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on photographs to enlarge
In 2001 the
chairman of the Cannock & District Miners Welfare Veterans Association
invited the Trustees of
that Association to consider arranging a Miners re-union at the
Museum of Cannock
Chase, Hednesford Staffordshire (England). After
consultation with the Museums curator Adrienne Whitehouse B.A.A.M.A and the
enlisted help of the Valley mining volunteers the Trustees agreed to
hold a re-union a date was set for 12th September 2001.
The event was publicised in the local press and an appeal launched for
mining memorabilia and photographs from around the locality. On the day 400 ex-coalminers and their families came along, the Miners
Welfare Organisations CISWO and the local Miners Advice Centre were
represented and the occasion was used to launch a book tracing the
history of the Cannock Chase Technical College called "A CENTURY SERVING
THE COMMUNITY" written by three men most of who's working careers
involved the education and
training of coal miners across the whole spectrum of the industry. Some
local and mining celebrities were invited and the proceeding were well covered
by Midlands television and radio stations. The whole venture was a great
success so much so that the second re-union
is planned for September of this
year 2003. The venue will be The
Museum of Cannock Chase and the exact date and time will be announced on
these pages in the near future.
This informal gathering of ex-Cannock Chase coal miners,
from all disciplines of
coal mining was really a day of reminiscence,
a day to meet old mates and recalling the ‘good’ old days more than
anything else.
The men who
gathered there represented the end of an era, a soon to be forgotten
workforce that had its roots firmly planted in the coal that had shaped the district.
Most of the men had given their whole working lives to the coal mining
industry and in return they had received sustenance for themselves and their families. But they also recalled that the industry had at times
taken life away. Strange as it may seem to someone who has never worked
down a coal mine these men found that even after 8 years, since
the
closure of the last pit in the Cannock Chase
Coalfield they still had a
great affinity to their industry.
In Cannock Chase
there had always been a great family tradition with son following father
into the mine.
The early miners had moved here from the fast fading coalfields of South
Staffordshire and Shropshire, as well as further a
field, a decision borne out of necessity to provide for their
families. These old timers were skilled tradesmen and experts at
winning coal from the bowels of the earth; they were hard men and women
their existence and way of life dictated this.
The miners
started to arrived at
the new Cannock Chase Coalfield, around 1850,
when deep mining was in its infancy. This was when the Marquis of
Anglesey leased his mines in the
Burntwood/Edial area to Mr John Robinson McLean. This action
by the Marquis opened the flood gates for
others to become mine owners and
there was
a dramatic increase in mining activity, with company after
company opening mines throughout the district. And this is where our
exploration of the coal mining history begins.
The Companies that came in those early days
may have built the mining villages that sprang up (and endure to
this day) to house the miners and their families. But it was the integrity, honesty and spirit of those miners
that would mould these
communities and build Cannock Chase District as we
know it today.
This area
of Staffordshire owes its very existence to
coal and the men who mined it whether coal owner or workman. One miner "Mick
Drury" who attended the reunion in 2001 (and in fact
was the main motive power behind the event) had read books about
coal mining in other areas around the country but
could find very little if anything written down about the Cannock Chase Coalfield, he realised there would be no written record of our mining heritage
on Cannock Chase. He had an ambition to
fill this void and produce a book
on the history of the Cannock Chase Coalfield and the
pits in it, to preserve and protect the
memory of those mines and miners that were about
to pass into oblivion. To this end he gathered together
a group of 8 like
minded individuals
from all walks of the local mining industry and they agreed
to help write his book and make
his dream a reality. The
task was
an
important one but there
were other things that must also be done to ensure the preservation of
this mining communities heritage. The collection of artefacts,
documents, photographs, memorabilia and taped interviews of the old miners. The need to inform the ever growing influx of new residents from
outside the district of the areas heritage. Informative leaflets and
talks, for local schools telling of the lost
age of coal mining.
All these things had to be done because the clearance of colliery
sites has been so complete that it is almost clinical, so collectively they
decided to form the Cannock Chase Mining Historical
Society.
The Society had its official launch in December
2002
and membership is now open to the general public remember you do
not have to be a coalminer to join the CCMHS all we ask is you have an
interest in Coal Mining Heritage of the Cannock Chase Coalfield. If you would like to become a member of the
CCMHS then please visit the Membership Page
where there is a printable membership application form.
CCMHS Membership Detail
The initial group of
authors
has grown to 12 people who are researching and writing the history
of various Colliery Companies and Collieries and of course the Cannock
Chase Coalfield.
The financial issues of funding our project have been solved in
the initial stages by a grant from the Local Heritage Initiative
(LHI) to whom we are most grateful. http://www.lhi.org.uk/index.html
If you are interested
in the Cannock Chase Mining
Historical Society please visit the
remaining pages on this site.
The progress we made
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HOW IT ALL
ENDED
Stripped bare Going down
Scrap metal
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on photographs to enlarge
