Feeling hot, hot, hot was definitely the defining feature of July 2022, between 16-20th, and especially on Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th as the Met Office issued its first ever red warning for extreme heat, together with amber warnings indicating danger to life or potential serious illness.
Continue readingEvents
Hope and Heritage spring eternal, April 2022
Cold comforts…
Picking up from our previous update at the end of March, you might be forgiven for thinking that the seasons had jumped, with winter returning, as snow fell on site on the morning of 31st March; the pit briefly donning a white cloak, before warmer air green shoots of Spring began to emerge more fully.
Continue readingSustainable developments
Bright and early. Dawn chorus. Fortified for the day, the Friends and regular volunteers made an extra-early start on Saturday 23rd January 2022, at 8.30 a.m.
Why so keen?
Continue readingHeritage re-opened, Sat & Sun 18-19th Sept 2021
Heritage Open Days are a blessing. An opportunity to share; to learn and also to enjoy what feels like the beginning of some sort of return to a more normal flow.
Continue readingStep-Up and Stick to the Plan. Returning to a new normal?
This is a recuperative post, covering a range of time from March into April 2021, as the UK’s lockdown began to ease, following a 4 step plan: a roadmap enabled by the extensive targeted vaccination programme proceeding since the new year. As the nation recovers normal activities, so hopefully will we!
Continue readingSteady progress
The Friends and regular volunteers returned to Hemingfield Colliery for another tentative and COVID-secure session maintaining the site as the country at large continues to open up following changes to government and Public Health England guidelines.
Continue readingOn yer bike – back to the Bicycle Pit (safely)
Back. Working behind closed gates, and observing social distancing and regular hand sanitising, the Friends of Hemingfield Colliery made a careful return to site.
From Pit to Pump: 100 years ago today, 15th May 1920
100 years ago…
A hundred years ago today, on the 15th May 1920, the last corf load of coal was raised from Earl Fitzwilliam’s Hemingfield Colliery. It marked the end of an era for the pit, as silence fell, albeit temporarily, at the main winding shaft.
Continue readingWell, well, well, what a curious time …
March-ing on, May-be?
Coronavirus is contracting space and dilating time, it seems. For their part, the Friends of Hemingfield Colliery continue their efforts, remotely: researching, planning and staying safe. We hope you and yours are safe and well. Our thoughts and best wishes go out to all those affected by this epidemic, all those lost to it, and all of those caring and keeping the rest of the country, if not the whole world, running as normal as possible.
But more anon: this blog has a little bit of catching up to do…
Heritage in action
Fitting perfectly into a 10-3 break in the weekend’s wet and windy weather, the Friends managed to pack in a substantial day’s work on site.
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The Friends of Hemingfield Colliery 