not quite at an end. In December 1943, Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour announced to the House of Commons that a ballot was to be held, from time to time, in which those men whose National Service Registration Certificates ended with the chosen number would be transferred to the mines. This gave rise to the term Bevin Boy. Many colliers had the new trainees alongside the production unit but at Birley they were able to use the recently closed facilities. Accommodation was provided in Nissen huts on Beighton Road, the first occupants arriving in early 1944. Following the end of the Second World War and the demobilisation of the Bevin Boys, new trainees came, this time men from allied countries in Europe wanting to make their home in England, particularly a large contingent from Poland. Even after the last trainee moved on the end was not quite in sight – a new borehole topped with a pumping house was constructed on the site to help solve the water table problems at Brookhouse. This operated until the closure of Brookhouse Colliery in 1986 when it was finally switched off – the end for Birley had arrived. The Birley Branch In 1851 the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway proposed to construct a series of short branch lines with the objective of increasing the railway's coal carrying. Parliamentary permission for these lines was granted under the M.S.& L.R. (Coal Branches) Act, 1852, but only one of the lines was built, that from Woodhouse East Junction to Birley (West) Colliery. The Birley Coal Branch was 2.75 miles in length and came into use in June 1855, having been built by Thomas Waring and Company for the sum of £9,989.00. The line was single track and operated under the "one engine in steam" principle. The line was worked by the M.S.& L.R. (later Great Central Railway and London & North Eastern Railway) until 1943 when the colliery company took over operations. It was at this time that the colliery changed from a production unit to a training centre. The Birley "Paddy Mail" accident, 1920 This accident took place on the section between Woodhouse and Birley West colliery. The "Paddy Mail" was 'topped and tailed' by colliery locomotives, Birley No.3 at the front and Orient at the rear. The driver on the front locomotive, Mr. A. Brammer, should have been in possession of the single