Information on Coalville

Leicestershire Councty Council Community Services

20 February 2009 Mining Lives

Have you ever imagined what life was like for your grandfather, brother, father, cousin or uncle as a miner in the olden days? Or for the women, men and communities who supported the county’s collieries?

Snibston's proposed Mining Lives project aims to conserve and tell the story of coal mining in Leicestershire and involve local communities in the scheme's development. Snibston is a successful visitor attraction in Coalville, North West Leicestershire, and is run by Leicestershire County Council.

As part of the development for the Mining Lives project we are eager to find out your views on the proposals. Visit www.snibston.com/mininglives to give your views on the project. We are particularly eager to hear from you if you have never visited Snibston before.

The key elements of the proposed project are;

a) the restoration of the nationally significant colliery buildings

b) new displays to enable visitors to find out more about the history of coal mining and its communities, particularly the Leicestershire story

c) a volunteer scheme focusing on the maintenance of the colliery buildings

Snibston colliery was first opened by railway engineer George Stephenson in 1832 and was in continuous production until it closed in 1983.  Since 1832, the colliery has been through many changes. The major period of change came in the late 1940s when the National Coal Board introduced extensive mechanical changes to increase coal production, as it did in mines across the whole of the UK.

The colliery was scheduled as an ancient monument by English Heritage in 1999. This was in recognition of the site’s national importance as one of the ‘best surviving examples of a mining complex dating from the British coal industry’s period of peak production’.

Once the colliery closed in 1983, Snibston opened as a science and industrial heritage museum and Country Park in 1992 and you can find out more by visiting www.snibston.com.

Ernie White, Cabinet member for Community Services, says, "It’s a great educational experience to be able to step into a miner’s shoes and imagine what life must have been like for mining families in the county".

Snibston currently offers guided tours of the colliery buildings with ex-miners who help to bring to life the history of the local coal mining community. Why not visit Snibston and find out what it was like to work in a mine?

For further information about the Mining Lives project please contact:

Carolyn Abel, Principal Curator on tel. 01530 278444 or email: snibstonfuture@leics.gov.uk.

For further details about what’s on offer at Snibston please telephone 01530 278444, e-mail: snibston@leics.gov.uk or visit www.snibston.com.

For media enquiries, please contact the Press Office on 0116 3056274.

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