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.
Continue readingLevelling up? The Dearne and Dove Canal
Learning
June – a right royal month
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.
Continue readingHope 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, and the 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 reading2022 starts here
Well, it wasn’t perhaps the most auspicious weather to kickstart a new year of work on site: Saturday 15th January 2022 saw cold foggy skies and icy ground conditions. And yet, there’s a lot to write about: where there is a will…
Continue readingA day in December
The weather was not looking entirely promising as the Friends gently enquired as to the advisability and willingness of volunteers of attempting a winter work-out on site. By Friday evening, however, the regular attendees (or usual suspects) were firmly signed up to drop in first thing for a wee while, and see whether the rain gods would be kind.
Continue readingAdvent-ures in History
November slipped away, quite literally, into December with a cold turn following Storm Arwen, bringing, wet and wintry weather in its wake. And a touch of snow. Starting belatedly to feel a little festive.
Taking the meteorological hint, the Friends and volunteers stayed indoors for a couple of weekends. Switching from shovels and spades to books and browsing the internet for research and future plans. So during the intermission, we bring you a little glimpse into the industrial past, sharing some further research from our Hemingfield’s Hidden History project work; of Elsecar 150 years ago…
Continue readingWinter chills, Summer sun!
This weekend the group continued work on the renewal of the garden of Pump House Cottage, and improving accessibility to the site to suport our National Lottery Heritage Fund project – Hemingfield’s Hidden History. All the while basking in the presence of a summer-like sun!
Smoke-free reflections
“It was a beautiful autumn morning. Such days come seldom at this season of the year in Yorkshire. When they do come one enjoys them all the more.”
Mexborough & Swinton Times, 3rd November 1906, p.11
And so it was on Saturday 13th November 2021, 115 years later; another beautiful autumn morning. The Friends and volunteers arrived early for another productive day’s activities at Hemingfield Colliery.
Continue readingDrenched in sunshine
Saturday was initially ruled out as a washout, with uninviting prospects of rain throughout the night and during the morning. The wet stuff was certainly in evidence when folks first arrived…
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Friends of Hemingfield Colliery 