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War 1 mining families had settled, in greater numbers, in the areas around
the older suburbs like Lambton, Adamstown and Dudley, than in
Redhead.
The Fernleigh Track, the popular walking path and cycleway, traces the
old railway line and connects the above suburbs.
The miners were a hardy bunch especially considering the disasters that
occurred in the mines in, and around, Redhead. Two miners were killed in
1926 and the infamous Dudley Mining Disaster occurred at Dudley in
1898 and fifteen miners were lost.
Therefore, it was only natural that a large percentage of war volunteers
listed on local war memorials came from the mines or businesses
associated with mines or servicing the mines.
The Scottish Australian Mining Company Inc - SAMCo - had obtained
land south of The Red Head or Redhead in 1886. In the 1890s Thomas
Croudace designed a mine and associated buildings and named the site
Durham Colliery; an indication of the miners’ strong northern England
protestant origins. Later the mine’s name was changed to Lambton, and
part of the upcast shaft mine and its buildings still exist, owned by Lake
Macquarie City Council and leased and cared for by the Redhead Men’s
Shed.
The buildings are extremely significant as they are the last original mine
related buildings remaining in the Hunter Region.
Local historian Ed Tonks has a vast knowledge of the mine’s foundation,
and the activities relating to its work as a working mine. Ed’s book on the
Lambton B Pit,
Lambton by the Sea - The Last 19th Century Colliery
on the Newcastle Coalfield
, is very informative for those who are
interested in working mines in the Hunter Region and their history.
A platform for passengers was established at Redhead at the end of the
Adamstown to Redhead railway line. In December 1911 special free
trains ran to Redhead for a public sale of building blocks in the new
suburb. At this stage approximately 60 to 100 miners worked the mine.
The line was extended to Belmont in 1915.
Information on the mine and its workings is displayed near the
refurbished Redhead Station platform on the Fernleigh Track.
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