One of the most popular attractions in Gedling borough celebrates its 10th anniversary tomorrow (28).
Gedling Country Park, based on the former Gedling Colliery site, will mark the occasion with activities organised by the volunteer group Friends of Gedling Country Park.
The attraction was opened by council leader John Clarke and then Gedling MP Vernon Coaker in the presence of then-Mayor of Gedling Cllr Jenny Hollingsworth on March 28, 2015.
It cost £1.1m to construct an MP Vernon Coaker, who has pushed to open the park since the colliery shut in 1991, described it as a “green lung” for the area.
It offers 580 acres of open space, footpaths and wildlife, with stunning views over the surrounding areas and attracts more than 100,000 visitors every year.
Since the park opened in 2015, a new Visitor Centre/Café, play area and memorial garden have been added. Viewing Platforms were also installed that give views of Lincoln Cathedral and Belvoir Castle. A native tree trail and a Holocaust Garden have also been created.
Along with the Council’s Rangers, the Friends of Gedling Country Park actively manage the park throughout the year. The Friends of group has over 200 paying members and regularly host volunteer days, wildlife walks and fundraising events.
The volunteer group have helped generate over £100k worth of fundraising towards projects for the park.
Some of this cash is now being put towards creating one of Nottinghamshire’s first memorials dedicated to the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. New benches, trees and wildflowers will be put in place to celebrate her life.
The group will be at the park tomorrow by their container area on Friday, from 12pm noon until mid afternoon. Located next to the children’s play area, people are being invited to come along and talk to the volunteers about activities, forthcoming events and how to get involved.
There will also be a raffle, with all funds reinvested back into the park.
History of the site
Surface works at Gedling Colliery first started in 1899 and the shafts were sunk in 1900. In 1902 coal production started and this continued until November 8, 1991 when the colliery was closed.
From the early 1950s to the late 1960s Gedling regularly produced a million tons of coal during this period. Maximum manpower of 2,500 was achieved in the 1950s. After World War two Gedling became a receiving pit for many migrant miners from diverse locations around the world and became known as “the pit of all nations”.
During the period of mining operation a total of 130 men lost their lives at the pit. A memorial to the miners who lost their lives whilst employed at the pit, in the form of a miner’s lamp stands in the centre of Gedling Village, this is dedicated to 130 men who lost their lives in accidents at the pit and to all those who worked there.
Shortly after the pit closed, the mining infrastructure was removed from site and the land underwent major restoration works including the importation of top soil, tree planting and re-profiling of the Lagoons to improve their appearance and in order to allow a wider diversity of wildlife to inhabit them.
In 2013 Gedling Borough Council signed a lease with Harworth Estates (the land owners) to develop the 238 hectare site into a destination country park and became the legal owners in 2015.
In February 2014 major development work began to install new footpaths, making safe the old colliery drainage works and manholes, installation of boundary fencing and engineering works to the main header wall on the Ouse Dyke enabling efficient drainage of the site.
Due to the openness and the height of the site, views of Lincoln Cathedral and Belvoir Castle can be enjoyed from the footpath and viewing around the East tip, along with views of the Trent Valley and into Leicestershire.
Gedling Country Park is a unique site within Nottinghamshire, since 1899 the land has been used for production of energy, historically fossil fuels and now it boasts green credentials with the Solar panel farm.
