Metal Bridge Drift

Overview

A National Coal Board drift at Metal Bridge, north of Ferryhill, opened in 1954 to work the Low Main seam, which employed 344 at its peak in 1977 and closed in July 1978.

History

Metal Bridge Drift lay at Metal Bridge, near Ferryhill, about five miles south-south-east of Durham. The National Coal Board opened it in 1954, and it worked only the Low Main seam for its whole life, raising coking and household coal at first and later gas, industrial and steam coal.

It employed 235 people in 1960, 208 of them underground, but only 135 in 1965. Employment then rose again to 207 in 1970 and 344 in 1977, its largest workforce, almost all underground. Two deaths are recorded at the drift.

Metal Bridge closed in July 1978; its Low Main plans are dated that year.

Geology

The Low Main seam.

Workings

A drift into the Low Main seam, worked by the National Coal Board throughout.

Closure

Closed in July 1978.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Opened by the National Coal Board in 1954. ^1,2
• Worked the Low Main seam throughout. ^2,3
• Employed 344 people in 1977, 322 underground. ²
• Closed in July 1978. ^1,2,3

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) NCB Collieries - England (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Metal Bridge Drift — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Metal Bridge Drift Mine Plans (Mining Remediation Authority plan D1426, Low Main 'J', 1978) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 9 October 2026 · Last researched: 9 October 2026