Hello and welcome to the

Cannock Chase Mining Historical Society (CCMHS)

Here we will endeavour to explain how and why we came into existence

Were we came from

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How it all began

In 2001 the Cannock & District Miners Welfare Veterans Association consider arranging a Miners re-union at the Museum of Cannock Chase, Hednesford Staffordshire (England). After consultation with the Museums curator Adrienne Whitehouse B.A.A.M.A and the enlisted help of the Valley mining volunteers especially Mr Mick Drury the Trustees agreed to hold a re-union a date was set for 12th September 2001.

The event was publicised in the local press and an appeal launched for mining memorabilia and photographs from around the locality. On the day 400 ex-coalminers and their families came along, the Miners Welfare Organisations CISWO and the local Miners Advice Centre were represented and the occasion was used to launch a book tracing the history of the Cannock Chase Technical College called "A CENTURY SERVING THE COMMUNITY" written by three men most of who's working careers involved the education and training of coal miners across the whole spectrum of the industry. Some local and mining celebrities were invited and the proceeding were well covered by Midlands television and radio stations. The whole venture was a great success so much so that the second re-union is planned for September of this year 2003. The venue will be The Museum of Cannock Chase and the exact date and time will be announced on these pages in the near future.

This informal gathering of ex-Cannock Chase coal miners, from all disciplines of coal mining was really a day of reminiscence, a day to meet old mates and recalling the ‘good’ old days more than anything else. The men who gathered there represented the end of an era, a soon to be forgotten workforce that had its roots firmly planted in the coal that had shaped the district. Most of the men had given their whole working lives to the coal mining industry and in return they had received sustenance for themselves and their families. But they also recalled that the industry had at times taken life away. Strange as it may seem to someone who has never worked down a coal mine these men found that even after 8 years, since the closure of the last pit in the Cannock Chase Coalfield they still had a great affinity to their industry.

In Cannock Chase there had always been a great family tradition with son following father into the mine. The early miners had moved here from the fast fading coalfields of South Staffordshire and Shropshire, as well as further a field, a decision borne out of necessity to provide for their families. These old timers were skilled tradesmen and experts at winning coal from the bowels of the earth; they were hard men and women their existence and way of life dictated this.

The miners started to arrived at the new Cannock Chase Coalfield, around 1850, when deep mining was in its infancy. This was when the Marquis of Anglesey leased his mines in the Burntwood/Edial area to Mr John Robinson McLean. This action by the Marquis opened the flood gates for others to become mine owners and there was a dramatic increase in mining activity, with company after company opening mines throughout the district. And this is where our exploration of the coal mining history begins.

The Companies that came in those early days may have built the mining villages that sprang up (and endure to this day) to house the miners and their families. But it was the integrity, honesty and spirit of those miners that would mould these communities and build Cannock Chase District as we know it today.

This area of Staffordshire owes its very existence to coal and the men who mined it whether coal owner or workman. One miner "Mick Drury" (see Mick at work) who attended the reunion in 2001 (and in fact was the main motive power behind the event) had read books about coal mining in other areas around the country but could find very little if anything written down about the Cannock Chase Coalfield, he realised there would be no written record of our mining heritage on Cannock Chase. He had an ambition to fill this void and produce a book on the history of the Cannock Chase Coalfield and the pits in it, to preserve and protect the memory of those mines and miners that were about to pass into oblivion. To this end he gathered together a group of 8 like minded individuals from all walks of the local mining industry and they agreed to help write his book and make his dream a reality. The task was an important one but there were other things that must also be done to ensure the preservation of this mining communities heritage. The collection of artefacts, documents, photographs, memorabilia and taped interviews of the old miners. The need to inform the ever growing influx of new residents from outside the district of the areas heritage. Informative leaflets and talks, for local schools telling of the lost age of coal mining. All these things had to be done because the clearance of colliery sites, has been so complete that it is almost clinical, (it is as if some one or some body wanted to erase any trace of coalmining from the area) so collectively they decided to form the Cannock Chase Mining Historical Society.

The Society had its official launch in December 2002 and membership is now open to the general public, remember you do not have, to have been a coalminer to join the CCMHS all we ask is you have an interest in the Coal Mining Heritage of the Cannock Chase Coalfield. If you would like to become a member of the CCMHS then please visit the Membership Page where there is a printable membership application form. CCMHS Membership Details

The initial group of authors has grown to 12 people who are researching and writing the history of various Colliery Companies and Collieries and of course the Cannock Chase Coalfield.

The financial issues of funding our project have been solved in the initial stages by a grant from the Local Heritage Initiative LHI) to whom we are most grateful.

If you are interested in the Cannock Chase Mining Historical Society please visit the remaining pages

A TIME LINE OF MINING ON CANNOCK CHASE (new)

The progress we made