Engines
Three generations of the Bever family in the early 1930′s.
L to R. Augustus Bever, Anthony Bever, and John Bever.
Haig Colliery Mining Museum, Whitehaven
The Home of the only fully restored and operational Bever Dorling Winding Engine in the world.
Augustus Bever and Horace Dorling formed Bever Dorling & Co Ltd in 1906. They had moved from W.J.Cardwells in Dewsbury, to Bradford in 1902. An engine built by Cardwells, Sara, is still on display at the Providence Mills in Dewsbury. The company was first listed as Colliery Engineers, and moved to bigger premises at Bowling Back Lane, Bradford in 1909. Little more however, is known about the company.
The company catalogue was extensive, with machinery being manufactured for many uses in mining and also sugar plantations, among others. The only engines known to survive in the world, however, are the two steam engines at Haig, and an electric winder in Hong Kong operating an inclined tramway.
No.4 Steam Winding Engine
SPECIFICATION
TYPE : Single Parallel Drum Winder
DRIVE : Steam Driven (Now compressed air)
CYLINDER DIAMETER : 30”
STROKE : 5 Feet
DATE OF INSTALLATION : 1916
DRUM : 14 ft diameter timber lagged. Plain barrel
MAX DRUM SPEED : 47.7 RPM
DEPTH OF WIND : 1,136 feet (346 mtrs)
CONVEYANCES : Cages
NUMBER MEN/CAGE : 20
WEIGHT OF CAGE
& SUSPENSION GEAR : 4.97 Tons (5049 Kg)
VALVES: Spring return poppet construction.
BRAKES: Manufacturer Blacks. Spring activated/hydraulic release type.
Traveling at 28 feet per second
The No.4 engine has been restored to working order by the volunteers of Haig Colliery Mining Museum with help from the ex-engineers and miners of Haig Pit, grant aid from the Science Museum’s PRISM Fund, and a great deal of help from the Engineers at Albright & Wilson, Marchon Works, Whitehaven.
No.5 Steam Winding Engine
SPECIFICATION
TYPE : Ground mounted, single parallel drum winder.
DRIVE : Steam Driven Winding Engine
CYLINDER BORE : 40”
STROKE : 82” (2083 mm)
DATE OF INSTALLATION : 1920
DRUM : Single plain panel drum. 21 feet diameter (6.4mtrs)
MAX DRUM SPEED : 47 RPM
DEPTH OF WIND : 1,136 feet (346 mtrs)
CONVEYANCES : Capacity skips 2-6 ton
NUMBER MEN/SKIP : 40
WEIGHT OF SKIP
& SUSPENSION GEAR : 8.94 Tons
VALVES: Spring return poppet construction.
BRAKES: Manufacturer Blacks. Spring activated/hydraulic release type.
Traveling at 35 feet per second
Haig Pit Mining And Colliery Museum. 
Where are the photographs? In the 1980’s I took a series of b/w photos of the Bever Dorling engines in place before they were refurbished. These are now in the custody of the county archives; both prints and negatives.