Wiki for the area:
The main employer in Silverdale for well over 100 years was Silverdale Colliery, also known locally as Kent's Lane. The first shafts were sunk in the 1830s and the colliery initially mined ironstone as well as coal. The main user of both the minerals was the nearby Silverdale Forge.
The colliery was completely rebuilt during the 1970s when three new drifts were sunk to exploit new reserves in the Keele area. Production increased and the pit mined over one million tonnes annually but was closed in 1998, the last deep mine in North Staffordshire to close.
One of the coal spoil heaps from the Silverdale mine on Hollywood road between Silverdale and Keele caught fire in 1996, 2 years before the site's closure, and continues to burn two decades later. While the fire is primarily underground there have been times when the heat and smoke have made it to the surface setting fire to parts of Holly Wood for which the road is named. Speculation has been raised that attempts to fight the fire or open it up for housing work could result in what's left of the Silverdale coal seam catching fire as well.[3]
Update: There has been plans for a number of years to put the fire out. This would be a mammoth task that involves digging the entire area. I cannot see that work has started but I will have to take a drive down there and look.
The explore: For something a bit different this was really good. There are a number of other underground fires in the UK. Has anyone else been to one of them?
Googlemaps view of the fire
It can be difficult to get to with these huge mounds which we presume are part of the fire management.
I think you could cook a meal down this hole as its so hot.
The main employer in Silverdale for well over 100 years was Silverdale Colliery, also known locally as Kent's Lane. The first shafts were sunk in the 1830s and the colliery initially mined ironstone as well as coal. The main user of both the minerals was the nearby Silverdale Forge.
The colliery was completely rebuilt during the 1970s when three new drifts were sunk to exploit new reserves in the Keele area. Production increased and the pit mined over one million tonnes annually but was closed in 1998, the last deep mine in North Staffordshire to close.
One of the coal spoil heaps from the Silverdale mine on Hollywood road between Silverdale and Keele caught fire in 1996, 2 years before the site's closure, and continues to burn two decades later. While the fire is primarily underground there have been times when the heat and smoke have made it to the surface setting fire to parts of Holly Wood for which the road is named. Speculation has been raised that attempts to fight the fire or open it up for housing work could result in what's left of the Silverdale coal seam catching fire as well.[3]
Update: There has been plans for a number of years to put the fire out. This would be a mammoth task that involves digging the entire area. I cannot see that work has started but I will have to take a drive down there and look.
The explore: For something a bit different this was really good. There are a number of other underground fires in the UK. Has anyone else been to one of them?
Googlemaps view of the fire
It can be difficult to get to with these huge mounds which we presume are part of the fire management.
I think you could cook a meal down this hole as its so hot.