The Friends of Hemingfield Colliery (FoHC) are pleased to announce that their application to become members of NAMHO – the National Association of Mining History Organisations has been successful.
Year: 2015
28th November 2015 – Open Day and Working Party
With the festive season fast approaching, it was guaranteed to be a suitably wintry end to November, and so it proved to be as Site Director Glen opened the gates to another open day and volunteer working party at Hemingfield Colliery.
Joined by regular volunteers John, Chris and Phil, the team picked up where the last active working party left off – by continuing the logging of the felled trees, and generally tidying the site.
Thanks to a recent grant from South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation, the Friends and volunteers are now well-equipped with the tools to tackle these tasks.
South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation Grant
The Friends of Hemingfield Colliery are delighted to announce that we have received a grant of £950 from South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation (SYCF) to further help the development of the group and continue our work on site.
The grant is administered by SYCF and has been made from the AESSEAL Charitable Trust Grassroots Endowment Fund for South Yorkshire to whom FOHC would like to express our sincere thanks.
The grant is to help with the ongoing insurance costs for the site until October 2016, to develop promotional materials helping to raise awareness of the group’s activities, and to provide tools and equipment for volunteers to make real progress whilst on site.
About SYFC
South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation was founded in 1986, and over the past 30 years they have raised and distributed over £25m in grants to community and voluntary projects across South Yorkshire, and created an Endowment of over £10m providing a lasting legacy that will continue to support South Yorkshire for many years to come. Their work aims to demonstrate that:
- Local giving can transform lives
- Together we can build stronger communities
- Together we can achieve economic, social and physical well-being across South Yorkshire
- Everyone deserves the same opportunities to fulfill their potential, no matter where they live
About the Endowment
AESSEAL®, a Rotherham-based company specialising in the design and manufacture of mechanical seals and support systems, created a charitable endowment fund in response to the national Grassroots matched funding initiative from 2008-11. This endowment generates a sustainable source of funding which SYCF administer for the benefit of South Yorkshire.
14th November 2015 – Village Ramblings
Heavy clouds signaled the start of what would be a very wet weekend in Hemingfield, and an unsettled one for South Yorkshire. Site director Glen and regular volunteers Phil and Chris arrived to continue the site clearance work, but with only the odd break in the cloud for company, they decided to sound the retreat and stay dry. This gave us a chance to go and explore – and what could be better than a historical village ramble in Elsecar!
Hemingfield Colliery – Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership
http://discoverdearne.org.uk/sites/hemingfield-colliery/
We’re featured amongst the sites working with the Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership on their excellent new website.
Read about their plans for the area over the next few years, and keep up with the amazing range of events and activities they are arranging and supporting to reconnect people with their local environment, built heritage and green spaces.
Open Day and working party – Saturday 31st October 2015
Autumn comes to Wath Road
After a week of miserably wet weather, Saturday arrived with bright sunshine and spookily unseasonal warmth, as Site Director Glen unlocked the pit gates ready for our last Open day in October. Just after ten o’clock a keen group of volunteers arrived on site ready for what would be a busy day of clearing the west end of the colliery, an area hidden by silver birch trees which sprang up over the last 20 years as the pit site was neglected and became overgrown. We certainly like a challenge!
Working Party Weekend 17th October 2015
Autumn Archaeology
The weekend saw a smaller working party than usual convene at Hemingfield Colliery, as Site Director Glen met with volunteers Nigel and Chris on an overcast Saturday morning. The team itself was far from overcast, however, and a bright and jolly mood pervaded as the work began.
Working Party Weekend 3rd and 4th October 2015
Headgear in autumn sun
Autumn had arrived at Hemingfield Colliery and the rustling silver birch leaves were glistening golden-ochre as regular Friends and volunteers Alan, John, Phil, Chris, Nigel, Amanda and Site Director Glen met at the start of another working weekend.
Working Party Weekend 19th-20th September 2015
Cornish Engine House (c.1843) and concrete headgear (c.1934), viewed from Pit Row on Wath Road
This weekend was a quieter one on site; a time for reflection and planning. On Saturday site manager Glen and volunteer Chris met and discussed further insights from the wonderful Beedan Collection. The Friends are arranging the papers and hope to share highlights from the material over the coming months. On Sunday the Friends Directors discussed current plans and worked on proposals to secure an economically viable future for the site.
Elsecar by the Sea 2015
This weekend the Friends of Hemingfield Colliery were delighted to attend this year’s Elsecar by the Sea activities – a weekend to celebrate all things Elsecar.
Friends of Hemingfield Colliery 