The Friends of Hemingfield Colliery were keen to return to site this Saturday – to open the gates, collect tools, and return to the dig at the rear of the winding engine house.
Friends Chair Steve welcomed regular volunteers John, Keith and Paul, followed by Chris. The crew returned to the scene of the earlier discovery of the coal tub, and picked up where they left off, removing the spoil in what is quickly becoming a fascinating area of hidden features.
Works in Progress
Saturday was a busy day at Hemingfield, ushering in the first working party in November. Following a week filled with US election drama and the sombre reflections of remembrance day, Site Manager Glen opened the pit gates, joined by Directors Ian and Christine. Chairman Steve and regular volunteers John and Chris were also on hand as the Friends welcomed a number of new visitors to the site, all eager to see the progress in the winding engine house roof, and to discuss some exciting opportunities throughout the valley.
Summer’s here and the weather is…very British.
When the clouds signally fail to roll by, and the heavens descend, it can certainly put a dampener on plans and postpone progress on site. Being chased indoors by the elements may prevent the pit gates from opening, but it also gives the Friends chance to delve deeper into the history of the site; open days become research and volunteer days. So, on to writing up research, raising awareness of the group’s activities and generally carrying on regardless!
The Friends and their doubty volunteers looked skywards this past weekend as the heavens opened and the water descended. There was every likelihood that the weather would indeed stop play. However, our volunteers are most definitely made of sterner stuff, and donning waterproofs and not a modicum of plucky determination, they set forth to Hemingfield, to get stuck in to another day of site clearance activity. Continue reading
The year ended quietly at Hemingfield; with strangely mild temperatures but constant rain, bringing floods to the North. Our final open day in December was, unfortunately, rained off, but the Friends continued with their current research projects, and set to planning events and identifying new opportunities to pursue in the new year. Elsewhere bigger events dominated the news… Continue reading
Lighting up the past – Bright sunshine on the pumping engine house.
As reported elsewhere, the weekend of the 5th-6th September 2015 was the occasion of ‘Elsecar by the Sea’ – a celebration of all things Elsecar and a chance for the Friends to get out and about and meet local people and visitors to raise awareness of the site; however the work on site must go on, and a working party gathered on Saturday to continue the clearance activity.
Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day in Hemingfield, and the Friends of Hemingfield Colliery were delighted to welcome a group of extra volunteers on site to get stuck in to tidying things up, but also continuing the gentle archaeology of the site – peeling back the top layer of soil and roots to reveal some of the former colliery’s features beneath.
Friends of Hemingfield Colliery 