Snibston open day as part of the Hello Heritage Festival

As part of the Hello Heritage festival Leicestershire County Council, the Century Theatre and Snibston Heritage Group will be opening the site to the public from 12 noon to 5pm. This will be the first time the public will have access to Snibston Mine, a scheduled ancient monument of national importance. 

The day will include guided tours of Snibston pit top. The public will be able to see how the colliery worked during the 70s and 80s with volunteer former miners telling their story and experiences of working in local coalmines.

The tours will explore the lamp room and control room and how the mines were managed.  Visitors will also see how men were lowered to almost 1,000 feet underground and how the coal was got to the surfaces.

The Century Theatre will be offering behind the scenes tours.  Volunteers will tell the story of the theatre’s creation in Hinckley, its journey around the country and its removal from Keswick to Snibston. Attendees will glimpse an insight into the workings of the theatre and some of the famous actors who have graced its boards.

There will also be a display of local heritage put on by some of the area’s heritage groups, including Palitoy toys.

Along with the heritage displays there will be a chance to see the future plans for Snibston Park and discuss the development with council staff and contractors.

Pete Smith, Chairman of the Snibston Heritage Group, which is currently applying for charitable status with the Charities Commission, added: “This is a historic day for Snibston.  The local heritage community and former miners have got behind the County Council’s plans and worked together to enable people to once again experience a real coalmining environment and the life of a Coalville miners during the 1970s and 80s.

“We will continue to work with the county council to help with access of the new park facilities as well as the mine site from next year. We will help to tell the story of Coalville and the local mines in a heritage centre and once again celebrate for local people, visitors and schools the coalmining heritage”.