The Linby Colliery Company sank two shafts 54.9m (60 yards) apart, each 4.27m (14 feet) in diameter, extending 395m (1,296 feet) and 427m (1,400 feet) respectively, in order to reach the Top Hard seam. The first coal was produced in 1873. Uniquely in the area, Linby colliery mined coal from eight different seams. When first built, the surface buildings were in Linby parish, though transferred into Hucknall in 1935. Between 1947 and 1988, a total of approximately 29,000,000 tons of saleable coal was produced, with its highest output in 1963, when 1,113 men produced 1,300,000 tons of coal, earning them the title of the most efficient miners in Europe.

Linby was considered a safe mine, with 55 fatal accidents in 115 years of operation. The Linby winding engines were the last in the Midlands to be electrified; one of the steam winders can still be seen working, preserved at Papplewick pumping station. The colliery closed in1988, with no remains to be seen on the site, although the spoil heap has been turned back to nature.