School’s Out! Half Term Fun 27 – 31 May, 10am – 5pm Enjoy a half term packed full of free fun; including art and craft activities, costumed characters and much more.
Summer Holidays 22 July – 30 August, 10am – 5pm Join us for a summer packed with unmissable family activities and events – enjoy a fabulously free day out, whatever the weather!
Special Exhibition: The Hidden Lives of the Coal Traders 3 June – 29 September, 10am – 5pm Find out more about keelmen, heavers, meters and hostmen as you follow coal’s journey from Newcastle to London.
Heritage Open Day 14 & 15 September, 10am – 5pm During this year’s special weekend visitors will be able to enjoy a behind the scenes tour of one of the Museum’s fascinating spaces not usually open to the public.
Miners’ Gala 9 June, 11am – 4.45pm Children’s sports day activities, music, storytelling, stalls, crafts, demonstrations, small animals and a knitted vegetable competition will be the order of the day, so join us for this traditional event for all of the family!
Location and Transport Find us on the A642, halfway between Wakefield and Huddersfield, easily accessible from the M1 and M62. Car: follow brown signs from Huddersfield or M1; sat nav enter WF4 4RH; ample free parking for cars and coaches. Rail:Wakefield Westgate mainline station is 6 miles away. Bus: from Wakefield/Huddersfield bus stations the Stagecoach Yorkshire bus No 232 stops at The Reindeer pub, a short walk downhill to the Museum.The No 128 Wakefield to Dewsbury stops right outside.
NATIONAL COAL MINING MUSEUM
for England
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Opening 10am - 5pm every day except 24 - 26 Dec and 1 Jan. For Hope Store and Library opening times call 01924 848806 or visit www.ncm.org.uk Admission/Parking/Booking Admission is free for everyone and there is free parking on site. Underground Tours can be booked on arrival or groups can pre-book by calling 01924 848806 or emailing bookings@ncm.org.uk (advisable during school holiday times). Tours are free, but group bookings are subject to a £5 booking fee. Underground Checks All visitors to the underground tour are required to purchase a check (cost £2). After your Tour your £2 will be refunded or you can keep your check as a souvenir of your visit and the money will be used towards the running costs of the Museum.
All events are free admission unless stated otherwise, go online for more details www.ncm.org.uk/what’s-on
National Coal Mining Museum for England Trust Ltd Caphouse Colliery, New Road, Overton, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF4 4RH Tel: 01924 848806 Email: info@ncm.org.uk
Registered in England & Wales as a Limited Company by Guarantee No. 1702426. Reg. Charity No. 517325.VAT Reg. No. 457 548 314. Reg. Office: Caphouse Colliery, New Road, Overton, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF4 4RH
Spring - Summer 2013 A unique adventure – whatever the weather!
NATIONAL COAL MINING MUSEUM
for England
Crafty Conversations Selected Thursdays, 12pm – 2pm Come and join our informal craft sessions in our fantastic Café. Bring your latest creation to work on while you have a chat and a cuppa with other likeminded crafters.
slime-making to tornado races. Demonstrations, trails and quizzes add to the fun throughout the day.
Dates for the diary: 9 March / 6 May / 27 May / 15 June / 13 July / 25 & 26 August / 14 September / 12 October
this Easter! Take a stroll around our nature trail with the help of Motty the mole; enjoy free art and craft sessions and fun nature-themed activities.
See How They Run 23 – 24 March, 11am – 4pm As part of National Science and Engineering Week, come and discover the Museum’s large coal mining machines in action above and below ground and, from 1.30pm – 2.30pm each day, join in with explosive wacky experiments from fizzing potions and gooey
Special Exhibition: We Still Stand Until 12 May Inspired by the 25th Anniversary of the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike, this exhibition by Yorkshireborn artist Moira Lovell, explores the contrast between the past and present through a series of beautifully haunting photographic displays.
