F PIT

The F-Pit in Washington Tyne and Wear was sunk in 1777 and just a year later the first coals were being transported to Sunderland. Mining continued until 1796 when an explosion flooded the pit and stopped production.
An engine at the museum
One of the Engines in the Museum

The colliery reopened a quarter of a century later.
In 1856 the shaft was deepened to more than 200 metres and hundreds of men flocked to the area to work at the colliery. By 1870 it had become the area's major producer of coal.
The number of miners employed at F-Pit continued to grow over the decades, reaching a peak in 1960 with 1,510 workers producing some 500,000 tonnes of coal each year.
In 1947 it was taken over by the National Coal Board and by the late 1960s F-Pit was closed.