About Us

We were set up as a charitable Trust in March 1996 to preserve the Tankerville Mine near Pennerley but we have since expanded our interests to cover the whole of Shropshire.

Our members are made up of mining historians and local people with an interest in their mining remains. In 2005 we formed a limited company but the old unlimited Trust continues and owns all our artifacts and records.

Mining used to be one of the major industries of Shropshire, lasting from the Roman period up to the mid-20th century. All of this left spoil heaps, buildings and other structures throughout the county. A few years ago. many of the surface structures still remained from mines that had been closed.

Headgears still stood on Bunting Shaft at the Bog Mine, as well as George's Shaft and Black Tom Shaft at Snailbeach Mine. Again at Snailbeach Mine there were dust covered books and records in the mine office and the tools were hanging up in the blacksmith's shop.

Today, many old mining features have gone. Many buildings, shafts and adits have collapsed and been lost forever. Strangely, as the remains get less the public interest in industrial archaeology seems to be growing and over the past few years there has been great demand to see the working conditions of our ancestors.

This is reflected at Ironbridge Gorge Museum and also at Snailbeach Mine where the unique surface remains have been preserved by the County Council and the Trust.

We preserve and interpret the remains of the Shropshire mining industry by :-

- Preserving mining remains

- Managing sites like Tankerville and Snailbeach Mines

- Taking the public around the buildings and underground
- Acquiring and preserving mining artifacts & records
- Collecting local memories on tape
- Setting up of memorials to the miners
- Displaying working artifacts at local shows

- Producing leaflets and books.

The Trust has installed a concessionary footpath at Tankerville Mine to allow public access to see the remains there. There are also several other sites you can visit.

Snailbeach Mine has almost a complete set of mine buildings and has been preserved by the County Council and managed by the Trust. This would be an ideal place for you to start.

Members explore mines underground in Shropshire and further afield in the UK like Cornwall, Derbyshire, Wales and Ireland. We have even been on trips to Poland and Spain to look at their mines.

Walks are organized to look at mine sites and also social history, ecology and even ghosts of the area.

We have erected a number of mining memorials locally. Each memorial consists of a mine truck welded to rails and a special plaque. The first one was placed at Stiperstones School in June 1999 and others have been placed at Severn Valley Country Park and Westbury School.

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Mines used a lot of railway track and we are re-laying some at Snailbeach Mine, both on surface and underground. We have to first of all collect it, like here at Llanfair Light Railway. Much of this was laid in Day Level, allowing us to use a truck with seats to push visitors in. More will be laid on surface when we have time.

(click on thumbnails for larger pictures)

We have regular working meets to preserve sites, mostly at Snailbeach and Tankerville Mines.

There are jobs for everyone to do from steeplejacks to recording artifacts.

Volunteers open the Snailbeach Mine Visitor Centre on Sundays from Easter to October and Day Level for underground tours.

We have the Blacksmith’s Shop working on special open days and are always looking for volunteer blacksmiths and others to work the bellows.

We don’t always work hard !!

Members of the Trust enjoy letting their hair down (those who have it) as much as anyone. Here are some of the social events we arrange which Friends, relatives, etc are able to join in with.

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Last revised: 19 July 2008