Snibston Colliery: Former miners to give guided tours of pit

Snibston Colliery is the only colliery left in Leicestershire

An old colliery is being reopened to the public for the first time in seven years by a group of volunteers.

Snibston Colliery - the last colliery in Leicestershire - was part of the Snibston Discovery Centre in Coalville that closed in 2015.

Since 2020, the Snibston Heritage Trust has been working with the county council to ensure the public can access the colliery.

Former miners will be giving guided tours of the pit from 10 April.

Stuart Warburton, 63, was curator of Snibston Discovery Centre and said the colliery's industrial and architectural history is of national importance.

"It's the only one of its kind in the country.

"You can go to other colliery mining museums but they tend to be the early 20th Century story, whereas our story is the 1970s and 80s when it was a super-pit," he said.

Despite huge opposition, the Snibston Discovery Centre closed in 2015

Mr Warburton, who is now secretary of the trust, said the colliery was also very special to the local community.

"We're doing this for the community.

"Although the pits have gone, the local community is still wedded to the mining heritage.

"Even though their grandfathers may be dead now, who worked in the pits, it carries on down the line.

"It's a culture that they never forget," he said.

Snibston Colliery was in use until 1983

The trust has 20 volunteers who have spent the past four weeks cleaning the site and making it ready for visitors.

There will be five tours on 10 April run by former miners.

Mr Warburton said: "They'll tell what it was like a day in the life of a miner but they bring in their own stories, humour and tragedies as well."

The trust is then planning to run tours every weekend depending on demand.