The National Coal Mining Museum for England

Whenever I plan on taking a trip somewhere I always check the map to see if I can find a place to visit which is on the way. A good source of information on tourist attractions is the library, with a good supply of books and leaflets. I have the Lonely Planet guide to England out at the moment, and found details of the National Coal Mining Museum at Wakefield, a perfect location to break my journey. I have always been interested in how people coped with working in such inhospitable conditions, sometimes miles underground. I also have a fascination with big man made holes in the ground, as I have mentioned before, especially quarries. So the coal mining story ticks the boxes for me.
So on Tuesday morning I arrived here. It's just outside Wakefield at Overton, the brown tourist signs point the way. There is a vast parking area which is free, and luckily it wasn't too busy, just a couple of prebooked school parties. Entry is completely free which is what caught my eye in the book, ha ha.

Here are some random pics.

There are two parts to the 17 hectare site, the Caphouse Colliery and the Hope Pit, with a nature trail between the two. There is a train which runs between them but it is not always open, not to wory though because it isn't far to walk.

The coal comes up the conveyor belt and is loaded into these big hoppers, which in turn loads the rail wagons below them as they are shunted into place.

Here is an old engine, I'm not sure when that stopped work.

This is the Steam Winder, dated 1876. A marvelous piece of engineering.

Inside the halls there are lots of exhibitions, this is a replica of the hydraulic pit props they used. There is plenty to see, which tells the story of coal mining through the ages. Lots of video films and photographs.

At this point I joined an underground tour which took us down in a cage 140 meters. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take anything down with us, and definately nothing which had a battery in it. Thank goodness I was allowed to keep my hearing aid in, ha ha. We were issued with a hard hat and a lamp. There was only five of us which was better because we felt we had the personal attention of our own ex miner guide. He was excellent and brought the whole story alive for us. The tour lasted 1 hour 15 mins. When you book it you pay £2 for a metal token, similar to the type issued to real miners to keep account of how many people were down there. You can give the token back when the tour is finished and get a refund, but I kept mine and left the money as a donation. It was well worth it.

This is the entrance to the showers and miners welfare building. There is a window where they collected their wages, and down the corridor a medical centre they could go for advice and treatment.

There are rows and rows of lockers, there must have been several hundred working at the time when the colliery was at it's most productive.

Soap and towels for sale or hire.

This reminds me of the showers we had at school, I hated them. I wonder if they washed each others back, can't see how else they could have removed all that black stuff from every inch of their bodies.

Any dental work needed was attended to here.

This model horse is outside. They also have two real ponies called Eric and Ernie, and a Clydesdale called Finn, which you can visit in the stable block. The horses are put out to the field when the centre is not open.

I love this model of the back door of a typical workers terrace house. The coal house, the pet rabbit in the hutch, and the washing draped about ready to slap you on the face when you stepped out the door.

Oh, and the outside privvy, we had one of these when I was a teenager, complete with sheets of newspaper hanging up on a nail. Not for reading mind you, ha ha. And the tin bath, we had one of those as well.

I really enjoyed my visit, there's a lot to see, and if you are planning to go and want to save cash you can take a picnic and do the nature trail.Of course if you are feeling flush you can always treat yourself in the modern cafeteria.

Here is a link to the web site
www.ncm.org.uk

There was still a bit of time to spare so I thought I might visit the Hepworth Art Gallery while I was in Wakefield. I found it alright and went into the car park, but was disappointed to see that there was a charge of £4.50 to park. As there was only an hour and a bit before it closed, I didn't think it was worth paying this. If I am going that way at a later date I will make sure I go earlier and find a free parking space further away and walk in. Another on the 'places to see', list. I carried on to Earby and arrived at the hostel about 6pm. I seemed to hit the rush hour traffic, I had forgotten what all that was about, living in the sticks of North Lincolnshire. We don't get traffic jams here. Toodle pip, catch you soon with another report.