Brodsworth Colliery

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Brodsworth Colliery was a colliery in South Yorkshire, England that closed in 1990; renowned for the superb model village of Woodlands which housed its workers. The nearby Brodsworth Hall belongs to English Heritage and is a highly regarded stately home. The colliery was consistently amongst the highest employers of miners in Britain and still employed around 2,800 workers throughout the 1980s. Today the Model Village is 80% private owned with just 20% being Council Stock. The local News Journal, The Brodsworth Informer was started about 3 years ago and is now produced and delivered to 4000 homes in the Woodlands and Adwick area. The remaining 500 that are printed are left at The Adwick railway Station and at Markham Grange Garden Centre. It is also sent all over the world to ex. pats. The editor, Former London Policeman, Barry Hayes can be reached thru his email at:- edtor@brodsworthinformer.fsnet.co.uk. Barry has become the unofficial local historian and gives talks on the growth of the area. He also is chairman of The Woodlands May Festival, this year 27th/28th May, held in The Park, Woodlands. This festival was started in 1910 when the squires wife and the mine owners sister persuaded the mine owner to give his men who lived in the model village one day off with pay to enable them to come together as a family unit for one day a year and enjoy the festival. This years festival is to be opened by His Grace, The Right Reverend Cyril Ashton, Bishop of Doncaster. For more details contact Barry by email. Where the pit once stood is soon to become private owned housing and the once poisonous spoil tip has been regenerated into a magnificant community woodlands. This is now owned by The Land Restoration Trust and is controlled by The Forestry Commission.