Coal Mining and Brickmaking
The coal mine at Heather opened in 1874 though some coal had been worked there even earlier. Brick making followed during the 20th century. In the 1970s and 1980s two huge open cast coal mines were opened up. The Coalville Farm opencast coal mine, between 1982 and 1996, extracted around eight million tons of coal. This area was subsequently restored to become the Sence Valley Country Park.
Following the refusal of a 1990 British Coal application for massive further open cast works, its successor, UK Coal applied for consent for a much smaller scheme. To the north of the village, it was the called the Long Moor open cast coal mine. Over a three-year period from 2007 to 2010 they extracted 725,000 tons of coal. Following restoration, the 188 acres (76 ha) mine site has been acquired by the Woodland Trust. With adjoining agricultural land this will become the Flagship Diamond Wood, a 186 hectares (460 acres) new woodland to celebrate the 2012 Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
Read more about this topic: Heather, Leicestershire
Famous quotes containing the words coal and/or mining:
“This island is made mainly of coal and surrounded by fish. Only an organizing genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish at the same time.”
—Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960)
“Any relation to the land, the habit of tilling it, or mining it, or even hunting on it, generates the feeling of patriotism. He who keeps shop on it, or he who merely uses it as a support to his desk and ledger, or to his manufactory, values it less.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)