Another week of non-abominable weather gave the Friends and volunteers a further chance to push on with site recording and restoration. In a week when the UK Government’s national restrictions were lifted in England, the cloud of a growing third wave of infections hung over the country. Vaccination levels were reassuring and continued to save lives, but the with Delta variant much more transmissable, and disease spreading, things remained a little hazy All change? We travelled in hope.
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Full exposure, Saturday 17th July 2021
If you had told us Hemingfield had somehow been transported to the Caribbean this weekend, no-one would have questioned it. The sandy beaches might have been in short supply, but there was certainly plenty of sun, and even some tourists!
Continue readingMist over the meadow
Saturday 10th July 2021 was almost a dot day. Not because of the mounting excitement ahead of the Euro 2020 final and the hopes (ultimately dashed) for England men’s football team, but rather because the weather forecast looked wet and miserable. Nevertheless the Friends and regular volunteers braved the elements.
In the event, ‘Plan B’ of indoor building recording work, followed by a swift exit proved unnecessary, and it was a very active and incredibly hot-and-humid day to be working outdoors, mostly bringing the growth of green stuff back into order.
Continue readingPathways to the past, Saturday 26th June 2021
After a short hiatus, the Friends and volunteers gathered for another socially-distanced outdoor working session on site.
Although decisions around lifting national lockdown restrictions in England were held back for four weeks until 19th July 2021, and there were worrying signs of Covid-19 infections rising with the new ‘Delta variant’, still the protection of an effective vaccination programme and gave the crew confidence in working outdoors, in a small group, albeit behind closed gates for a further push on restoration activities.
Continue readingSunny dispositions
Bank Holiday weather is usually euphemistic cover for a downpour, rather than the hoped-for rays of sunshine on a public holiday, but Spring Bank Holiday 2021 was a nice surprise: a long, bright, dry and hot weekend for a change. A holiday at home. Almost. Certainly a fabulous day to be outdoors.
Continue readingMore days in May
With the forecast decidedly dodgy, the Friends postponed on site activities for another week. In the event the rain was later than anticipated, but still it allowed time for some additional wanderings and wonderings. Continuing the series of historical reflections as part of our Hemingfield’s Hidden History project, on some more days in May…
May Days
Wet weekends are nothing new, but they do tend to rankle when they delay planned activities, and especially so when the sun somehow managed to shine late into the dying light of the working week. The Friends can wait another week to get back on site for some more socially-distanced outdoor maintenance work.
Meanwhile, back home sheltering from the downpour, the Friends and volunteers made good use of some extra hours of research and writing for our Heritage Lottery Fund Hemingfield’s Hidden History project, and some went for a wander around Hemingfield and Elsecar…
Step-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 readingLeaping to Jump’s defence
–Are you going to Jump?
Jump, near Barnsley, in South Yorkshire is certainly an eye-catching name on a sign, and somewhat arresting when said out loud.
But locals have heard it all before…
“…you have a slight touch of onomaphobia as regards the name of our village. The name, tout court, certainly does impinge rather directly on the attention, showing that it has the “punch” or “pep” so beloved of our transatlantic cousins. By the way, the name of Jump would make the fortune of a striving burgh out West.”
Penistone, Stocksbridge and Hoyland Express, 4th April 1925, p.4
Wild West or not, in times gone by it has often been the subject of comment and even scandal:
“Jump was noted as the sport of the Press, and any sensational story was tacked onto it. Society at large thought of it with derision, and speculators gave it a wide berth.”
Barnsley Chronicle, 2nd March 1901, p.7
But where does the name come from?
Continue readingLundhill Colliery Disaster, 19th February 1857
On this day in 1857, a horrific underground explosion of firedamp occurred at Lundhill Colliery, between Wombwell and Hemingfield, claiming 189 lives, including 120 adults and 69 children.
The impact on families in the community was catastrophic, leaving 90 widows and a total of 220 children without a father. We remember the victims and the devastating impact on the local community, and is a reminder of the serious dangers of working gaseous coal seams underground with the rules, practices and tools available at the time.
This commemorative piece is produced as part of the research underway for our Hemingfield’s Hidden History project, enabled by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, looking into the working lives and conditions in and around Hemingfield Colliery.
Hemingfield Colliery (also know as Elsecar Low pit) was working the same Barnsley seam, and employed the neighbours of Lundhill miners, so it was a community tragedy. Hemingfield Colliery itself had only too recently (Dec 1852) experienced its own loss of life via a underground explosion.
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Friends of Hemingfield Colliery 