Black Gold In Somerset
Somerset Life|October 2017

STEPHEN ROBERTS goes digging for details on a long forgotten Somerset industry.

Stephen Roberts
Black Gold In Somerset

HERE’S A QUESTION. What industry once employed 4,000 people in Somerset, but none today? Answer; the Somerset coal industry, the county’s ‘black gold’, mined from the 15th century, to 1973, although it is thought some mining may have started as long ago as Roman times.

Coal was mined close to the surface to start with, but reverted to deep seams, the deepest over 1,800 feet below ground. I don’t know about you, but I always associate coal mining with South Wales and the North East; I needed to check this out and find out what evidence there is left on the ground today.

I began at Radstock, a town nine miles south-west of Bath. This was a town owing its growth from the mid-18th century to coal’s discovery. The museum, in a former market hall, is a good place to start. At one end the fascia proclaims, ‘North Somerset Coalfield Heritage’. Prominent outside is an old colliery winding wheel (for raising and lowering within the mine shaft) on a headframe (the structural frame above the shaft). Old colliery wagons are planted up, bearing names of onetime pits, for example, Ludlows Pit, 1782-1954; a reminder of times past and a splash of colour. The Wellow Brook adds water to a tranquil scene; the winding wheel a reminder of a back-breaking, dangerous industry, gone over 40 years.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2017-Ausgabe von Somerset Life.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2017-Ausgabe von Somerset Life.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS SOMERSET LIFEAlle anzeigen
Up on the Down
Somerset Life

Up on the Down

Try this easy-to-follow Exmoor walk with SIMONE STANBROOK-BYRNE

time-read
6 Minuten  |
November 2020
Shop until you drop
Somerset Life

Shop until you drop

It’s Somerset’s county town, it’s the place to go for the big shops, but Taunton is also home to a thriving independent scene, discovers CATHERINE COURTENAY

time-read
5 Minuten  |
November 2020
Creatures of the night
Somerset Life

Creatures of the night

Have you ever had something swoop past your ear, almost unseen? You may have had a brief encounter with a bat, says BERNARD BALE

time-read
5 Minuten  |
November 2020
Bowled over
Somerset Life

Bowled over

Now that we can return to skittle and bowling alleys - albeit with new rules BERNARD BALE reveals that the sport of bowling has many Somerset links

time-read
4 Minuten  |
November 2020
Trackway through time
Somerset Life

Trackway through time

In the Somerset Levels SIMONE STANBROOK-BYRNE discovers a place where our Neolithic heritage rubs shoulders with the present day

time-read
4 Minuten  |
November 2020
SAVING THE SPLENDOUR OF EXMOOR
Somerset Life

SAVING THE SPLENDOUR OF EXMOOR

The splendour of Exmoor National Park may appear timeless and untroubled, but a new book reveals the long and often bitter struggle conservationists faced to save the landscape from the twin threats of afforestation and the plough

time-read
4 Minuten  |
November 2020
Decorative art
Somerset Life

Decorative art

Not simply functional, treat your walls like an extension of your personality

time-read
3 Minuten  |
November 2020
Charity starts at home
Somerset Life

Charity starts at home

How do we teach our children the importance of giving back?

time-read
2 Minuten  |
November 2020
Somerset Life

Blooming brilliant

Will and Lauren Holley purchased a four-acre field in Somerset, converted it into a nursery, opened during lockdown and now their perennial plants are flying off the shelves. JULIE HARDING meets the go-getting couple

time-read
10 Minuten  |
November 2020
Age-old advice
Somerset Life

Age-old advice

Just become a grandparent for the first time? Perhaps you need a little guidance, so here are some top tips about how to embrace your new family role

time-read
3 Minuten  |
November 2020