The Book.
As you are all aware now the MAIN reason for the Cannock Chase Mining Historical Society
coming into existence was to write a book. We are very please to be able to
report that the progress of this project has passed all
expectations we have
12 authors writing on 50 colliery company's and pits. There are also
numerous small mines that have been identified but alas there is not much if
any information on some of these. The
group of writer/researchers have really gone to town and unearthed
unbelievable amounts of material that would otherwise have been lost and
forgotten. We now have enough material to publish booklets on several
individual Collieries and Colliery Company's beside the main book the
"The Cannock Chase Coalfield AND ITS
COAL MINES".
Work on these booklets has already begun with the first two being available
at the end of this year.
If anyone out there has any information on anything concerning the Cannock
Chase Coalfield how ever trivial it may seem to them please let us know if
we do not use it in the book we can at least record it for posterity.
The project is now complete as far
as the writing and editing of the book is concerned. The 1500 books have now
been printed and shipped to the Binders and will be
completed and ready for the media launch on September 9th 2005
The size of the book will be A4 with split column pages , there will
be 350 pages, it will be paperback but with a protective gloss covering
(see cover design ). The cost has of the book will be £10.00 this
being well below the printing cost of the books.
The official launch date to the MEDIA will be
Friday September 9th 2005
at the Museum of Cannock Chase but this will be invitation only.
=================================================================================================
The
CCMHS
is pleased to announce the Miners Re-Union
Weekend 2005
The CCMHS are pleased to announce
that they will be hosting and organising the Miners Re-union weekend to be
held on Saturday and Sunday the 10th & 11th of September 2005 between the
hours of 11.00am & 4.00pm at the Museum of Cannock Chase (the old Valley
Colliery) Valley Rd, Hednesford, Staffordshire. It is envisaged
that the whole of the Museum buildings will have displays of various types
on both days.
It will also be
the platform from which this Society will launch the long awaited book about
the Colliery Company's and Colliery's of the Cannock Chase Coalfield, which
the members have been researched over the past few years. Copies of the book
will be on sale and the various authors will be in attendance to answer
questions and talk about their work in the book.
The Museum has
its own mining gallery with sight and sound shows, a 1940s house set up,
children's play area and a cafe that serves light refreshments.
Anyone who
would like to exhibit at the re-union should contact Mr Mick Drury on
mickdrury@ccmhs.co.uk or
alandean@ccmhs.co.uk
==================================================================================================
Bi Annual Miner
Re-Union organised by the
Cannock & District
Miners Welfare Veterans Association
(this event has nothing to do with and is not organised
by the Cannock Chase Mining Historical Society {CCMHS})
The RE-UNION took
place on
Saturday & Sunday the 13th & 14th September 2003.
The event was well attended with over 700 visitors calling in
at the Museum of Cannock Chase (Valley Training centre). Old friends met
again after in some cases a considerable time to talk about this and that
and what they would have done if they had been manager when this happened
and that happened they drew coal and set timber and pumped the water out.
Some new faces were also present and they all commented that they thoroughly
enjoyed the displays, photographs and information that was available over
the two day event. All old and new thought that the work the CCMHS had
undertaken was of the utmost importance to the districts heritage and some
even returned on the Sunday to bring photos or information about the areas
coalmines.
The Mining Memorabilia
Association came along and held there meeting at the Valley and really
enjoyed the occasions as did the Morris Minor Club of Great Briton.
A big thank you must go
to the Museum of Cannock Chase for hosting the event and also to everyone
who displayed or organised the two day event.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
January 2004
Farewell to LES HYDEN last of the six.
It is with great sadness that we
report that Mr Les Hyden has passed away.
