Hi Bob, hope you are well, this is from Paul Wilkinson, ex Silverhill, Sutton and Teversal surveyor, you will no doubt remember our mutual friend Fred Hickton, though I don't live on Wild Hill any more, so only see him occasionally.
I thought I would let you know that I find your website very interesting and useful. You may not know that when the pits were closed in 1993 myself and a couple of others set up a surveying company and we are still going today surveying a wide range things including quarries, landfill sites, highways, large housing development sites etc. We still also survey old pit sites as we are contracted to the Coal Authority and I also position boreholes for them into old workings to monitor mine water levels. This involves studying the mine plans to check connectivity between mines and is often in areas far away from the Notts mines I trained in. These mine plans particularly the old ones sometimes have terms that I am not familiar with and can be difficult to deduce, but your glossary often has the answer. I also prepare coal mining risk assessments that are now required to accompany some planning applications and again I find your website very useful for background history. So I would like to say thanks for your hard work it is very useful.
Regards
Paul Wilkinson
I remember you Paul as a lad but probably would not recognise you now of course.
It is many years since Fred Hickton contacted me to ask about finding you a job as an apprentice surveyor. I know that like myself you enjoyed surveying work and still do hopefully.
Of course whilst I was Surveyor at Ollerton from 1971 I lost track of a lot of things and people at The Teversal Group. It was only when I was promoted to Area HQ in 1986 that I picked things up again. I know you were at Silverhill but didn't realise you had been at Sutton and Teversal. Let me know the dates and the info can be added in.
From your remarks I feel that my work has helped you in some way and if so I am very pleased.
You will note that input is only up to start of 1987 and that only covers 66 per cent of my work so there is a lot for Fionn to input yet. I have been inserting sub headings to make it easier to relate to a subject etc.
Teversal 1980 is included but Silverhill 1993 and Sutton 1989 details are yet to come as you will no doubt have realised that most of the major information about the pit is when it closes. However if you have noticed any errors or wrong or missing information please advise me and it can be amended. I have hundreds, no thousands of photos, and many are included but my idea is to insert at least one or two on each page where there is some relevance.
Do feel free to ask any question of me regarding old plans etc as you probably realise I have been dealing with them for over 60 years, in fact since 1953.... A long time. Remember no question is a daft question. If you don't know, then you don't know.
Sincerely
Bob |
Hi, I am one of the steering group of Cotgrave Colliery Memorial Group. We intend, with various partners including Barratts and the Miners Welfare, to produce a substantial and lasting memorial for the mine and its workers in the country park near to the original pit head which is in the process of being redeveloped for housing. The present intention is for a permanent and imposing memorial structure, an heritage trail with information plaques and associated website. The project is important for Cotgrave as the mine was entirely responsible for a tenfold increase in its population and a lasting mining heritage. We would like to gather as much accurate information about the entire operational history of the mine to make available through the memorial, trail and website. I'm hoping this is something you would be interested in and might like to provide input into the scheme.
