As the June heatwave continued, the Friends headed out to Barnsley. Gleaming under a dazzling cloudless sky, the beautiful Town Hall welcomed visitors to Barnsley History Day, the grand finale to a great week of activities. The impressive 1930s building houses Experience Barnsley – the museum and discovery centre currently celebrating its 5th anniversary in the Experience Barnsley Festival.
Experience Barnsley Festival (5th anniversary of Experience Barnsley)
The End of June 2018 was marked by a series of fascinating and impressive events, part of the Experience Barnsley Festival, arranged to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the opening of Experience Barnsley, museum and discovery centre which has really transformed how local people access and experience the cultural heritage of Barnsley.
Settling back into the routine of normal Open Days as the good weather continued, the Friends of Hemingfield Colliery welcomed a good group of volunteers and visitors to the site. Site Director Glen, and Friends Chair Steve opened the gates to regular volunteers Nigel, Alan, John, Paul, Keith, together with our Peak district friends John, Chris and Phil. It was a full house, and with effort to spare, the team continued work on excavating the pit at the rear of the winding engine house.
Hive of activity
Tour de Yorkshire Barnsley hotspots May 2018
May 2018 was one to remember. Le Tour de Yorkshire passed through South Yorkshire on 4th May. Barnsley was busy and buzzing with one of the stages starting in the town, before heading out throughout the borough. Hoyland, Wentworth and Elsecar were all eagerly awaiting the arrival of the men’s and women’s races during the day – with crowds of all ages, street decorations and special celebrations arranged all around the route.
Hot, bright sunshine shone down across the valley from Elsecar on Saturday as the Friends and regular volunteers arrived at the pit for the final Open Day in April. 2018 has truly flown by!
With Site Manager Glen out on assignment, regular volunteer Keith opened up the gates. He was joined by a good band of volunteers, Paul, John, Mike and Barrie. A fair array of brimmed headwear was on show, most sporting baseball caps, before the arrival of Chris, who was seeking deep cover under a cricket hat.
On Saturday 7th April the Friends of Hemingfield Colliery hosted a special open day visit from members of the Sheffield-based Time Travellers group of archaeology enthusiasts. The group had arranged a day trip to the Elsecar Heritage Action Zone area, being hosted by Dr Tegwen Roberts (Elsecar Heritage Action Zone officer), and filled a busy day visiting the Newcomen beam engine, exploring the buildings of the Heritage Centre, stopping by the Elsecar Heritage Railway and reviewing the archaeological research underway in the area and supported by Historic England.
ELR Loco William passes the pit
In the afternoon, Dr Roberts led the group of around 25 members down from Elsecar to visit Hemingfield Colliery, guiding the visitors along the Dearne and Dove canal towpath, past the Hemingfield Colliery basin and on to Tingle Bridge with its surviving lock-side public house, the Elephant and Castle.
The end of March 2018 was a wonderfully busy day on site with Friends Chair Steve, and Directors Glen and Christine welcoming regular volunteers Alan, Nigel, Paul, Keith and Chris during the morning.
The focus of the day was to finishing up excavation work at the rear of the winding engine house, continuing recording work on progress to date, and also permitting the working party to move on to other tasks on site as the Friends (and the country at large!) embrace warmer weather and the coming season of public events.
February was a very full month for the Friends of Hemingfield Colliery. Events on site and off it filled out the usually short and wintry month, and gave us plenty of news and images to share as we look back on a busy few weeks.
This year’s Heritage Open Days events included two full oublic open days for the Friends of Hemingfield Colliery.
Hemingfield Colliery Heritage Open Days
Come along and visit our wonderful Victorian coal mine site. See its 1840s winding engine house, two headgears and shafts disappearing into the depths from which the Barnsley seam coal was wrought.
Our team of volunteers will be on site to explain more about Hemingfield Colliery, and provide tours to visitors.
Join us on Saturday 9th or Sunday 10th September, between 10am and 4pm
Address:
Hemingfield Colliery
Wath Road/ opposite Pit Row
Hemingfield
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S73 0NX
Friends of Hemingfield Colliery 