t know where all our contributers have gone’ must be hibernating for the winter! Surfing the net and I came across Peter Slater coal haulier and maybe the inspiration for the film Hell Drivers !!Some one wrote this verse which seems quite apt. See you later Peter Slater in a casket crazy basket.
Nothing much slowed Peters lads down, they were legends.
Brakes were re lined on a weekly basis. 2 per day from the Yorkshire coalfields over the tops into Lancashire were what normal men did, Slaters lads did 3 (extra pay for the extra load) 
didn’t slaters lads invent meals on wheels??
i used to age 10 years when i looked in the mirror (going down woodhead) and saw them coming fast behind me,i had a t/trader with poor brakes,talk about keep your elbows in,how they stopped them at that speed i will never know.
regards
sm1
Fletchers in Burton had a lot of Sentinals on coal and I saw a lot of coal lorries in the 1950’s going down St Helens Street in Derby which then was the main route from Denby to the A38 and Stoke.One vehicle that did stand out was Hancocks from Holinshead ( ?) which was a beautiful Foden Eight wheeler with a two stroke and a Boalloy body.Does anybody remember this motor ?
Tony
I wonder ? Is anyone able to suggest an answer to the question ’ why go to the trouble of transporting coal to one of the most productive coal producing areas ( at the time ) in the country ? ’ after all, everyone must be familiar with the term ’ coals to Newcastle ’ I personally was involved with the transportation of said commodity at the time and was mystified even then. I could understand coke from Barnsley or ‘Coalite’ from Grimethorpe or Askern, but COAL, ffs. There must have been a reason. I believe there are 27 seams in the Wigan coalfield. Feel free to correct me if you think that I’m mistaken. Could it have been that Yorkshire or Nottinghamshire coal was cheaper than Lancashire coal ? , or was it of a superior quality. Having burned the stuff that Parkside produced however, I would find that explanation difficult to swallow. Still, given that nobody does owt for nowt, there must have been a reason. Answers on a postcard.
When I worked for Tilcon in Derbyshire some of the trucks ran from Betteshanger Colliery in Kent to Newcastle upon Tyne with coal as a back load when they had been down south. B.J Waters used to take coal from the Doncaster area to Jarrow. It’s like sand or stone etc, different regions have different types and blends for different uses and it gets transported all around the country.
Pete.
But we used to run over Woodhead or the Cat and Fiddle empty to load out of Oxcroft, Bentinck, Moor Green, Worksop, Warsop and a score or more other long forgotten pits just to collect a commodity that we already had in abundance west of the Pennines. It wasn’t a case of backloads, I could never figure it out, but then, I was never all that bright.
Eddie Heaton:
I wonder ? Is anyone able to suggest an answer to the question ’ why go to the trouble of transporting coal to one of the most productive coal producing areas ( at the time ) in the country ?
Lancashire coal was used in a lot of mill boilers around here even though Welsh coal was the staple railway fuel. I read that Nottinghamshire coal was popular here I guess this was a domestic grade.
maxhagar:
Don’ t know where all our contributers have gone’ must be hibernating for the winter! Surfing the net and I came across Peter Slater coal haulier and maybe the inspiration for the film Hell Drivers !!Some one wrote this verse which seems quite apt. See you later Peter Slater in a casket crazy basket.
yes, I’m totally agree with you.
Eddie Heaton:
I wonder ? Is anyone able to suggest an answer to the question ’ why go to the trouble of transporting coal to one of the most productive coal producing areas ( at the time ) in the country ? ’ after all, everyone must be familiar with the term ’ coals to Newcastle ’ I personally was involved with the transportation of said commodity at the time and was mystified even then. I could understand coke from Barnsley or ‘Coalite’ from Grimethorpe or Askern, but COAL, ffs. There must have been a reason. I believe there are 27 seams in the Wigan coalfield. Feel free to correct me if you think that I’m mistaken. Could it have been that Yorkshire or Nottinghamshire coal was cheaper than Lancashire coal ? , or was it of a superior quality. Having burned the stuff that Parkside produced however, I would find that explanation difficult to swallow. Still, given that nobody does owt for nowt, there must have been a reason. Answers on a postcard.
Different types of coal, soft, hard, steam, etc. Railway loco’s preferred Welsh coal. It was all down to how it burned in the various applications it was used for.
Stanfield:
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Not seen those before John.Super Pics.Thanks for finding. Mike.
rastone:
Fletchers in Burton had a lot of Sentinals on coal and I saw a lot of coal lorries in the 1950’s going down St Helens Street in Derby which then was the main route from Denby to the A38 and Stoke.One vehicle that did stand out was Hancocks from Holinshead ( ?) which was a beautiful Foden Eight wheeler with a two stroke and a Boalloy body.Does anybody remember this motor ?Tony
I think it might be from Harrishead
Are there still any coke works in this country? As in coal that has been through a retort house, not a drug den. 
Muckaway:
Are there still any coke works in this country? As in coal that has been through a retort house, not a drug den.
Bah, just read the whole post, was going to say I’ve picked up rucks of Coke from Wakefield [emoji14]
As stated, coal has many different properties, which make it suitable or in-suitable for different uses.
Welsh steam coal is high in Carbon, but low in volatiles. Which gives it a very high calorific value, but needs a very hot furnace to burn it. A brick lined boiler firebox gets very hot, but an open fireplace wouldn’t. Similarly a low ash coal would just fall through an open fire hearth, but will be ideal for a power station boiler. High Sulphur coal will stink when it’s burning, so wouldn’t be the best coal to burn in a town or city, but is ideal where the ash must be removed from the flue gases.
This is one of the reasons coal is transported from all over the world, to burn in UK power stations. It’s not only the cost, but many UK coals simply possess the wrong properties to burn, and comply with emission limits.
Lawrence Dunbar:
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Hehe, Slaters had “greedy boards” on some of the motors and then put MORE greedy boards on top of the original ones. When Slaters had finished with a motor it could only be described as " well used"…technically known as knackered.
SiAmon:
As stated, coal has many different properties, which make it suitable or in-suitable for different uses.Welsh steam coal is high in Carbon, but low in volatiles. Which gives it a very high calorific value, but needs a very hot furnace to burn it. A brick lined boiler firebox gets very hot, but an open fireplace wouldn’t.
Tell that to the out of work miners, boyo.