Your stories needed for project to record last 100 years of Clipstone's history

“We want to hear these stories before they are lost as time passes,” says project co-ordinator Rachel Staley, of the Clipstone Community Regeneration Group (CCRG).

"Personal stories can be from former miners, their wives and families. They can be tales about the old Clipstone Army Camp during the First World War or the former mother and baby home at Gwendoline Grove House.

"We also want to know about the impact on the community of the defining miners’ strikes of the 1980s, and also of tales from the miners’ welfare, which was a central part of the village.

"The stories about life in a close-knit community will be key aspects in our understanding of this piece of history and our appreciation of these lived experiences.”

The CCRG learned earlier this year that it had secured £10,000 worth of National Lottery funding to embark on the project.

Now the task is to persuade Clipstone villagers to volunteer their memories and to share photos and artefacts. All will be recorded and an exhibition will be created.

"You can get involved by telling us your stories, the good, the bad and the ugly!” Rachel continued.

"You can also learn how to interview local people, help at events and conduct research.”

Volunteers who step forward will be given full training. There will also be oral history memory cafes and open days, with refreshments and snacks, all designed to educate the community about Clipstone’s heritage.

The first memory cafe is earmarked for Sunday, April 30 (2 pm) at Clipstone Social Club when a talk on social history will be given by Mansfield photographer Neil Pledger. Residents can take along photos and memorabilia.

"You can be part of a new and exciting project,” said Rachel. “Meet people and be part of a great team.”

Memories from ex-miners at Clipstone Colliery are expected to stimulate particular interest. The pit was open from 1922 to 2003 and, at 200 feet, sported the tallest mining headstocks in Europe which, alongside the colliery’s winding house, were preserved as a grade two listed monument.

To register your interest in the local history project, please email [email protected] or call Rachel on 07746 540770.