Boon Photography (Leeds)
St Aidan’s Nature Reserve (15/05/21) Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK
St Aidan’s is rich in history from its mining past. You can get a glimpse into the site’s open cast mine via the 1200 tonne coal Bucyrus BE 1150 Walking Excavator named Oddball that remains on the site and is now home to nesting birds. Probably the biggest digger you’ll ever see and one for the kids to enjoy. Head over to the café to get a great view of it and keep your eyes peeled for open days for a chance to go inside.
St Aidan’s is a great place to walk the dog, with so much for them to explore. The nature reserve is dog friendly with free dog biscuits and poo bags at the visitor centre and a dog friendly balcony to eat your lunch. You are free to take your dogs anywhere in the park but make sure to follow the rules. Dogs must either keep to the path and come when they are called or be kept on a lead. If your dog needs some time to run wild, there is a dedicated recreation area where you can let your dog roam.
History
St Aidans used to be an open cast mine up until 2002 when production on the site ceased. The River Aire was diverted to dig six million tonnes of coal from the area. In 1988 the site was catastrophically flooded after the River Aire burst its banks and thousands of gallons of water flooded back onto the site. The site was reopened in 2013 as a nature reserve after extensive works to make it a sanctuary for rare and endangered wildlife.
Bucyrus Erie 1150-B Walking Dragline Excavator
This dominates the RSPB St Aidan’s Nature Park near Garforth. It is huge, and some idea of its hugeness can be gained from the people at the head of the jib. Look closely. 1200 tons of “impossible engineering” as they would say on that Yesterday TV programme. With a bucket size of 25 cubic yards, it was used for open cast coal mining which is why it’s ended up in a nature reserve as St Aidan’s was formerly such a site until it ceased operations in 2002.
But the most amazing thing about the excavator is that it walked, a pair of huge feet inching it along at the impressive speed of 352 yards per hour. It was built in 1948 in South Milwaukee for a site in West Virginia. Four years later it was purchased by the National Coal Board and shipped to the UK, working at opencast sites in South Wales and Cannock before coming to St Aidan’s in 1972.
There were three other BE 1150-Bs working in Britain, including a second one at St Aidan’s, all of which ran on 50 Hz electrical voltage. This one worked on the American 60 Hz and produced odd noises so consequently became known as “Oddball”.
The opencast coal mining site St Aidan’s had some interesting history. Imagine a huge hole, 17 million cubic metres and extending way below the River Aire which flowed adjacent to it. In 1988 a landslip caused the river to flood the workings causing operations to cease for ten years. The flooding took almost 3 days so thankfully “Oddball” managed to walk out. After work restarted in 1998 the dragline was no longer needed and was mothballed.
St Aidan’s Nature Reserve (15/05/21) Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK
St Aidan’s is rich in history from its mining past. You can get a glimpse into the site’s open cast mine via the 1200 tonne coal Bucyrus BE 1150 Walking Excavator named Oddball that remains on the site and is now home to nesting birds. Probably the biggest digger you’ll ever see and one for the kids to enjoy. Head over to the café to get a great view of it and keep your eyes peeled for open days for a chance to go inside.
St Aidan’s is a great place to walk the dog, with so much for them to explore. The nature reserve is dog friendly with free dog biscuits and poo bags at the visitor centre and a dog friendly balcony to eat your lunch. You are free to take your dogs anywhere in the park but make sure to follow the rules. Dogs must either keep to the path and come when they are called or be kept on a lead. If your dog needs some time to run wild, there is a dedicated recreation area where you can let your dog roam.
History
St Aidans used to be an open cast mine up until 2002 when production on the site ceased. The River Aire was diverted to dig six million tonnes of coal from the area. In 1988 the site was catastrophically flooded after the River Aire burst its banks and thousands of gallons of water flooded back onto the site. The site was reopened in 2013 as a nature reserve after extensive works to make it a sanctuary for rare and endangered wildlife.
Bucyrus Erie 1150-B Walking Dragline Excavator
This dominates the RSPB St Aidan’s Nature Park near Garforth. It is huge, and some idea of its hugeness can be gained from the people at the head of the jib. Look closely. 1200 tons of “impossible engineering” as they would say on that Yesterday TV programme. With a bucket size of 25 cubic yards, it was used for open cast coal mining which is why it’s ended up in a nature reserve as St Aidan’s was formerly such a site until it ceased operations in 2002.
But the most amazing thing about the excavator is that it walked, a pair of huge feet inching it along at the impressive speed of 352 yards per hour. It was built in 1948 in South Milwaukee for a site in West Virginia. Four years later it was purchased by the National Coal Board and shipped to the UK, working at opencast sites in South Wales and Cannock before coming to St Aidan’s in 1972.
There were three other BE 1150-Bs working in Britain, including a second one at St Aidan’s, all of which ran on 50 Hz electrical voltage. This one worked on the American 60 Hz and produced odd noises so consequently became known as “Oddball”.
The opencast coal mining site St Aidan’s had some interesting history. Imagine a huge hole, 17 million cubic metres and extending way below the River Aire which flowed adjacent to it. In 1988 a landslip caused the river to flood the workings causing operations to cease for ten years. The flooding took almost 3 days so thankfully “Oddball” managed to walk out. After work restarted in 1998 the dragline was no longer needed and was mothballed.