Community News & Events

BEING a Burton lad, I'm still somewhat hopelessly trying to get my head around the endless South Derbyshire-isms dropped into conversation in these parts. I can just about cope with an "Ay up mi duck", but throw in a "thiz summat up wee im oraight" or an "aya gorra weeya?" and I'm definitely struggling. I feel I must apologise, therefore, to Phillip Wright, a former Cadley Hill Colliery pitman who patiently gave up his time at Swadlincote Library this week to try to explain to me exactly what a 'snap tin' was used for.The 59-year-old must have felt he was banging his head against a brick wall when I blankly stared at the shiny, metal object laid out among a host of other items salvaged from former miners and their families laid out across the table. "You know, a snap tin, to keep your snap in. It's shaped like a loaf of bread," he said. After he had repeated the words about four times, I finally caught on - for some reason, 'snap' is the preferred word for 'food' among locals. And I thought my in-laws were winding me up when they first asked me if I'd "put my snap up" for work. Misunderstandings apart, Mr Wright, a member of the South Derbyshire Mining Preservation Group, helped paint a vivid picture of just what things were like in the area's pits - and the dramatic effect that their closures in the late1980s had on thousands of people's lives in the region. As part of May's allocation as national history month, the Gresley Old Hall-based group had been invited along with members of local historical archive The Magic Attic and the Friends of Eureka Park group to chat to visitors about their work in the community. The get-together was all part of a wider heritage project known as LANDshapes - Heritage in the Making, designed and hosted by The National Forest company, aimed at creating an interactive website archive of knowledge and memories across 200 square miles of National Forest land. Around 300 people popped in during the day, bringing along their old photographs and sharing yarns from days gone by. It is hoped that by gathering such stories, images and memorabilia, the unique culture and heritage of places like South Derbyshire will be preserved for generations to come - something the mining preservation group is very keen to do. Mr Wright, of Coton Park, Linton, explained: "We're based at Gresley old Hall at the moment waiting for it to be refurbished, and we could fill a room three times this size with the stuff we've got. "The group has really took off in the last 12 months and we're now trying to get into schools, because kids nowadays don't know what a lump of coal is. "We've secured a £1,295 grant from LANDshapes and will spend that on a trailer to transport our stuff, as well as a marquee and display tables to show it."

Formed four years ago, the group now has around 30 members, both men and women, who are determined to teach today's generation what mining was all about and how it shaped the appearance of modern South Derbyshire. After spending only minutes with members of the group, it is quite clear from the passion in their voices just how much the job meant to them. Within moments of arriving I had already discovered the differences between house coal, phurnacite and anthracite - which is only mined in South Wales - and was running out of space in my notepad. As well as the legendary snap tin, Mr Wright was only too happy to take me through the uses of a plethora of fascinating gadgets lying around the library - breathing apparatus, air and gas testers, carbine and battery lamps, detonators, drill bits, and enamel badges commemorating the strikes, all donated by or recovered from former South Derbyshire miners and their families. Despite spending most of their working life in filthy, dark conditions, and well aware of the associated health risks, I didn't meet one member who said they wouldn't go back down the pit tomorrow given half the chance. Maurice West, 67, the last overman at Cadley Hill before its closure in 1988, said: "It was a way of life and it was my livelihood. Mining was our way of life, with the best comradeship you will ever have - there's no doubt about that. "We would all go back tomorrow given the chance." However, the mere mention of the strikes that devastated the South Derbyshire region under Margaret Thatcher’s Tory Government brings visible emotion to even the most hardened among the group. Mr Wright, who was "out" of the pit for two-and-a-half months while two of his brothers worked on, told how it left him without money and food, forcing him to live on soup delivered twice a day to the picket line. Pausing to take a breath and wipe tears away from his eyes, Mr Wright revealed how that time was the start of a rift with one of his brothers that was never resolved. Seven years ago, Mr Wright rushed to the hospital in a last-ditch attempt to speak to his sick brother, but arrived to find he had already passed away. While we may never understand just what those experiences were like, they are certainly major pieces in the area's historic jigsaw. Lucy Ashworth, community liaison officer for the LANDshapes project, said: "This is a great way for groups to highlight local history and for people to get involved. "We hope people will continue to bring in their own old photographs of the area or objects that relate to bygone industries and ways of living. "Have a look in your attics, sheds and wardrobes for items that can be recorded for the new collection." Us certainly will, duck.