Eccles Colliery

In 1980, Backworth's last pit, Eccles Colliery, (the deepest in the Northumberland Coalfield at 1,440 ft) closed after 165 years of mining in the area. The concrete caps covering the backfilled shafts of the "A" pit, Maude and Eccles shafts can still be seen on the site of the colliery. Only the colliery's former workshops survived the demolition of the surface buildings.