Report - Snowdown Colliery, Kent, Aug 08

[xm657]

Snowdown Colliery closed in 1987, it once had three shafts, one of which the deepest in Kent. Unlike the collieries near where I live, theres loads of buildings left. I had a wonderful time walking around the site imagining what it must have been like. Although I doubt the miners who worked here would have shared my enthusiam - apparently it was one of the worst pits to work at in the whole on the UK due to extreme heat on the coal face.

These are all camera phone shots so no prizes for the photography - but I hope you still find the report interesting.

First a couple of shots of how Snowdown used to be in the late 80s

And here is demolition of one of the pit heads

Fast forward 20 years - winding house from the photo above

Inside the winding house

Nature is gradually reclaiming the site

 

[P95lmb]

Is that just a cap? Could it be lifted off?...

 

[Miss Mayhem]

Cool stuff

 

[JudithMM]

I'm very late to this thread although I'm sure I've looked at it before. I got to know this site very well while trying to get it out of the hands of the Coal Authority for community use and more. The pics are terrific, the greenery must be more rampant by now.
One thing: the ex miner who was leading the efforts to save the site was an engineer but had also worked at the coal face. About 6'3", you wouldn't have thought he would have fitted down the mine. But he said he wouldn't have missed a day of it. Old strike animosities notwithstanding, it's an amazing community with real mutual support. Dover District Council, the SE England Development Agency and the Coal Authority were all happy to see the physical remains wiped off the map.
There's very good stuff on the Dover museum website, though, about all the Kent collieries: https://www.dovermuseum.co.uk/Exhibitions/Coal-Mining-in-Kent/About-the-Project.aspx
The retired miner's name was Ian Williams. The Snowdown project died with him. Neither should be forgotten. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/25/ian-williams-obituary