Location | |
---|---|
Location | Edwinstowe, NG21 9PS |
County council | Nottinghamshire |
Country | England |
Coordinates | 53°12′00″N1°03′06″W / 53.2°N 1.0516°W |
Production | |
Products | Coal |
History | |
Opened | 1925 |
Closed | 2015 |
Owner | |
Company | Harworth Group |
Thoresby Colliery was a coal mine in north Nottinghamshire on the outskirts of Edwinstowe village. The mine, which opened in 1925, was the last working colliery in Nottinghamshire when it closed in 2015. The site has been cleared and it being redeveloped as a housing estate.
Thoresby colliery opened in 1925. [1]
The first two shafts in 1925 were sunk to 690 metres (2,260 ft). The shafts were deepened by 109 metres (358 ft) in the 1950s. After privatisation of the National Coal Board in the 1990s the mine was taken over by RJB Mining [1] (later UK Coal as UK Coal Thoresby Ltd).
Coal seams worked by, or available to, the pit included the Top Hard seam, the Parkgate seam (after closure of Ollerton Colliery in 1994); the Deep Soft seam; and the High Hazels seam (working ceased 1983). [1] In a 2009 underground visit, Roger Helmer, then a European MP in the East Midlands region, stated he hoped the newly developed Deep Soft resource would provide coal extraction for a further ten years. [2]
In April 2014 it was announced that the pit would close by July 2015. [3] The colliery's 600 employees had been reduced to 360 by the time of the closure in July 2015. [4] At the time of closure, Thoresby was one of the two last remaining deep-mined coal sources owned by UK Coal, together with Kellingley which closed soon after. [5]
In 2015, the Thoresby Colliery Benevolent Fund, established in 1951, was wound up with £56,000 surplus which was distributed to five different local charities. [6]
The site is being reclaimed and redeveloped by Harworth Group, with a ten-year plan into housing and associated infrastructure, named Thoresby Vale, Edwinstowe. Initial plans were to include a country park and with five acres set aside for a primary school. Local MP Mark Spencer mentioned that provision was also needed for a doctors' surgery, and hoped that section 106 monies could be used to upgrade the nearby traffic island and establish a passenger rail service extension to the Robin Hood Line. [5] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Edwinstowe is a village and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire, England, on the edge of Sherwood Forest and the Dukeries. It is associated with the legends of Robin Hood and Maid Marian, and to a lesser extent Edwin of Northumbria, from where the village gets its name. The civil parish population at the 2011 census was 5,188. A 2019 estimate put it at 5,261, and was 5,320 at the 2021 census.
Ollerton is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ollerton and Boughton, in the Newark and Sherwood district, in the county of Nottinghamshire, England, on the edge of Sherwood Forest in the area known as the Dukeries. The population of Ollerton and Boughton at the 2011 census was 9,840.
Harworth is an area and former civil parish, now in the parish of Harworth Bircotes in the Bassetlaw district in Nottinghamshire, England, on the border with South Yorkshire. It is 8 miles (13 km) north of Worksop. The population of the civil parish of Harworth Bircotes was 7,948 in the 2011 Census.
The Dukeries is an area of the county of Nottinghamshire so called because it contained four ducal seats. It is south of Worksop, which has been called its "gateway". The area was included within the ancient Sherwood Forest. The ducal seats were:
UK Coal Production Ltd, formerly UK Coal plc, was the largest coal mining business in the United Kingdom. The company was based in Harworth, in Nottinghamshire. The company was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The successor company that contains the former property division, Harworth Group, is still listed on the London Stock Exchange.
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Harworth Colliery was a colliery near the town of Harworth Bircotes in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire, England.
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Warsop railway station is a former railway station in Market Warsop, Nottinghamshire, England.
Edwinstowe railway station is a former railway station in Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire, England.
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Wheldale Colliery was a coal mine located in Castleford, Yorkshire, England which produced coal for 117 years. It was accessed from Wheldon Road.
The Prince of Wales Colliery was a coal mine that operated for over 130 years in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. It was permanently closed in 2002 after geological problems were found to make accessing remaining coal reserves unprofitable, and most of the site was later converted for housing.
Harworth Group plc ("Harworth") is a property developer that specialises in regenerating brownfield sites in Yorkshire, the Midlands, and North West England. The company is headquartered in Rotherham in South Yorkshire. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE SmallCap Index.
Warsop Vale is a village in the Mansfield district of western Nottinghamshire, England. It is 18 miles (29 km) north of Nottingham, and 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Mansfield. It is in the civil parish of Warsop. Warsop Vale's heritage is primarily as a former mining village. It lies in the very picturesque area known as the Dukeries and is easily accessible to Clumber Park, Thoresby Park and hall, Rufford Park and the Earl of Portland estate of Welbeck, together all part of Sherwood Forest.