Stannington - mines - High / Little Matlock - Robin Hood

We are currently in the process (and quite advanced within it) of selecting a new home in Sheffield. After several years in Hillsborough, Stannington is at present our preferred location. Naturally, as part of the process we have learned as much as we possibly could about the area, and we must say we find it rather fascinating. In particular, the fact that it has been a historically (until relatively recent times) active mining area, gannister and coal alike.

To find information regarding the specific location and extension of mines does not seem to be a trivial task. In fact, taking a walk in the Stannington woods on Sunday we only managed to find one of the two entrances of a mine located just below what used to be the Robin Hood Pub. Apparently, it was a mine that was exploited until as recently as the '60s (by Matt Furness, quoting information by someone else in this Forum). However, we have not managed to find any additional information on this mine.

We thought that perhaps some amongst you may have first or second hand information on this mine, and we would be grateful if you can share it. Any new knowledge will be welcome, the name/names it has had over the years, who and when they exploited the mine, the modes of mining, the depth, height, extension, the location of shafts of any sort, ..., naturally pictures and maps would be a dream, but we realize how difficult they are to come by.

Thank you for reading the post, and for contributing if you can.

I was a kid I remember a wooden shed at the side of the pub which housed a small engine of some kind, and narrow gauge rails running down the slope and into the entrance of the mine, whatever it was.

Thank you carosio. Can you provide an estimate of the year? Also, if looking at the River Loxley from the Robin Hood, where was the location and distance of the shed in relation to the Pub (right, left, a couple of meters, ...)?

I would estimate the early to mid 60s. Walking along the path with the pub to your left, the shed would be, at a guess, 30-50 metres on, but could be wrong! I'll consult an old schoolfriend this evening and see what he remembers. I haven't been along that path since I called in the pub round about 1970, I remember that the landlord (I think) told us that it was the only pub in the country that had a beer cellar carved out of the natural rock.

Interested to see your letter. I haven't been on this site for a few months. A few years ago I did some research for Sheffield Uni. and then wrote a book about gannister mining in this area which was published in 2004. It is still in print but is available only from me at my house in Worrall. Contact me if you are interested; the price of the book is £9.99 (+ P & P if needed.

basically gannister is a very hard rock, mined together with coal. It was a very stable rock and rarely, if ever has caused subsidence. You can still see the remains of the wagon route which carried the gannister and the coal up a steep hill, near the former Robin Hood pub up to the roadway. The platform on the roadway is still there: at least part of it is. The rest has fallen down the valley! This mine was active until the 1950s (or possibly the very early 60s) and there were lots of other mines in the Stannington area.

Ray

PS My E mail address is Raybats@aol.com - phone 2864418

Hello Ray,

You may not remember, or you may have not established a link between my Username at the Sheffield Forum and the couple who visited you one evening at your home in Worrall a few months ago. Our visit occurred after our posting in the Sheffield Forum, and you solved most of our questions and provided interesting tips to follow up on.

We appreciated your opening your home to us. It was an indeed thrilling conversation on gannister and its mines in the region to be enjoyed over a cup of tea. To complement your explanations and digital images, we perused through your book, which together with your present of a piece of gannister rock is now proudly standing on one of our shelves in the living room.

Your advice gave us direction to further investigate on this matter, and managed to obtain the abandonment plans for the Robin Hood/Acorn Hill mine, which will be framed and placed side-by-side with your book and the piece of gannister.

Again, thank you.

Glad something came out of our meeting.

Ray

We are currently in the process (and quite advanced within it) of selecting a new home in Sheffield. After several years in Hillsborough, Stannington is at present our preferred location. Naturally, as part of the process we have learned as much as we possibly could about the area, and we must say we find it rather fascinating. In particular, the fact that it has been a historically (until relatively recent times) active mining area, gannister and coal alike.

 

To find information regarding the specific location and extension of mines does not seem to be a trivial task. In fact, taking a walk in the Stannington woods on Sunday we only managed to find one of the two entrances of a mine located just below what used to be the Robin Hood Pub. Apparently, it was a mine that was exploited until as recently as the '60s (by Matt Furness, quoting information by someone else in this Forum). However, we have not managed to find any additional information on this mine.

 

We thought that perhaps some amongst you may have first or second hand information on this mine, and we would be grateful if you can share it. Any new knowledge will be welcome, the name/names it has had over the years, who and when they exploited the mine, the modes of mining, the depth, height, extension, the location of shafts of any sort, ..., naturally pictures and maps would be a dream, but we realize how difficult they are to come by.

 

Thank you for reading the post, and for contributing if you can.

I know this is an old post, so apologies if it the subject is no longer of interest to you.

I stumbled upon your post after conducting a search on the old ganister mines of Sheffield. My interest was sparked by a conversation I had recently with my dad, who was reminiscing about a period in his early teens when he worked at a ganister mine under and around the Robin Hood Inn at Little Matlock in Stannington.

As he was born in 1942 I expect the period he referred to was in the mid to late 1950's when a chap called Matthew Furness owned and operated the mine. As I understand it, Mr Furness also owned the pub, surrounding land (on which a housing estate now stands) and a great number of other properties in the local area. My dad spoke very highly of Mr Furness and recalled many interesting stories relating to him and the operation of the mine. Interestingly from your point of view, he also remembers the original lay of the land in respect of what used to be where, etc and also remembers an old quarry nearby which was later filled with old 1920's/ 30's cars, which were gradually broken for spares by another chap. The quarry later closed and was filled with earth. Apparently the cars are still there to this day!

My dad returned to the site a few years ago, although it had changed almost beyond his recognition. I think he hoped to be able to locate some kind of information resource, as he also visited the pub & was able to chat to the landlord about several photographs of the mine that were on display. Apparently some of the rail tracks are still visible and one of the mine entrances is still there, although the rest of the site had totally vanished.

My dad is now terminally ill and I would love to provide him with sight of any old photographs or documents relating to this period or indeed any info relating to Matthew Furness. Amazingly, he did recall a short film having been made on the subject of the mine entitled 'One mans' war effort' although he couldn't be sure that was the exact title. It would of course be wonderful to know if the film still exists in some records repository, or the City library perhaps?

Please let me know if you still wish to receive this kind of information, as I plan to carefully record his accounts so I can contribute more accurately to similar requests for information in the future.

---------- Post added 24-01-2013 at 18:47 ----------

Hello Ray

I was just wondering if you still have any of the ganister mining books available?

I have just posted information relating to the subject and noticed earlier threads that contain contributions from you in which you refer to these books.

Any information gratefully received.

Kind regards

Mark Jones.

Mark,

I do still have copies of my book "The Forgotten Mines of Sheffield" to sell

(£9.99)

If you are still interested than phone me on 01142864418 or e mail Raybats@aol.com

Ray