Page:The South Staffordshire Coalfield - Joseph Beete Jukes - 1859.djvu/52

34 11. (I. 3.) Broad earth, Catch earth, and Batt, containing the Ten-foot and Backstone ironstones in the Pensnett district.—I do not know why the first is called "broad"; "catch" earth. I presume, is so-called because immediately under it they catch the coal, but I have sometimes seen it written "cat earth," or rather "cat heath." These are beds known to the miners, and to them only, as they can only be seen while a shaft is being sunk, and then only just while it is passing through them. They are, I believe, earthy shales of a peculiar character. I have had them described to me as "clunchy stuff," and in other similar terms. They do not appear to be always present, or if so their presence is not always noted in the sections. Where they do occur, however, they are said to be always recognizable by their peculiar character. The total thickness of all three beds seems never to exceed 12 or 14 feet, the most usual numbers being 6 or 8. The "black batt," or hard bituminous shale, is generally about one foot thick, and rests directly on the upper surface of the coal; this seems to be almost invariably present even when there is no mention made of cither of the other two beds. In the neighbourhood of Brierley Hill, and some other places, beds in this position, if not these beds, contain ironstone, the lowermost of which is called Backstone, and is found in shale immediately above the coal. The other is called Ten-foot stone, from its being found at that distance above the top of the Thick coal.

In the old Tividale section, mentioned before, the beds immediately above the Thick coal are as follows:—

In a section at Great Bridge, communicated by Mr. W. Matthews. I find these beds:-—

a and b being the most anomalous beds to rest on the Thick coal of which I have seen any account.

12. (II, to XV.) .—We come now to the description of a set of beds of high interest and importance both to the practical miner and the theoretical geologist. To the latter the careful study of these beds would. I believe, afford many materials for arriving at a better understanding of the question of the origin of coal in general than he now possesses. Some of these materials I may be enabled to lay before him.

The "Thick coal" consists of a number of beds of coal, varying from 8 or 10 to 13 or 14, resting either directly one upon the other or separated by thin seams of " shale," or "clunch," called "partings." Each of these beds of coal is known to the miners by a particular name, and each has so much of a peculiar character that a block of it can be at once recognized by an old "thick-coal collier," and referred to its particular bed. This peculiarity of character in the different beds seems to extend over the whole of the Thick coal district, but whether the beds retain their peculiarities where they cease to form the Thick coal I am not aware. It would be a curious experiment for any one