Spoil Heaps

This morning we awoke to better weather i.e. it wasn’t chucking it down or blowing a gale!

So we decided to get out as quick as we could before the forecasted bad weather closed in again later that day. A Cadac bacon sandwich later, all booted and suited, and we were out exploring the adjacent Silverhill Woods [PDF Map Download] which forms part of the Teversal Trails.

Teversal Trails follow the track beds of the former colliery railways of the Teversal: also known as Butcherwood, and Silverhill Collieries. These together with the local footpaths provide some excellent walking opportunities and a dog’s heaven by any pooches definition.

Silverhill Wood Entrance (the former Silverhill Colliery)

The route that we followed took us on a circular route along paths and through a young wood (Silverhill Woods) that are the landscaped spoil heaps of the former Silverhill and Teversal coal mines. These mines ceased production in 1992 and 1980 respectively and at their peak employed over 1000 men and churned out over a million tonnes of coal a year. Phew!

We took the short walk through Silverhill Wood and up to the highest peak in Nottinghamshire, 205m (i.e. the top of the spoil heap), and on top of this is a bronze statue by the artist Antony Dufort’s called ‘Testing for Gas’ – a tribute to all the men of both collieries who died doing just that. Ironically this artist has also did a bronze cast of former PM Margaret Thatcher a few years back. It’s a funny old world ‘init?

(If you want to know why this is an ironic comparison – post a comment below and I’ll tell you!)

Antony Dufort's - Testing for Gas - Silverhill Woods, Teversal

A couple of hours later and we were back, just as the rain began to set in. The dogs got washed off in the site’s dedicated bike and dog wash - admittedly they weren’t impressed at this given the cold water, but no doubt they’ll get used to it and we were pleased at allowing clean dogs back into our van.

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, so it’ll be a visit to the local pub to sample their wares in the afternoon before the onslaught of the evening begins.

Tags: Antony Dufort, Nottinghamshire, Silverhill Colliery, Teversal, Teversal Colliery, Teversal Trails