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Mining Themed CD Released

Published September 27, 2015

Congratulations to Alex Caton (http://alexcaton.com/) on the release of her new Album, “Never Take a Daisy Down a Mine” inspired by a visit to the Apedale Heritage Centre. It combines Appalachian and Irish Folk with her family history in the North Staffordshire mining industry, resulting in an Album of music and poetry about mining. Alex launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the new album, which not only hit the target, it achieves a second goal of funding travel expenses to come and promote the Album in here England.

Never Take a Daisy Down the Mine – Track List

1. Collier Lass
2. Close the Coal House Door, Lad
3. Coal Mine Blues
4. Never Take a Daisy Down the Mine
5. Saving Granddad
6. Explosion in the Fairmount Mines
7. Minnie Pit Disaster
8. Working Man
9. The Diglake Disaster At Audley
10. Coal Not Dole
11. The Colliers

We have it in our Shop in the Heritage Centre at £8, kindly supplied by Alex, and it’s available on line at CDBaby (CD and mp3), Amazon (mp3) and no doubt many other online outlets. If anyone is interested in ordering one for delivery get in touch via info@apedale.co.uk and we will sort something out.

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Oaks Colliery Disaster

Published August 12, 2015

We’ve been asked to pass on this request for information and help…

Does anyone have, or know of anyone who’s relatives were a victim of the Oaks Colliery Disaster, Barnsley, South Yorkshire. in which 361 men and boys lost their lives on December 12th 1866.

For nearly 50yrs this was the worst mining disaster in Britain, and is still the worst in England. Wales and Scotland have National Memorials to mark their worst mining disasters, as yet England does not.

I am part of a small group of ex miners who are trying to raise funds for a suitable Memorial to those who perished 150 years ago next December (2016).

This was a major local and national disaster,and should not be allowed to pass unnoticed. We owe it to the victims and their families to commemorate the event in a fitting manner, and at the same time leaving a lasting memorial for future generations as a reminder of the true cost of coal.

Britain was built on coal, we should be proud of our great mining heritage, and all the men, women and children who worked, were injured and ultimately lost their lives in the coal mining industry.

WE NEED YOUR HELP.

If you have relatives or know anyone who has.
If you would like to get involved.
Or if you have any information or stories,
please contact remembertheoaks@gmail.com

Bill Shaw

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Book Launched Today

Published August 9, 2015

The Audley and District Family History Society held the launch of their new publication, Mark Casewell’s “Mining Deaths in North Staffordshire 1756-1995” at the centre today.  It’s the first time we done something like this and it was a great success.  Thanks to all those who packed out our conference room to support the launch, enjoy the talks and buy the book.  It’s always nice to see our friends from the local mining history community, as well as welcoming new visitors.  If you didn’t get chance to attend we have some copies of the book available in our shop and I’m sure that it will be available direct via the Audley FHS website shortly.

AFHS_book

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Book to be launched at the Heritage Centre

Published July 14, 2015

A new index of ‘Mining Deaths in North Staffordshire 1756-1995’, compiled by Mark Casewell of the Audley and District Family History Society, will be launched at Apedale Heritage Centre, Loomer Rd, Chesterton, on Sunday 9th August at 1.30-2pm.

The book contains about 4,400 entries of miners who were killed, plus about 250 who were injured. Details include name, age, place and date of the accident, place of burial, occupation and address and an indication of the nature of the accident. The launch will feature an introduction by its compiler, Mark Casewell, who has spent many years on the project. This will be followed by a brief talk of about 20 minutes by Ian Bailey.

Ian helped to prepare the book for publication and will explain why he believes it has enormous value for all those with an interest in mining in the area. It costs £5.50, but will be sold for £5 to all who purchase on the day. Admission to the event and the museum is free. Mine tours will be available as usual and the Apedale Valley Light Railway are running a steam service on the day.

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Website update

Published June 21, 2015

If you are a regular visitor to this website you may have noticed a few changes.  We’ve just updated it to match our shiny new logo, with improvements all around.  The headline feature is that it’s now fully responsive which means that it adapts its layout to whatever device it’s on.  So, if you are browsing on a phone, tablet or tiny little computer you can now put away that magnifying glass as it should be legible! Clever stuff indeed.  Here’s a screen shot of how it’ll look on a smallish tablet for those browsing on a computer.

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AVLR Gala Pictures

Published May 18, 2015

We hope everyone who visited during the Gala had a great time, we certainly did!  No time to catch our breath because we have a Bank Holiday coming up with Steam on Sunday and Monday (24th and 25th May).  If you didn’t manage to make it, you can see some of what you missed in this gallery.

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Inspired 2 Festival

Published May 14, 2015

In July we’re hosting the “Inspired 2 Festival” from the MY Theatre and Film Co. It should be a great day of family fun. Neil Baldwin , who was recently immortalised in the BAFTA winning biopic “Marvellous” will be there as Nello the Clown. There’ll also be music, workshops, stalls, food,drink and goodness knows what else! For more information see the festival webpage.

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2015 Railway Gala

Published April 7, 2015

The Apedale Valley Light Railway Annual Gala is on 16th and 17th May this year and advanced tickets are now available on www.avlr.org.uk. Adults tickets are £6 and children £3, with a £15 family ticket (2 adults and 2 children).  There is also a £15 “Access-all-areas” ticket for the serious enthusiasts photographers.  Advanced tickets get a 5% discount off books, DVDs and replica plates in the Station Shop.

The theme this year is “Locos from Leeds”. Leeds was home to several locomotive manufacturers including Hunslet, Hudswell and John Fowler.  The AVLR collection features several examples including of course the recently restored Hudswell Clarke steam locomotive (pictured) and of course visiting locomotives.

There will be trade stands, model railways and all of the usual attractions.  The WWI trench system built for last years “Tracks to the Trenches” event will be open to visitors again, with re-enactment groups giving us another taste of life on the front line.

For more details visit the AVLR website, if you have any enquiries please email info@mrt.org.uk.

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Apedale Valley Light Railway’s Easter Fun

Published April 1, 2015

The Apedale Valley Light Railway​ starts it’s 2015 season this weekend with three whole days of Steam, featuring the Kerr Stuart 3014 “Joffre” (pictured).  There will be Easter fun on the railway with the Great Easter Egg Hunt.

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New Folk Music Project – Never Take A Daisy Down The Mine

Published March 22, 2015

We recently learned of a music project by American Folk Musician, Alex Caton, focusing on mining songs and poems.
In Alex’s own words –

“The project started five years ago after a visit to England and a family group tour down the mine at Apedale Heritage Centre in North Staffordshire, England. This happened to be the very mine my great grandfather worked in many years ago. After that visit, my interest in our family history and coal mining in general grew. Before I knew it I was collecting songs and poems (found by my father, my uncle Graham and my auntie Valerie) about mining from Staffordshire and beyond.”

Alex is currently raising funding for the recording using kickstarter, click here to go to the project page.

You can hear some of her previous work on her website. In particular have a list to the coal mining track, “Black Lung”.

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