A hudge is a heavy iron bucket or tub traditionally used to raise extracted ore, coal, or waste rock to the surface. Miners loaded the broken rock directly into the hudge at the shaft bottom before it was hoisted by a winch or whim. While early operations relied heavily on these simple unguided buckets, later mining systems replaced them with guided skips and multi-level cages.
The winchman signaled to hold while they cleared the jammed hudge at the collar.
You will mostly hear this term in historical contexts or at preserved mining sites; active mines use skips.
Related terms
Skip
A guided hoist container used to lift ore or waste rock out of a mine shaft.
Tub
An open-topped container or small rail car used to hoist mined material up a shaft.
Whim
A large, animal-powered capstan used to hoist ore and water from early mine shafts.
Corf
A large, traditional basket made of hazel or wicker used to haul coal out of early mines.