He was the last surviving member of the
6 man Cannock Chase Mines Rescue Team who recovered the bodies of the final 26
of the 99 submariners and experts that died when
HMS THETIS sank in 1939 whilst on sea trials in Liverpool bay. It was
whilst walking through Chadsmoor on January 3rd 2004 that Les suffered a
heart attack and subsequently died at the age of 91. Mr Hyden was a well loved
friend of the CCMHS and will be sadly missed by all who new him and so with Les's
passing another small piece of the Cannock Chase Coalfield fades away.
Our condolences go out to the family and
relatives of Les.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT NOTICE TO MEMBERS
The AGM
of the CCMHS
will be held Monday 23rd December 2004 at
The Museum of
Cannock Chase (the old Valley Pit),
Valley Road, Hednesford. The meeting will commence at
3.00pm(1500hrs) prompt
Items to be raised in any other business
must be submitted to the Society Chairman or Secretary not less the 10 days
prior to the meeting, if they are not submitted they will not be discussed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GROVE COLLIERY
A
field trip
Well members this organised visit considering it to be local
to everyone was very poorly attended, in fact only 6 members bothered to
turn up, perhaps the less said the better. Mick Drury informs me that
the visit was an excellent one , as well as visiting the tipping facility,
access was gained to the winding house courtesy of the gentleman who carries
on a business from it and also access to one of the shaft which is used to
monitor the water levels with regard to the water table around Cannock Chase
which I believe has risen now mining has ceased. That is all I have at the
moment but as the report comes to me I will post it here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is with
great sadness that the CCMHS have to inform you of the passing of one of our
authors. Graham Warburton passed away on Friday 21st January 2005 at 2.00pm in
Stafford General Hospital after a short illness.
Graham was a founder member of
the CCMHS, and author of the Lea Hall section of the book. He was one of he
original seven people who met that Monday evening at the Museum of Cannock Chase
and made the book a reality.
On leaving school Graham
went to worked in the pits in North Staffs, he worked his way up through the
ranks and reached that covert job of shearer driver at the coal face. At the age
of 27 he sustained serious injures whilst operating a coal face shearer at Hem
Heath Colliery. On his return to work he was appointed Assistant Training
Officer at Hem Heath Colliery a new challenge with in the mining industry which
Graham readily accepted. So much so that in 1970 he was appointed Colliery
Training Officer at Lea Hall Colliery Rugeley, a position he held until its
closer in 1990.
Graham was a very popular
official at the colliery and participated in most activities.
On the closure of Lea hall
colliery Graham took redundancy this gave him the opportunity to pursue other
activities from which he gained great pleasure.
He also joined a group of
colleagues called the Valley Mining Volunteers who do voluntary work for the
Museum of Cannock Chase and he was also an
active member in the local community.
But
most of all Graham was proud to be a coal miner.
Graham
will be sadly missed by the Cannock Chase Mining Historical Society.
The
Cannock Chase Mining Historical
Society are pleased to announce that on
Friday 27th October 2006 commencing at 7.00pm, they are promoting and
organising an open forum for ex-Lea Hall miners (surface/underground) at Lea
Hall Colliery Sports & Social Club, Sandy Lane, Rugeley. If you worked
at Lea Hall please come along and renew old friendships and talk about those
bygone days with your mates its now 16 years since it closed prematurely. The format for the evening be pints, memories
and a question and answer Forum on anything about Lea Hall Colliery. There
will be a panel of past masters there to answer those questions. The panel
will consist of Mr Jack Evans OBE, Mr Reg Barber, Mr Colin Rigby & Mr Joe
Spedding. Why not come along, do not miss this unique opportunity to meet
with those mates who you looked out for, whilst they covered your back for
so many years and enjoy the evening.
Also available for purchase will be all the
issues of the much sought after publications that the Cannock Chase Mining
Historical Society has produced about the Cannock Chase Coalfield that you
worked on.
THE CCMHS ON THE CARL CHINN SHOW ON WM RADIO
This exposure for the Society generated a lot of enquiries and sales for
the books we have produced, we would all like to thank Dr Carl Chinn for the
opportunity he gave us to reach a wider audience, publicise our society and
its aims and the encouragement he gives
us.
