Brinsley - The Headstock Site
w/e 12 September 2021
All of this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490
There's a small car park at a bend on the Eastwood to Brinsley
road that gives access along a former railway line to the Headstocks
site. Where the lines split to go their separate ways,left to
Brinsley at the gate and right to Underwwod, is an interpretation
board which includes a picture of a carved tree.
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At the gate we took the left hand path along the route of the
former railway into the Brinsley Colliery site.
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There were once many coal mines in the area and all have now
gone. Brinsley Colliery operated from 1872 until 1934 and provided
access to other pits until 1970 when all the buildings were demolished
and the twin headstocks moved to a museum. In 1991 they were
returned to the site and re-erected on what is now the Brinsley
Headstocks Nature Reserve and Heritage Site.
For more information I recommend you visit the Friends of Brinsley Headstocks website.
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The carved tree seen on the interpretation board stands close
to the headstocks.
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Also nearby on a hillside is a picnic area.
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And leading down from the headstocks is a flight of steps to
Brinsley Brook.
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At the bottom of the steps is a footbridge over the brook.
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We didn't cross the bridge but turned left to follow the path
in the shade of the trees for a little way.
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We did cross this one and walked up the other side of the valley
passing an area in the site known as Long Meadow to reach the
route of the other railway line through the site.
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The line we had followed into the Headstocks Site originally
served the colliery and this one we had now reached was originally
to serve the nearby Underwood and Willeylane Collieries. Turning
right we followed the path back to the car park. Local author
D. H. Lawrence's father worked at the Brinsley Colliery and many
of Lawrence's novels are set in the mining community which he
called the "Country of my heart".
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