Nottinghamshire Mining Museum launches new exhibition in Mansfield
A mining museum in Mansfield – aiming to preserve the history of the Nottinghamshire coalfields – has launched a new exhibition.
Banners and Bands is now open at Nottinghamshire Mining Museum, based in the east unit of Mansfield Railway station, Station Road.
The exhibition showcases some of the famous mining standards and banners paraded in years gone by.
Eric Eaton, chairman of the museum, said: “It is great to be open to the public and share some of these fantastic banners.
“We have seen all ages come through the door.
“We are only able to display a small fraction of mining banners from the area, that were created after 1984-85.
“It would have been nice to display more banners, but we have provided visitors with a report from the People’s History Museum, showing some of the banners not available for us to display here.
“We are always adding to our collection.”
Other items in the museum’s collection include fossils and banners from Nottinghamshire collieries.
The exhibition also features a brass band cornet, a Whitwell brass band jacket, images of brass bands throughout the decades and coalface equipment.
Ann Donlan, a museum volunteer, said: “We feel our mining history is part of the community’s DNA.
“It is important for children and younger people to learn about their ancestors.
“The amount of people who have uncles, fathers and grandfathers who worked at one of our collieries shows how connected our communities are.
“Women played a huge role in our mining communities too. We hope to preserve, share and champion that history.”
During the museum’s closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, volunteers shared mining related blogs on their website.
Ann said that the museum has reached an audience of 50,000 people, with followers from Australia, Canada and Southern England.
The museum said they are keen to recruit younger volunteers, as current volunteers are in their 70s.
David Whitchurch said schools and educational facilities are always welcome to get in touch about visits, by emailing [email protected] or calling 01623 239750.
The museum is open Thursdays-Saturdays, 10am-3pm. The exhibition, which will run until late September, is free to enter, but the museum welcomes donations.