For decades, Moorewood Colliery was a cover up for an illicit moonshine operation. The pretend mine was used as storage for casks of the illegal liquor. Potatoes used in the mash were dyed or painted black to look like coal. A huge still lived inside the winding house.
What looks like a winding cable was actually a hollow hose, it allowed freshly distilled liquor to be pumped directly to the underground storage facility.
Exit from the mine was on the level via a drift mine entrance in the back of The Pedant & Armchair pub 5 miles away.
