Page 29 - The Land Trust Annual Review 2018

Community cohesion and volunteering Land Trust Annual Review 2018

Our passionate
volunteer
workforce is
working hard
to restore
Pleasley Pit to
its former glory

Pleasley Pit In 2017/18 over 4,000 Environment
At perhaps no other Land Trust site can you see volunteers took part in
the benefit of a passionate volunteer workforce
better than at Pleasley Pit. activities on Land Trust
sites completing over and biodiversity
Pleasley Pit was the deepest pit in the East 10,000 days of activity
Midlands coalfield, opening sometime between
1872 and 1875, with the colliery finally ceasing
production in 1983. The colliery was noted for
a number of innovative features, including the
first electric lighting at the pit bottom, a cast iron
shaft lining to control water inrushes and a novel
arrangement of back to back winding houses. The volunteers also generate a significant
income through the operation of a café which
In 1995 a group of enthusiastic volunteers in 2017/18 raised approximately £35,000. This
formed Friends of Pleasley Pit and started the is a significant pot of funding which the Pit Trust
gargantuan task of restoring the site. used to reinvest in the restoration of the engines.
Nine years later, through their incredible efforts, The Friends of Group also provide guided walks
the north winding engine was restored and run around the site and with over 20,000 visitors
for the first time in December 2004, and this year annually this has meant a significant number of
the south engine has been restored and used people have enjoyed learning the unique history
once more. of Pleasley.

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