When Retford Men’s Probus Club held their meeting on Friday 24th March it was another ‘away day’ visit for the club, held every now and again to create and maintain an added interest within the group.
The venue chosen on this occasion was the National Coal Mining Museum for England based at Caphouse Colliery, Overton, Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The outing chosen by members and arranged by the President and Secretary in conjunction with the club committee turned out to be such a successful day, full of information and brought back a lot of memories for a lot of people.
On arrival at the venue, members enjoyed refreshments before their trip underground! To comply with health and safety requirements traditional miner’s ‘checks’ were issued and collected before any descent could take place, as were any items deemed contraband – cigarettes, matches, watches, mobile phones, cameras and anything containing batteries. Face masks at the ready, hard hats were issued and cap lights were demonstrated as part of the procedure.
Time to head for the cage to experience the life of a working colliery, as it was back in the day. Every tour is led by an ex-miner with loads of experience under his somewhat heavy tool belt, who led the group 140 metres underground through 180 years of mining explaining in detail the day-to-day happenings in a working colliery.
The tour itself lasted approximately one and a half hours and was full of valuable information, served with humour along the way. Another great day out for Retford Men’s Probus Club!