Wet weather rained us off on 4th August, but the Friends picked up the pace during the month which was, traditionally, expected to be somewhat summery…
Continue readingSummer escapes (us), August 2023
Working party
Site clearance and conservation events, weekends from 10.00 am.
Spring ebbs and June’s Summer flows
June. A beautiful time of year. The first steps of summer, without the school holidays. When the sun’s heat brings plants, people, and other wild-life out into the longer light of day.
Making Hay and a King in May
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 .
Open days and open minds in April, 2023
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.
Continue readingWeather on the March 2023
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.
Refueling in February
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.
Twenty twenty-three: starting up
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.
Continue reading2022 wrap up – was the year a success?
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.
Continue readingAugust company – Happy days at Hem in 2022
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.
Continue readingDuly roasting in July 2022
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 reading
Friends of Hemingfield Colliery 