“Looking at it makes me want to cry,” said Elaine Swann as she walked up the hill towards where Brinsley Headstocks had stood until a few weeks ago. “My dad worked here. It’s supposed to be our heritage, our history, and it’s just been callously cut down.”
The huge timber frames that were used to transport men and coal up and down from mines in this area of Nottinghamshire from 1872 until the last colliery closed in 1970 were the last surviving example of such a structure in England.
They had become Brinsley’s defining feature, appearing on the road signs marking the entrance to the village, and were famous for their connection to DH Lawrence. His father worked in the pit and he immortalised it in his 1913 novel Sons and Lovers.
Last year, however, Broxtowe borough council deemed the headstocks unsafe because of the deterioration of the wood. They were dismantled in December and all that remains is a heap of broken timber where they once stood.
The council has assured residents that “all iron work is being saved and each piece of wood is being checked carefully and salvaged where possible”, and a potential replacement of the structure is being considered.
But in this part of Nottinghamshire, where the mining industry dominated people’s lives for decades, there is anger that the structure was not better maintained and more carefully dismantled in closer consultation with residents.
“Now that they’ve taken it down, it’s down. If they replace it with a replica it won’t be the same,” Swann said. “I was going to have my husband’s ashes scattered here as he worked in mining, and I’m so glad I didn’t.”
Dozens of people came out for a rally on Friday in support of a rebuild of the headstocks, with some likening it to the demolition of the Crooked House pub in the Black Country, which prompted widespread outrage over the loss of heritage.
“We’ve lost so much in this area, so this really was the best remaining heritage item there was to come and see, and it’s gone. Its loss is very tragic,” said Ian Castledean, 58, a keen industrial archaeologist whose family worked in pits nearby.
“I know with timber structures you inevitably get rot and they require maintenance, but you don’t chainsaw a structure down to conserve it. It doesn’t look like it’s been dismantled, it looks like it has been sawn up. Just look at it: you can’t glue that back together. It’s ruined.”
Residents, supported by the local MPs Lee Anderson and Darren Henry, are campaigning for the council to rebuild the structure, explain the decision behind dismantling it and find out if any action has been taken “without due care”.
Nigel Harrison, 66, one of the campaign leaders, said: “If they are going to replace it with something, so much of that original wood could have been used, but the way they’ve done it, it’s got to be a complete structure from scratch.
“We would like to understand the reasons for what has happened here, and to make sure they actually take on board what the residents want. We’re also worried about where the funding will come from to get it rebuilt.”
Broxtowe borough council said: “We understand that local residents feel very passionate about the headstocks and their heritage. We will be running a consultation regarding possible replacement options for Headstocks in the coming months and will share more details about how residents can share their views when this is available.”
