Sutton Colliery was in the village of
Stanton Hill
Stanton Hill is a village in the Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire.
Skegby Colliery, owned by the Dodsley family, was originally located on Wharf Road, which is now in the area known as Stanton Hill, but in the ...
, Nottinghamshire, England. It is now a
country park
A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment.
United Kingdom
History
In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a special meaning. There are around 250 recognised coun ...
.
Sutton colliery
Sutton Colliery was known locally as "Brierley Colliery" (possibly renamed by the Staffordshire colliers who moved here from the Brierley Hill area), or the "Bread and Herring Pit" because of the poor condition of the colliery.
Two small diameter shafts were originally sunk in 1874 to a depth of by the Stanton Iron and Coal Company. In the period from 1896 to 1902, the shafts were widened to diameter and sunk to below the low main seam horizon at a depth of . Both shafts were brick lined throughout except for of tubing at the top hard horizon in no.1 shaft.
The no.1 shaft (upcast) then commenced winding from the deep hard seam at , with an intermediate inset at the top hard level. At the same time no.2 shaft (downcast) commenced winding from the low main seam horizon. The first coals were produced from the top hard and Dunsil seams which were worked until 1922 and 1916 respectively. The available resources of the deep hard and low main seams to the south west of the shafts were exhausted by 1943.
Roy Lynk
Roy Lynk OBE (born 9 November 1932) was a leader of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers.
Early life
He was born in Chesterfield where his parents had married in 1932. He grew up in Sutton-in-Ashfield, attending Station Road Higher School and He ...
was Branch Secretary of the NUM at the pit from 1958-79. The piper and deep hard seams becoming exhausted in 1989 when the colliery closed.
The Sutton Colliery Accident
On 21 February 1957 an explosion occurred in the Low Main Seam. Twenty-five men suffered multiple burns, and five men subsequently died as a result of their injuries.
Brierley Forest Park
The park has a visitor centre, fishing, football pitches, children's play areas, picnicking, cycling and horse paths, bird feeding stations, an
arboretum
An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...
, a remembrance grove and disabled car parking. A
Parkrun
Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...
takes place every Saturday morning.
Brierley Forest Park was designated a
Local Nature Reserve in 2006. It contains
Calcareous grassland
Calcareous grassland (or alkaline grassland) is an ecosystem associated with thin basic soil, such as that on chalk and limestone downland. Plants on calcareous grassland are typically short and hardy, and include grasses and herbs such as clover ...
, sown grassland, wildflower meadows with hoary ragwort, yellow-wort, wild carrot and lesser trefoil. There are four wetland feature areas, Brierley Waters, a reed swamp, Rooley Brook and the visitor centre pond. There are species rich hedgerows, woodland and semi natural vegetation.
[https://www.ashfield.gov.uk/media/2844/brierley_forest_-park_management_plan-2017.pdf p.9]
References
{{reflist
External links
Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Coal Fields
Coal mines in Nottinghamshire
1989 disestablishments
Underground mines in England