Gedling Colliery Remembered.

Описание: Subscribe to my you tube channel for 280+ more coal mine tributes and counting. Gedling Colliery. 1895 – The site many people refer to locally as the “old pit” was, up until the end of the nineteenth century used for agriculture, with gentle rolling fields stretching up gradually to Spring Lane.
1899-1902 – The colliery was originally built and owned by the Digby Colliery Company which later merged to become Bestwood Amalgamated Collieries Ltd.1902 – Gedling Colliery first started to produce coal. Originally two seams were worked - the Top Hard and the Main Bright. The High Hazels seam was first developed in 1927.
1902-1991 – The main period of operation for Gedling Colliery. Of the coal produced, 20% was steam coal and 80% was household lump coal.
1947 – The pit was nationalised and became known as the National Coal Board South Nottinghamshire Area from 1967.
The current landscape of the park was created from the colliery waste. Once the colliery spoil was deposited, the 'slag heaps' were then covered with top soil. The current hills within the park are a result of 92 years’ worth of mining extracts.
1991 – The colliery was closed and the mine infrastructure de-constructed. The Winding Wheels and other materials were relocated. However, we've been fortunate to locate and store two of the original mine cars and these will be located at the Spring Lane entrance to the park. These will form part of a proposed heritage trail.
Approx. 1998-2003 – When the UK coal industry was privatised in 1994, Richard Budge formed RJB Mining and bought most of the pits in the UK , including Gedling Colliery site, with the intention of extracting coal from the tips to sell to power stations. This coal was called slack and was small coal around 1 inch round.
Coal naturally has a water content of 40-50%, but over time this increases when deposited in the tips/slag heaps. Once the water content is more than 75% the coal doesn’t meet quality standards and the power stations wouldn’t buy it so the enterprise never took off. Budge quit as CEO of RJB mining in 2001, and the company became known as UK Coal. UK Coal completed some restoration works on site including extensive tree planting.
2003-2013 – The majority of the site lay dormant without a permanent use, during which time plants and insects began to colonise the site.2012 – Alkane Energy developed “Gedling Energy Park” – a methane extraction plant on a small part of the site. Methane is a gas formed as part of the process of coal formation and coal mining releases methane from the coal seam and the surrounding disturbed rock.
2013 – Gedling Borough Council acquired a 25 year lease from the site owners Harworth Estates (partially owned by UK Coal) to develop Gedling Country Park. This lease excluded the land which has since been developed into a solar farm by Anesco who has a separate lease with Harworth Estates.
2014-2015 – Gedling Borough Council undertook remediation works to make the site safe for the public. The works started in March 2014 and there were several stages of development. To date, this has involved removing the remaining mining infrastructure, laying and covering an extensive network of drains on site, fencing, laying footpaths, installation of park benches and bins, and construction of the top car park and access road from Spring Lane. Future developments will include a children’s play area and visitor centre.
2015 – On 28 March 2015, Gedling Country Park officially opened to the community.
2016 - The park is awarded the Green Flag Award and a new children's play area opens, along with toilets.
2017 - A new visitor centre opens containing "Café 1899" - so named to commemorate the opening year of the colliery. Also, a new artwork is unveiled in the Memorial Garden.
2018 - Two new memorial benches are unveiled in the Memorial Garden.
Sadly Gedling Colliery Recorded 128 Fatalities during its 92 year history.