There’s a future in digging into the past

Community event, including tour of Jubilee Colliery Nature Reserve organised by Groundwork and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Guide Tim Edge explains the mine's workings.

OLDHAMERS struggling to find a job will soon be digging themselves out of unemployment — by unearthing part of the borough’s history.

A community activity day kicked off a unique archaeology project, at the Jubilee Colliery Nature Reserve in Shaw.

Run by Groundwork, the project, “Jubilee Colliery: Unearthing the Past”, aims to rediscover the area’s coal-mining history.

And it will be offering experience to people without a job in both desk-based investigations and hands-on fieldwork.

Lili Briggs, project officer at Groundwork, said: “This site is one of the few remaining examples of Oldham’s industrial mining heritage and is the most accessible in the area.

“Jubilee is important as it provides an ideal location to explore and share the story of Oldham’s industrial past.”

A community activity day held recently at the site was a success.

The project runs for 12 weeks and participants will work towards a certificate in community volunteering.

The colliery, which operated between 1845 and 1932, contains the derelict remains of structures including the dynamo house and steam engine, a row of coke ovens, mine shafts and air vents.

The buildings and coke ovens are in ruins and the shafts and vents have been capped and closed to public access. Since its closure in 1932 the site has been allowed to return to nature, resulting in the buildings and structures becoming overgrown.