Once

My photo – an ordinary path with grass verges and fenced off woodland on either side. Not terribly exciting would you say.

But then look at the extra photo. Hard to believe that the photos are of the same place with less than 40 years between them. The fenceline to the far right of both photos is roughly consistent, so if you were standing in this spot in the 1980s this is what you would have seen. Astonishing isn’t it!

Today we went to Ashington and followed the Ashington Colliery Heritage Trail, which is marked out by paths and information boards around a modern business park. At each point there are photos showing where all the parts of the colliery were, once upon a time.

Ashington Colliery
The sinking of the Bothal mine shaft in 1867 was the start of something quite extraordinary. From this small beginning, grew one of the biggest coal mines in the world. By 1921, 5,500 mineworkers worked at Ashington Colliery and Ashington became known as the largest pit village in the world. Not only was coal mined here, but coal was brought in by rail from other mines to Ashington’s coal preparation plant.

But after 121 years, the demand for coal had fallen dramatically and the colliery was no longer considered to be economically viable. In 1986 it was closed. The colliery, all the buildings, machinery, railway lines and workshops were dismantled and now there is very little remaining of it. It is just empty space, woodland and a business park. The trail is an attempt to keep alive some of the memories of what there once was.



Another dismal day, wet, windy and so cold. I still love watching the waves from our huge windows, but we are so glad we are here for another week, when we are assured the weather is to get better. And we have visitors arriving tomorrow.