Tag Archives: Wyrley common

90 years ago today: The Grove Pit Disaster

Posted on September 30, 2020 by BrownhillsBob

Ninety years ago today, the 1st October 1930, an underground blast killed 14 men working in a coal mine, The Grove Colliery, underneath Brownhills Common. Ten of those lost souls are buried in the Churchyard of St James, Brownhills, in … Continue reading →

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Living next door to the Grove – what do you know?

Posted on December 21, 2017 by BrownhillsBob

Last year I featured a very popular set of images from a place I genuinely didn’t realise still existed: The Grove Colliery, the remnants of which – the house and offices situated just off Lime Lane, between Pelsall, Brownhills, Norton and Great Wyrley – were documented by old pal of the blog Simon Swain and drone wizard Steve Martin also captured the site from the air.

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The Grove Colliery – remembering a lost pit

Posted on July 29, 2017 by BrownhillsBob

Last year I featured a very popular set of images from a place I genuinely didn’t realise still existed: The Grove Colliery, the remnants of which – the house and offices situated just off Lime Lane, between Pelsall, Brownhills, Norton and Great Wyrley – were documented by old pal off the blog Simon Swain and posted here as a gallery I include below.

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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Shared media, Shared memories, Spotted whilst browsing the web | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

All that remains of the last one standing

Posted on April 24, 2016 by BrownhillsBob

Following my feature yesterday on perhaps the last passenger train to ever traverse the line from Aldridge to the Conduit Colliery in Norton Canes, Simon Swain has sent me a great gallery of images of the Grove Colliery site as it is today.
Image kindly supplied by Simon Swain Continue reading →

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One of the last standing

Posted on January 4, 2015 by BrownhillsBob

Here’s the final blast of pictures from the mystery archive found by local historian Clive Roberts back at the beginning of November – these images are remarkable as the show the Grove Colliery on the Cannock Extension Canal at Lime Lane in 1958 and 1959, and I know of few extant images of the time – perhaps the only good representation being in the 1963 cinefilm of Brownhills, donated by Brian Stringer.
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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Shared media, Shared memories, Spotted whilst browsing the web | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Private investigations

Posted on April 6, 2013 by BrownhillsBob

David Evans has had access in recent weeks to lots of material from the Norton Canes Historical Society – one of the things he found was a wonderful 1975 report into the Grove Pit Disaster.
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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Churches, Environment, Events, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, It makes me mad!, Local Blogs, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Walsall Wood stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

After the gold rush

Posted on December 5, 2012 by BrownhillsBob

I thought that today, I’d dig some interesting mapping out of the archive. In the light of Gerald Reece’s talk on Brownhills and it’s colliery history, I thought this 1884 1:2,500 scale plan of Wyrley Common was due an outing. It shows – in some clarity – the extent of mining in the Engine Lane area at the height of the Victorian period.
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Underground investigations – The Grove Pit Disaster remembered

Posted on September 30, 2012 by BrownhillsBob

The 1st October 2012 – a couple of hours away from when I post this – will mark 82 years since the Grove Pit Disaster that killed fourteen local men in the mine that stood just off Lime Lane, on … Continue reading →

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The men below

Posted on October 1, 2010 by BrownhillsBob

Eighty years ago today, on the 1st October, 1930, fourteen men died underground, as a result of a gas explosion at the Grove, or Brownhills Colliery. It is thought that the men perished when a naked light was struck in … Continue reading →

Posted in Brownhills stuff, Churches, Environment, Events, Followups, It makes me mad!, Local History, Local media, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Walsall Wood stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments