Fig 1: Snibston Colliery at Coalville in the 1970’s. Photo Credit – Coal Authority
Snibston Colliery: A Mine-craft the Prequel project case-study
Snibston Colliery was one of six case studies as part of the 2023-24 Nottingham Trent University project, ‘Mine-craft the Prequel: The Photographic Story of East Midlands Coal’. Production finished in December 1983 but the drift and coal preparation plant remained open for run-of-mine coal travelling underground on conveyors from nearby Whitwick and South Leicester collieries.
Fig 2: Snibston Colliery NCB closure booklet. Photo Credit – David Amos
The closure was part of a locally agreed rundown of the deep coalmining industry in north-west Leicestershire between the Leicester Area NUM and the NCB South Midlands Area because of exhaustion of viable coal reserves. At the time, Asfordby Mine, in the Vale of Belvoir, was expected to fill the void when coalmining finished around Coalville.
Blog on the 40th anniversary of the Snibston Colliery closure at https://miningheritage.co.uk/snibston-colliery-40th-anniversary-of-closure/
Still from MACE video clip on the closure of Snibston Colliery in December 1983.
A short video of the closure of Snibston Colliery from Central TV News East can be seen on the Media Archive for Central England (MACE) website at https://www.macearchive.org/films/central-news-east-16121983-pit-closures
Fig 3: Snibston coalmining heritage tour guides at the People, Place’s & Events Heritage Day at the Snibston Colliery Park on 21st April 2024. Photo Credit – David Amos
The Minecraft the Prequel project took a display to the well-attended and informative ‘People, Places and Events’ heritage day on 21st April 2024 organised by the Snibston Heritage Trust. Video footage via I Pad and written information by word of mouth was obtained at the event.
Figure 4: Six brothers from the Beniston family who were coalminers at Snibston Colliery. L to R: Joe Beniston, Wilf Beniston, Ruben Beniston, Ted Beniston , George Beniston and Jack (John) Beniston. Photo Credit – By kind permission of Mrs Gillian Smith.
The Beniston Family
Mrs Gillian Smith (nee Beniston) delved into the family history of her mother’s side. Large families were typical of the time in close knit coalmining communities and her mother was one of twelve children, eight boys and four girls. Six of Gillian’s Uncles worked at Snibston Colliery;
Ted Beniston b 1892
Wilfred Beniston b 1898
George Beniston b 1902
Ruben Beniston b 1903
John Beniston b 1907
Joseph Beniston b 1912
Figs 5a and 5b: The Beniston family history. By kind permission of Mrs Gillian Smith
One brother, Charles Beniston b 1896, tragically died as an infant on 17th April 1898. Wilfred, the third son, was born two days later on 19th April 1898, the same date as the tragic mining disaster at nearby Whitwick Colliery. (see Mine-craft the Prequel project blog on the Whitwick mining disaster at https://miningheritage.co.uk/whitwick-colliery-mining-disaster-1898/
Figs 6a and 6b: Olivers Crossing, Coalville, Then and Now. Top: One of the last coal trains from Snibston Colliery in 1986 and below on 6th June 2024 with the crossing gates still intact, Photo Credits – Coal Authority and David Amos
Oliver’s Crossing, Coalville
Many people who attended the Leicestershire Coalmining Heritage Day identified with local landmarks, some now lost whilst others still remaining. One of the latter is the railway level crossing at Belvoir Road, formerly Hugglescote Lane, on the colliery railway line from Snibston Colliery. This is known locally as Oliver’s Crossing. Oliver Robinson is listed on the 1881 census as a sixty-two year old gate minder.
Following closure of Snibston Colliery, the railway trackbed reverted to a footpath connecting Coalville town centre to the Snibston Colliery Park and the preserved colliery site.
Fig 7: 72’s coalface at Snibston Colliery in 1980. Photo Credit – Coal Authority
I’ll never forget what’s his name? Leicestershire coalfield
Often at local heritage community events, the luxury of getting oral testimony in a quiet place is not an option. Coalmining images including the workforce always attract attention, with people inevitably trying to identify who’s who. What becomes obvious, as happened the ‘People, Places and Events’ heritage day, this becomes more difficult with the march of time!
The last colliery in the north-west Leicestershire coalfield, Bagworth, closed in February 1991. Time is therefore crucial in gathering oral testimony as the last generation of British coalminers rapidly approach the ‘demographic cliff’!
Video clip: I’ll never forget what’s his name? The Leicestershire Coalfield (4mins, 16 secs)
Snibston Colliery in its final years: An image gallery
Fig 8: Official inspecting ‘lift and fall’ (floor lift) in a supply gate at Snibston Colliery in 1981. Photo Credit – Coal Authority
Fig 9: Transporting a coalface hydraulic support (chock) at Snibston Colliery. Photo Credit – Coal Authority
Fig 10: One of a series of images of 72’s coalface at Snibston in 1980. Photo Credit – Coal Authority
Fig 11: 77’s coalface in the New Main seam, one of the last to be worked at Snibston Colliery. Photo Credit – MuBu Miner collection
Fig 12: One of a series of images showing transporting and installation of hydraulic supports on 72’s coalface at Snibston Colliery in 1980. Photo Credit – Coal Authority.
Fig 13: Shaftsman on the bonnet of the cage ready for a shaft inspection at Snibston Colliery – date unknown. Photo Credit – Coal Authority
Fig 14: Driving a roadway in the New Main Seam at Snibston Colliery in 1980. Jack King, Colliery Overman, is on left with a work colleague, both are standing next to a Dosco Dintheader. Information from A Coalville Miners Story by Maurice Woodward, 1993.
Fig 15: Snibston miners engaged on underground salvage operations – date unknown. Photo Credit – Coal Authority
Snibston Colliery in preservation
The headstocks and some former colliery buildings survive, the former being ancient listed monuments. Following the controversial closure of the Snibston Dicovery Museum in 2016, guided colliery surface tours by members of Snibston Heritage Trust recommenced in 2022. An ‘Into the Dark’ coal mine simulation forms part of the tour.
Fig 16: Preserved Snibston Colliery headstocks in the late 1980’s following closure. Photo Credit – Snibston Heritage Trust
Fig 17: The preserved Snibston Colliery site in June 2024. Photo by David Amos
Fig 18: ‘A Coal Miners Story’, guided tour at Snibston Colliery in November 2022. Photo by David Amos.
Video 01: Former miners to give tours of Coalville’s Snibston Colliery (2 mins, 26 secs).
Video 02: A Miners Story – Shotfiring, part of the guided coal mining heritage tour at the preserved Snibston Colliery.
Blog by David Amos
Mine-craft the Prequel project
Posted on 30th October 2024.