Memories Of Bestwood Colliery.

Subscribe to my you tube channel for 210+ more coal mine tributes and counting. Bestwood Village was greatly expanded when its coal mine was sunk in 1872 to 1875 by the Lancaster family. Their Bestwood Coal and Iron Company (BC&IC) also opened an ironworks next to the colliery in 1881 with two blast furnaces and two more were added in 1890. It remained in operation until 1928.The deepest shaft, Top Hard, was nearly half a mile deep.Bestwood Colliery was soon to become the first mine in world to produce 1 million tons of coal in a 12 month period. Drainage had always been a problem at Bestwood, and it was often thought to be the dirtiest pit to work in of all those on the north side of the city. In 1967, it was decided to end mining at Bestwood: miners were offered either generous redundancy or reallocation to one of the nearby pits such as Linby or Gedling. The coalmine was one of the most successful mines in the Nottinghamshire coalfield and at its peak employed 2000 men. Thankfully a headstock and the power house still remain,well worth a visit.Park Road,Bestwood Village,Notts, NG8 8TQ. FREE PARKING.