Restoration of pit headstocks under way

Work has started to reinstall a mining landmark in Nottinghamshire that was the focus of a long-running campaign.

The Brinsley headstocks - a rare wooden example of a system to take miners into the pit - were removed in December 2023 over public safety fears.

Broxtowe Borough Council approved a £220,000 "like-for-like" replacement in January 2025, originally giving a date of April 2026 for its completion.

The authority confirmed it had invested £40,000 in foundation preparations, which started on Monday.

The headstocks were part of Brinsley Colliery, which opened in 1842 and closed in 1934, although shafts at the site remained open until 1970 for access to other pits, once employing the father of author D H Lawrence.

While the main structure will use new wood, the original metal winding wheels are being returned to the site.

An opening date had already been pushed back from October 2025 due to the discovery of two old mining shafts.

The reconstruction of the timber frame is currently in the procurement stage, with a new estimated completion date of the end of the year.

Some timbers from the previous headstocks have been repurposed as a memorial bench dedicated to the 33 miners who lost their lives at the colliery.

Helen Skinner, the council's portfolio holder for environment and climate change, said the headstocks "hold both local and national cultural significance" and that she is "so pleased to see work begin to reinstate them".

She said the discovery of an unmapped mine shaft was behind the six-month delay in starting work.

"We had to investigate that because potentially a heavy structure would just fall down it," she said.

"We had to then go to the Coal Authority and investigate that, and have them give us the go-ahead and make sure it's safe and everything, so that was another delay [because] you have to go to experts all the time."

Ken Hamilton, chairman of Friends of Brinsley Headstocks, said: "We are very happy that work on the headstocks has started."

Follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.