In their excellent book, ‘The Coal mines of Buxton’ Alan Roberts and John Leach make the claim that the mining country around Buxton had some of the harshest and toughest working conditions in the country. Judging by the awful weather on Sunday 26th July, it was easy to believe it. It was a tribute to the dedication and hardiness of the 31 Buxton Civic Association members and their walking guides, Lyn Noble and Alan Roberts, that the walk took place at all.

The guided walk gave members and friends a fascinating glimpse of the significant coal mining industry that went on, on and under the moors above Buxton. Without expert guidance it would have been hard to see and to understand the extent of the workings in the landscape, as now only the ghost of traces of what went on in the hillls remain.

Starting at Cistern’s Clough, and making its way across the bleak Moorland and hill country above Buxton, the trail finishes at the Dukes Level, Ochre brook. The trail traces the origins of coal mining from the 16th century, right up to the closure of the last commercial mine in 1919. Now there is very little trace of the workings left, but with some expert guidance and a little imagination several features were revealed and it became clear that the landscape was littered with disused workings, mine shafts (now sealed), and traces of the raw material itself, albeit of a very poor quality.

The licenses for the mining were granted by the Chatsworth Estate. The coal that was extracted was mainly used for lime burning, and much of it would have found its way to Grin low. Improvements in transport links, such as the development of the canals and railways, and the increasing difficulty of extracting the coal from the workings due to flooding, meant that it became cheaper to use better quality coal from deeper mines elsewhere. The coal mines of Buxton ceased and fell into disrepair.

The plan is to repeat the walk again in the near future, and this will be the first of several heritage walks that Buxton Civic Association members are developing as a result of their ‘places and spaces’ project. If you are interested in finding out more about this and other projects that BCA are involved with, please have a look at the website on www.buxtoncivicassociation.org.uk or email us at communications@buxtoincivicassociation.org.uk

Some Photographs from the Archives

The photographs above are reproduced with kind permission from Frank Emerson.

The guided walk is based upon source material researched and provided by Alan Roberts and john Barratt.

Copies of Maps and Geological Section

Hand drawn map and cross section of the area covered by the walk - Lyn Noble

Don't forget the dog walk on Sunday.

Local Artist, Beccy Clitheroe, is delighted that her entry for this years Buxton Spa prize won an award. She used Solomon's temple and our logo as inspiration for her work. She commented;

"As you were so helpful with your information and advice for my entry to The Buxton Spa Prize this year I thought you may be interested in seeing the finished piece and where it all began with the application of the various 'Hidden Histories' seen here before I draw over the top of them!

I was lucky enough to be awarded a Festival Prize with this piece which will include me and my work in next years Buxton Festival Brochure. Also, I'm printing postcards of this image to sit alongside my original collection of postcards already for sale in Buxton. So I'm one happy artist! "

You can see her work at the Green Man gallery.

Granby road community garden are holding their first open day on 29th July 2015. Every one welcome to come along and help with the wildlife garden.

The summer edition of our newsletter is out now. It can be downloaded following the links below.

Newsletter Issue 28 Summer 2015

It was damp drizzly morning when we all gathered for our trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. We started to worry a bit when 8.30 came and the coach didn't. Fortunately, Simon was able to open the cafe so at least we were not waiting in the rain.

Eventually, the coach arrived and we set off for Wakefield and in an hour and half we arrived at the Park and into sunshine. Our guide John met us in reception and we elected to do the ninety minute tour. It is a wonderful park and as John explained the illusion of rolling country side was maintained by the clever use of hedges and ha-has.

There were many interesting sculptures to be seen around the grounds of the park. They have only a temporary residency of approximately two years before they move on and make way for a new batch.

There was a very interesting set by Barbara Hepworth and one of our party was very excited to see works by Elizabeth Frink.

The time went all too quickly and it wasn't long before we were boarding our coach for the twenty minute trip to the Hepworth Gallery.

Rachel met us in Reception and her five years with the gallery was evident in the breadth of knowledge. She had a wealth of information about the artist and the other exhibits. The gallery is mainly dedicated to Hepworth’s last decade of work but it is a dynamic exhibition and preparations were under way for a new exhibition by Sir Anthony Caro.

All too soon it was, again, time to leave. A fascinating and thought provoking day.

Words by Steve Orridge
Photos by Louise Pisano

Poole’s Cavern visitor centre was packed for Buxton Civic Association’s 46th AGM. Mike Monaghan in his first address as Chair of the Association welcomed members to the meeting and described how the next few years could be the most exciting in BCA’s history. Building on the strong foundations that had been laid down over the past ten years, Mike explained that the Association was now able to focus on using its wealth of experience and knowledge in reaching out to other Buxton organisations and developing influential partnerships to help shape the future of the town.

Paying tribute to the board and to the staff, Mike said that the strong business model that Poole’s Cavern provided enabled BCA to manage and constantly improve its extensive estate of woodlands, and to provide support to other like-minded organisations in the town.

Peter Philipson, Director with responsibilities for the Woods gave a presentation on the work of the Wood Watch committee and explained in detail the work that had been done earlier in the year to create a woodland ride. Supported by RSPB and a grant from the Forestry Commission he explained that this work would complement the glades, which gave Grin Wood its SSSI status.

Considerable investment had also been made in improving some 1.5km of paths in Grin Woods and also in Corbar where the final link in the Ring of Trees walk had been completed. This would not have been possible with out the generous donations of materials from Lafarge Tarmac and support with transport from Lomas Distribution.

Simon Fussell talked about the Environmental Quality Mark that the Association had been awarded for a second year, and explained how the EQM supported the board’s objective in providing an environmentally sustainable business model. It provided a benchmark against which decisions could be made to ensure that the environment was always put at the forefront. The Association was also pleased to be able to support the work that Derbyshire Wildlife Trust was doing to vaccinate badgers in the area from Bovine Tb.

Brian Shawcross, Finance Director, reported another successful year. We increased visitor numbers, controlled costs and generated a healthy surplus on a turnover of over £0.5 million which will allow us to plan for future improvements.

Mike thanked the two retiring director’s, Tim Middleton and Owen Longden for their hard work and support and welcomed Nigel Manning to the board.

It had been decided at the last AGM that major planning issues would be opened up to the membership and it was encouraging that so many members attended the meeting to discuss the Nestle Station road proposal and made their feelings about the scheme clear by voting unanimously to reject it. BCA needs to continue to be vigilant on the planning front and the strengthening of the planning group was to be welcomed, with the addition of Derek Bodey and John Anfield as consultants.

Mike thanked the Association’s staff, the directors, volunteers and other committee members, and everyone else who had supported the Association.

Following the formal business of the AGM, Mike Wilde (Chair of the Membership and Communities Group) and Simon Fussell (Business Development Manager) gave an interesting and stimulating presentation on the recent project “Places and Spaces – telling the story of Buxton.”

AGM Documents

Chair Report to 46th AGM

Environmental Report

Buxton Civic Association held its 46th AGM on 22nd June at the Poole's Cavern visitor centre. We have posted a few photographs from the evening and a full report will follow later. The minutes from the AGM and copies of the Chair's, Woodland, and Environmental report will also be made available to members.