Severn Valley Country Park to mark 50th anniversary of colliery closure
The 50th anniversary of the closure of a Shropshire colliery will be marked with an event at Severn Valley Country Park.
The venue is holding 'Pit at the Park' from 10am to 4pm on Sunday, October 6, to mark 50 years since the closure of the Alveley Colliery.
The day will include rides on a Landy Train around the park, talks given by the Granville Miners, and a chance to listen to Highly Colliery Band play.
The star attraction will be a Land Rover train offering rides between the visitor centre and the country park halt, replicating the journey that coal used to take from the pit-head to the railway line.
Severn Valley Railway are also offering a £5 return ticket from the Country Park Halt to Highley Station, including free entry into the Engine House where visitors can see the Highley Colliery coal truck on display.
Railway tickets will be on sale at the Severn Valley Country Park Visitor Centre.
Other attractions throughout the day will include rock and fossil hunts for families, pony rides, a chance for children to dress up as miners, the showing of a short film – giving a unique underground view of mining in the Forest of Dean, and the unveiling of a new sculpture dedicated to those who worked at both Highley and Alveley Collieries.
There will also be coal shovelling competitions.
Lezley Picton, Shropshire Council Cabinet member for culture, leisure, communications and waste, said: “The stories of quarrying, mining and ferries at Severn Valley Country Park are fascinating and in danger of being lost as the park develops.
“Shropshire Council is proud to be delivering the Severn Valley Lives in the Landscape project to tell these stories to visitors and acknowledge the local families that have a historic link to the park. The Pit at the Park event will commemorate this important anniversary and will be a great day out for all the family. We are very grateful to the National Lottery Heritage Fund and The Jean Jackson Charitable Trust for their generous support.”
The event is part of the ‘Severn Valley Lives in the Landscape’ project and organised in partnership with the Alveley Mining Heritage Group. The project is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Shropshire Council and The Jean Jackson Charitable Trust.
