Special event to commemorate 25th anniversary of final shift at pit near Mansfield

Bilsthorpe Heritage Museum will be opening its doors on Monday, March 28, to commemorate the closure of Bilsthorpe Colliery back in 1997, allowing residents to explore the fascinating history of the pit, which first opened almost 100 years ago.

The museum will be open from 10am to 4pm with free admission and tea and coffee provided for visitors.

The colliery opened in 1925 with two shafts and was completed in 1928.

In a long and tragic history, 14 men were killed in an accident in 1927, with another nine losing their lives in another incident in 1934.

But it was a more recent tragedy that many remember, with four men dying in 1993 when a roof collapsed.

Twenty-six-year old Bill McCulloch, of Rainworth, Peter Alcock, 50, and under-manager, 31-year-old David Shelton, from Blyth were remembered at a short ceremony outside the former colliery back in 2018 – again marking the 25th anniversary of the disaster.

Miners were clocking on for what they thought would just be a normal shift at Bilsthorpe Colliery.

Tragedy struck just before 11am as development workers were digging a tunnel through to a new seam of coal.

They were working nearly 2,000ft underground and were around four miles from the bottom of the shaft when the roof fell in.

The three colleagues were killed when the roof of the tunnel they were working in collapsed.

Miraculously fellow pitmen Orest Kocij, Paul Smith and Russell Turner survived, despite being trapped by around 7,000 tonnes of collapsed rock 2,300 feet underground.

Rescuers managed to make contact with the miners almost immediately via the underground telephone system.

Rescue teams from the Mines’ Rescue Service in Mansfield Woodhouse were immediately called and the flying squad from King’s Mill Hospital was put on standby.

They worked quickly to drill through the debris in an attempt to get an air supply through to the men.

Over the years, a total of 72 people died at the pit.

Following it’s closure, the Bilsthorpe Heritage Society was formed and the heritage museum opened, housing many artefacts from the days of the colliery’s former glory.

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