Gala weekend as mine museum comes of age
THERE was a time when everyone knew someone working in the coal industry.
Now with just a handful of working pits left, the memory and importance of ‘black gold’ is kept alive at the National Coal Mining Museum.
Celebrating its 21st birthday this year, it has attracted former miners to relive their days underground, their memories of the solidarity between colleagues, and the devastation as communities were torn apart in the dark days of the strike of 1984.
Most people living near coalfields, of a certain age, have vivid memories of the miners’ galas, the parades and the men heading off for a shift.
My mother Marguerite, just after arriving in Wakefield during the 1960s, recalls seeing a ‘mountain-sized man of a miner’ in a supermarket with coal dust still on his face, carefully, delightfully and proudly cradling a new-born baby in sparkling white blankets.
Ian Thomas, 66, is a guide at the museum. He first went to work in a pit aged just 15.
He said: “The museum is so important. We get kids from around the world that have never seen a pit and do not know what mining was about.
“We take them underground and show them around and within an hour they have learned more about mining than they could by sitting in a classroom.”
Mr Thomas first started work at the pithead, then looked after a pit pony, and at 18 began working the coal face. “I have been in mining nearly all my life. I don’t miss the work, but I miss my mates,” he said.
The museum’s director Dr Margaret Faull has seen it grow from a regional attraction to a major national and international treasure.
She said: “When we started we had a 23-acre site and now we have 45 acres. We have gone from 45,000 visitors a year to 130,000.
“Mining is part of the heritage of this area. If you talk to people locally, or even in southern England, they often had a grandfather or great grandfather who worked as a miner.
“Coal shaped how Britain developed.”
New plans being drawn up for the future include extending the underground area, and renovating a 19th century miner’s cottage on the site. And to mark the 21st anniversary, this weekend promises celebrations at the museum.
Tomorrow is the 21st birthday of Colonel, one of the horses stabled at the museum. He will be sharing his cake between 11am and 2pm.
And the shire horse will also open the annual miner’s gala on Sunday. The gates open at 10am with the ceremony starting at 11am.
l To see the full interview with Margaret Faull, log on to www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk
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Weather for Wakefield
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
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