THANKS CARL
CCMHS AT STAFFORD'S HISTORY FAIR
This event was a success for the society in terms of
sales and interest from the general public, we would like to
thank those that to help man the CCMHS stand, Mr Harry
Gibson, Mrs Margaret Dean, Mrs Pamela Poppett, Dennis Jackson, Mick Drury and Mick Lucas. The stand generated a lot of interest
for the 6 hours we were there with the usual lull at lunch time. People who
had not worked in the mines and people who had asked some very searching
questions of the team but as usual we were able to answer the majority of
them. Dennis Jackson gave a 20 minute talk in the council chamber which was
quite a feat to get 800 years of mining on Cannock Chase condensed into 20
minutes (the talk was not overcrowded then neither were the other talks).
Anyway it was another venue under our belt and more expertise gained, all in
all a good day out with many interesting stands and people to see and talk
to.
Alan on the stand
Dennis in full flight
Don't ask us were only minding it
CCMHS at the Local History Fair
(at The Museum of Cannock Chase)
LINK
The event gave more exposure to the society and we did
well with book sales, and we gained more experience with our public
speaking.
The
Cannock Chase Mining Historical
Society are pleased to announce that on
Friday 27th October 2006 this event took place and was a roaring success
with approximately 200 ex-Lea Hall miners attending what in fact turned out
to be a re-union rather than a forum. The evening started slowly but as Ken
Edwards started his presentation on the rise and fall of Lea Hall colliery
more and more people arrived. The panel of past masters who attended were Mr Jack Evans OBE,
who rose from the ranks to finally attain the position of Area Director
Western Area, Mr Colin Rigby who was the master sinker of Lea Hall colliery,
& Mr Reg Barber a former manager at Lea Hall colliery, Mr Joe
Spedding for reasons better known to himself chose not to attend the
evening. The multi media presentation was followed by an informal address by
Mr Evans. The whole evening turned into a very pleasant re-union which saw
many old friendships re-newed that had been lost in the 14 years since the
pit closed and a great deal of beer consumed to wash away the coal dust that
was everywhere around the room. The event was such a success, that many who
were present have requested that they would like the CCMHS to hold the event
annually.
The CCMHS would like to say thank you to all
who attended and made the evening a success. Also Lea Hall Club for allowing
us the use of their premises.
__________________________________________________________________________
JOE LANDER 1909 - 2007
It is with great sadness that the CCMHS
has to announce the passing of its oldest member Joe Lander who was 98 years
of age. Joe of Norton Green Lane, Norton Canes was awarded an honorary
membership of the CCMHS in 2006.
Joe passed away on the morning of the 11th
May 2007 whilst recovering from a stroke in Walsall Manor Hospital. Joe
spent his working life on the Cannock Chase Coalfield and worked on the
mechanical engineering staff at Norton Green colliery, Conduit Colliery,
Coppice Colliery and finally Littleton Colliery.
Joe was a kind and caring gentleman who
will be sadly missed by all who knew him, especially the CCMHS who with his
passing have lost a wealth of coalmining and local knowledge.
God bless Joe.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
On September 1st
& 2nd
2007
OPEN
WEEKEND
The weekend was a success but attendances were curtailed by a serious
accident that occurred Saturday afternoon on the Rugeley Rd near the entrance to
Valley Rd on which the museum is situated. The severity of the accident resulted
in the closure of the Rugeley Rd for a considerable time preventing quite a few
visitors from attending the exhibition. However attendance over the two days was
between 650 and 700 people by people from all walks of life, we met some old
friends and made some new ones and that was our aim. We will see you all again
in 2009 hopefully at the same venue and with more mining heritage to show you.
We the CCMHS would like to say thank you to all the people who exhibited
over the two days and to all those people who attended and also to the Museum of
Cannock Chase who hosted the event for us.
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