AT
the end of the nineteeth century most of the Williamthorpe area was
part of the Manor of Williamthorpe which included the large manor house
numerous fields and extensive woodlands ( Williamthorpe woods )
This changed when the land was leased to the Hardwick Colliery company
in 1901 with the sinking of the first mine shaft .Production started in
1905 and become the deepest pit in the East Midlands at 550 yards
depth ,betwen 1938 and 1940 the pit was modernised and was the
showpiece of the East Midland before closing on 31 March 1970
The
main attractions are the three areas of open water,the largest of which
has an extensive area of reed bed, The reedbed is one of the largest in
Derbyshire plus the surrounding mudflats provied ideal conditions
for many speceis of bird life.The phragmites reedbed is a
important breeding area for the Sedge and Reed Warblers
The ponds are served with an average of 10 million gallonsof water a week at a tempretureof 16 degrees centigrade so it very rarely freezes over and so can support a significant numbers of birds in the winter period. The water is pumped in from Welbeck and Thorsby collierys in the Nottinghamshire coalfields . Large areas of the spoil tips have been covered with a broad-leaved woodland and so complementing the ponds
Map of Williamthorpe Ponds site
Williamthorpe Colliery Yard in the 1960's
the left hand side track is now the route of the trail
Williamthorpe colliery head
stocks after modernisation in
1940.The buckets supported
on long cables and overhead
pylons carried coal from
Williamthorpe across
Holmewood village to
fuel the Holmewood coke
ovens, which were built in
1910 the ovens closed
around 1962.
A view looking across willimthorpe ponds around 1970
shows the ponds and the spoil tips of the Pit
