Making Hay and a King in May

Sat 10th Jun, 2023Thu 15th Jun, 2023 / The Friends of Hemingfield Colliery (FoHC) / 1 Comment

What a month! Mostly highs, with the odd low; new life on site, beautiful weather, a new monarch, and lots of activity from the Friends of Hemingfield Colliery, as we completed work on our National Lottery Heritage Fund project Hemingfield’s Hidden History. The project has reunited the colliery site – pumping station and pump house cottage, and enabled a transformation of our understanding of the history and importance of the surviving buildings. Working together with others, we have uncovered more of the stories of the communities around the pit, at Elsecar and Hemingfield, and connected with a new generation of young people on the heritage and biodiversity of the former colliery site today .

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Open days and open minds in April, 2023

Mon 8th May, 2023Tue 9th May, 2023 / The Friends of Hemingfield Colliery (FoHC) / Leave a comment

A low-level drone side view of Hemingfield Colliery site, at the top of the photograph a range of buildings fill the shot, the old pumping engine house on the left, the winding engine house in the middle, and roofless surface haulage building to the right. In the foreground the canal basin can be seen through trees, and in the middle across the picture is the line of the railway, currently out of use. — Chimney smoke rises as the Friends seek shelter on Easter Monday, 10th April 2023 (Photo Credit: Simon Hollis)

April 2023 saw a host of activities on site, as the weather tried, time after time, to confound and confuse. For the Friends it was a month of Open Days at Easter; of gardening and tidying, and of preparation for better days to come, or at least better weather on the many working days to come.

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Weather on the March 2023

Sun 2nd Apr, 2023Mon 3rd Apr, 2023 / The Friends of Hemingfield Colliery (FoHC) / Leave a comment

March 2023 had it all, or almost – Spring threatened to appear at any moment, but Winter certainly reared its frosty head a few mornings – as an early March timelapse of our Pump House Cottage Garden tries to show. As wet weather and cold snaps passed into bright sunshine, so delayed bulbs and buds started to emerge from the shroud of Winter’s sleep.

How many seasons at Pump House Cottage Garden? (Timelapse through snow and shine 4th-12th March 2023)

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Refueling in February

Mon 27th Feb, 2023Mon 19th Jun, 2023 / The Friends of Hemingfield Colliery (FoHC) / Leave a comment

The restless efforts of the Friends and regular volunteers at Hemingfield Colliery continued in February 2023, with significant progress on small jobs and starts being made on some of the bigger tasks to maintain the site and prepare the way for repairs to take place as the weather improves.

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Twenty twenty-three: starting up

Mon 6th Feb, 2023Tue 7th Feb, 2023 / The Friends of Hemingfield Colliery (FoHC) / 3 Comments

A new year and another chance to make further progress on site, saving and sharing our mining heritage. Weather permitting, of course. The Friends demurred on the 14th as the weather was poor, but by the 21st they were eager to meet up and dive into planning activities for the year ahead.

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2022 wrap up – was the year a success?

Sat 31st Dec, 2022Thu 19th Jan, 2023 / The Friends of Hemingfield Colliery (FoHC) / Leave a comment

This blog covers highlights from this year, ranging from achievements on site, community engagement and covering some of the goals we may like to achieve in 2023.

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Levelling up? The Dearne and Dove Canal

Sat 26th Nov, 2022Fri 29th Aug, 2025 / The Friends of Hemingfield Colliery (FoHC) / Leave a comment

Illustration of the second Cutlers Hall in Sheffield, built 1725, demolished 1832, from Robert Eadon Leader [1839-1922], History of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire, in the County of York, Volume 1, Sheffield: Pawson & Brailsford, 1905, p.184

At 10 o’clock in the morning, on Wednesday 29th August 1792, the Company of Proprietors of the Navigation of the River Dun held a meeting at the Cutler’s Hall in Sheffield.

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August company – Happy days at Hem in 2022

Mon 5th Sep, 2022Thu 19th Jan, 2023 / The Friends of Hemingfield Colliery (FoHC) / Leave a comment

2022 was quickly passing away in August as the Friends and regular volunteers pressed forth on improving the appearance of the site, both inside and out. Enjoying the uncommonly great weather, and ignoring the Westminster political hustings dragging on around the country, as talk of energy crises continued, and the War in Ukraine rumbled painfully on.

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Duly roasting in July 2022

Tue 2nd Aug, 2022Thu 19th Jan, 2023 / The Friends of Hemingfield Colliery (FoHC) / Leave a comment

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.

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June – a right royal month

Fri 8th Jul, 2022Thu 19th Jan, 2023 / The Friends of Hemingfield Colliery (FoHC) / Leave a comment

Hoyland town centre, Platinum Jubilee weekend, 2nd June 2022

June 2022 was another busy month of weekend activities on site at Hemingfield Colliery, although the first weekend presented a unique pause – the Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend from Thursday 2nd June 2022.

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