Yorkshire Rocks and Minerals Day 27 April, 10am – 5pm Aimed at students, professionals, amateur Dates for the diary: enthusiasts and lecturers, 7 March / 1 April / 18 April / the day features a display 16 May / 13 June / 18 July by the Yorkshire Geological Society plus a series of short talks. Craft & Gift Fairs 10am – 4pm Once a month the Museum School’s Out! is home to a fantastic craft Easter Holidays fair, with over 40 stalls 22 March – 14 April, selling quality gifts, jewellery 10am – 5pm and handmade crafts. Enjoy the great outdoors
Underground Tours Please wear warm clothing and sensible footwear. We regret that under 5s are not able to go underground. Tours for wheelchair users can be arranged by calling us on 01924 848806. Big Draw 26 & 27 October, 10am – 5pm Pick up a pencil and join in with the nation-wide campaign to get Britain drawing!
What’s On
www.ncm.org.uk
Keeping Coal Mining Alive
NEW Café
Seasonal menus & under 5s play area
The National Coal Mining Museum is a unique place where the history of mining over several centuries is not only preserved, but brought to life... A visit here can take you 140m underground, back in time to see the oldest buildings and machinery and right to the heart of mining communities and the lives of miners and their families. Along the way, you'll discover the stories of generations of people who laboured in the mining industry; you’ll meet living history characters and hear their colourful tales; and our former-miner tour guides will enlighten and entertain you as they bring to life the harsh realities of mining through the centuries. Whether you descend 140m underground, explore the galleries or the historic colliery buildings, visit the ponies, get to grips with the science of mining with the help of our interactive displays, or come along to one of our events - we guarantee that you will see why we're working to 'keep coal mining alive'!
All donations, no matter how big or small, help us to continue the fantastic developments at the Museum! Keep the history of coal mining alive and visit www.ncm.org.uk/donations for more information.
NEW
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Minin Interactiv g! e Tour
Explore the Museum Underground
Indoors
Outdoors
Our lively, ex-miner-led, underground tours are a must for all visitors.
Little ones will love the new ‘Little Diggers’ under 5s, allotment themed soft play area...
If the sun is shining, take a stroll around the half mile long Nature Trail.
Journey 140m below ground to experience the genuine sights, sounds and smells of a working coalmine. On our new Go Mining! interactive tour: find out how horses were once kept underground; feed, muck-out and learn how to put their bridles on in the new underground stable area. Get your hands dirty and experience life at the coalface as it would have been for families in the early 1800s. Discover the development of lighting through the ages, from the pitch dark of an unlit coal mine, through candles and early lamps, to compressed air and modern electric lighting.
and the whole family can explore the original colliery buildings including the steam winder, medical centre and pithead baths, then dig deeper into the history of coalmining in the 1842 and Coal Interface Galleries.
Before you set off, pick up the new re-usable, ring-bound, activity cards from Reception and enjoy interactive games and puzzles with Motty the mole along the way (£3 per pack).The Trail begins near the Museum’s picnic area, from where you take the path into the valley to follow the stream - look out for the bird hides and see if you can spot any of the colliery’s wildlife!
Once you're kitted out with your helmet and lamp, and before you descend on your tour, there's a chance to step out on the glass cover at the top of the newly conserved furnace shaft - and peer 140m down into the darkness! This huge shaft was once used for ventilation, probably by a fire lit at the bottom. During the underground tour you can stand at the bottom of the shaft and look back up to the pin-prick of light on the surface.
Get to the heart of mining communities, homes and family life in Mining Lives and, on selected event days, call into Parkinson’s Yard where history will be brought to life by colourful, costumed characters from mining past. Amongst the restored buildings at Hope Pit you’ll find lots of hands-on interactive models and touch-screen displays to help you get to grips with the science of mining. Plus, don’t forget to visit our Café - we’ve added new delicious, seasonal dishes to our menus, whilst the Museum’s Shop is well stocked with gifts and souvenirs to suit all budgets. And, with free admission and a programme of special events and exhibitions throughout the year, you can come back again and again.
The trail also takes you to see the special water-treatment reed beds and then on to the Hope Pit, it’s a great way to enjoy the fresh air and our countryside setting. Plus, don’t forget to swing by the playground and make a ‘pit stop’ at the stable yard to visit our rescue ponies, Eric & Ernie, and our beautiful Clydesdale horse Finn. Stop by during the day (usually between 10am - 3pm) to say hello and find out about the role that ponies and horses played in coal mining through the centuries.