Earl Fitzwilliam

Open Day and Working Party Weekend, 17th September 2016

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Raising the roof

There was excitement in the air, alongside the welcome warmth of the September sunshine, as the Friends of Hemingfield Colliery and their regular volunteers gathered on site to kick start another busy day’s work and open the gates to visitors.

Friends Chair Steve, and Directors Glen, Ian, and Christine were all on site during the day to share the latest news on developments on site and some exciting plans for the coming year.

Earlier in the week the Friends were able to announce the fantastic news that thanks to the tremendous support of the Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership, The Association for Industrial Archaeology, and Subterranea Britannica, the group had been able to secure funds to completely reconstruct the roof of the 1846 winding engine house.

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View of the 1846 winding engine house

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Saturday 9th July 2016

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Water, water everywhere

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!

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Open Day and Working Party Weekend, 28th May 2016

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Elsecar Heritage Railway steam loco Birkenhead shuttling up and down the line, with Hemingfield village across the fields in the background.

Bank Holiday Weekend fun

The Friends of Hemingfield Colliery returned to the pit on Saturday at the start of a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend. The sun was shining and it was a great day to be outdoors.

Site Director Glen and Friends’ Chair Steve were on site early ready for work, trimming back the lush grass which has shot up over the past couple of weeks. They were joined by Peak volunteers John, Eric and Chris, with regular volunteer Chris arriving later in the morning.

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28th November 2015 – Open Day and Working Party

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site_nov

With the festive season fast approaching, it was guaranteed to be a suitably wintry end to November, and so it proved to be as Site Director Glen opened the gates to another open day and volunteer working party at Hemingfield Colliery.

Joined by regular volunteers John, Chris and Phil, the team picked up where the last active working party left off – by continuing the logging of the felled trees, and generally tidying the site.

For online use

Thanks to a recent grant from South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation, the Friends and volunteers are now well-equipped with the tools to tackle these tasks.

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14th November 2015 – Village Ramblings

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Heavy clouds signaled the start of what would be a very wet weekend in Hemingfield, and an unsettled one for South Yorkshire. Site director Glen and regular volunteers Phil and Chris arrived to continue the site clearance work, but with only the odd break in the cloud for company, they decided to sound the retreat and stay dry. This gave us a chance to go and explore – and what could be better than a historical village ramble in Elsecar!

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Working Party Weekend 3rd and 4th October 2015

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Headgear in autumn sun

Headgear in autumn sun

Autumn had arrived at Hemingfield Colliery and the rustling silver birch leaves were glistening golden-ochre as regular Friends and volunteers Alan, John, Phil, Chris, Nigel, Amanda and Site Director Glen met at the start of another working weekend.

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Many Happy Returns! – Come and join us on our first birthday on Saturday 27th June

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Photo credit: Christine Cameron

The sun always shines in Hemingfield

Saturday 27th June 2015 is a very special date – the first birthday of the Friends of Hemingfield Colliery.

To mark the day we will be opening the site as a Open Day, enabling visitors to learn more about our work and future plans for the site. The site will be open from 10am until 5pm, so come and see us at any time during the day.

  • Visit the pit yard, with its two shafts down to the Barnsley seam, and see the 1840s winding engine house.
  • Meet the Friends who helped to save the site and are working hard to secure its future.
  • Join our current volunteers and supporters in celebrating what we have learned so far, and reflecting on what the future has to hold.

Please share your memories, photographs and any questions with us.

On the day you’ll find a diverse range of experienced specialists and people passionate about the site, its history, machinery, working life and its people.

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Working Party weekend 9th-10th May 2015

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N.M.R.S. visit

Just visiting

Welcome to Hemingfield – just visiting?

On Saturday the Friends were delighted to host a visit from a number of members of the Northern Mine Research Society. It was a pleasure to introduce visitors to Hemingfield and our colliery site; the two shafts, the 1840s pump and winding engine houses and later machinery and buildings.

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Unveiling and activation of the restored Newcomen-type engine at Elsecar

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On Friday evening, the Friends of Hemingfield Colliery were privileged to be present at the unveiling of the restored Newcomen beam engine at Elsecar. The engine – a Scheduled Ancient Monument, No. SY1146, since June 1972 – is the only atmospheric engine in the world still in situ; still working in its original building and over the original mine shaft. Built in 1795 as the Dearne and Dove canal drew nearer, and the 4th Earl Fitzwilliam’s Elsecar collieries and industrial enterprises were being expanded, the engine has pumped billions of gallons of mine water during its working life – a run which officially ended in 1923 when electric pumps were installed by the the South Yorkshire Pumping Association – the same body that maintained the pumping stations at Hemingfield and over at Westfield in Rawmarsh.

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