Mined That Hill
(Poolsbrook earthcache)
History of coal production:
Much of the coal in Britain was formed between 170 million and 300 million years ago. Starting out as forests and vegetation, this once-living organic material gradually rotted and composted but was crushed by earth, rock and lava, slowly compressing it under great pressure until it finally became coal. The sections of old forest that fell and got transformed this way then became the seams of coal which lay beneath our land. Some of this coal lay fairly close to the surface and was able to be mined more easily with opencast mines, but some seams could lay several hundred metres underground. There are even different types of coal due to the way it has been compressed and for how long. Some of the hardest coal, known as anthracite, is up to 94% carbon, although more commonly Britain's coal tended to be 86-88% carbon. There were considerable amounts of coal seams discovered underneath Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, so not surprisingly a lot of towns grew up around the area with strong coal mining history. During the industrial revolution between 1820 and 1840 there was a rapid expanse of machinery used for production, and therefore an increased demand for power. Some industries such as mills used rivers and waterwheels to power machinery, but in other areas coal was one of the primary sources of fuel used to power the furnaces, being much more efficient than wood which had been burned before coal was discovered, owing to its higher calorific value when burned. Towards the end of the 1800s industry was growing stronger and coal mining became much more important to provide the fuel, especially as the first electricity power stations were also being created.
The Staveley Coal & Iron Company, founded in 1840 by Richard Barrow, later became a public limited company in 1863-1864 at a time when their iron casting production was around 20,000 tons per year and coal production was a million tons. The company was then managed by Charles Markham at the time of Richard Barrow's death in 1865. Initially they had just been quarrying local ironstone but then expanded into chemical production and coal mining with the plan to open several collieries in the area. In 1875 they sunk shafts over 100 metres down at Staveley (eventually to a depth of 333 metres) and the Ireland Colliery was born in an area just outside Staveley which was largely rural farming land prior to this. The shaft became connected underground to another one at New Hollingwood, helping with ventilation and pumping at both. By 1896 there were 620 employees working underground at the Ireland Colliery (plus extra above ground), reaching a peak of over 1400 between 1920-1930. By the time the coal operations were nationalised in Britain in 1947 there were still over 900 employees working underground, thus being a major employer in the area throughout this time. The company also had a large plant just a couple of miles away which produced a vast array of chemicals, initially coal derivatives from the coal mining such as tar, pitch and creosote oil, but then a huge array of chemicals including sulphuric acid and nitric acid. The railway lines linked the mines and factories, transporting materials the short distance by rail. Although Staveley station was demolished there are still visual indicators of the building and the old routes and tracks around the area.
Industrial decline to land reclamation:
After over a century of mining at the Ireland Colliery in Staveley operations there were shut down and the mines merged with the Markham Colliery in October 1986 to become Markham number 5. The buildings and pit wheels were demolished over the next few years but the area lay abandoned and somewhat bleak as a reminder of the industrial past. After the buildings had been demolished the most notable sights that the mines had been there were the spoil tips which littered the landscape. Essentially these were the piles of unwanted rock and small traces of coal that were heaped up as rubbish piles by the colliery. In the early 1990s Derbyshire County Council started work on reclaiming these spoil tips and the land around, and with the help of European development funding they set about transforming the land. The tips and hollows were landscaped to create a more natural looking scenery of hills, valleys and lakes. The land was then covered with a topsoil and planted with trees, grasses and wild flowers, creating hedgerows and woods for wildlife, landscape improvement and recreation. The ownership and management of the park was transferred to Chesterfield Borough Council in 1997 who invested a significant sum in adding infrastructure such as the pavilion and tarmac roads. This park then became the largest recreation area in the borough and was officially opened in July 1999.
There are still historical signs around which give clues to the mining history of the area. The road leading into the newly created industrial units where mining buildings were once located is called Colliery Close, which itself is connected to the Staveley Basin via Ireland Close. There are also the large semi-circular mineshaft wheels making up the entrance signs to the park from Erin Road. If you look closely at the landscape you can see other geological clues too. The earthcache itself is situated at the top of the taller of the spoil tips, and on the walk up the path from the car park you may see areas where the rock and coal is exposed through the topsoil, giving an idea of what is not that far below the surface. This ground coal is much more apparent on the mound on the opposite side of Erin Road, as the paths have been covered up with stones now on the main paths around the park. Another sign of it not being a very old landscape is that many of the trees are relatively new compared to more natural mature woodlands. There is a deliberate mix of species planted which include natives such as Common Alder, Pendunculate Oak, Silver Birch, Rowan, Field Maple, Hazel, Hawthorn, Holly and Common Ash along with other species such as Scots Pine, European Larch, Norway Maple, Silver Maple, Common Lime and more. Alder was included in the planting mix for its nitrogen fixing qualities to improve the impoverished soils of the former colliery tips. You can also see that the wooded areas have been manually planted, formed in straight lines which were ploughed to create a ridge and furrow for planting and to aid drainage. Planting was undertaken in blocks designed to imitate the shape of natural woodland and the plantations have recently undergone their first selective thinning which favours the well formed, windfirm stems whilst retaining a diverse species mix of natives and exotics.
The lakes, whilst blending in well with the new landscape, do show signs of being artificial. There is little slope on the land around but then a sudden drop off into the water. The Pools Brook river was already here before, but creating the lake has caused some maintenance problems. On the severe banks of the main lake (Markham Lake) you can now see where the council have had to combat erosion by placing wooden supports or caged blocks of stones to build up the edges. 
Towards the top side of this lake where the river enters there is a small island habitat for the birds, but this too is showing signs of being eroded with the inflow of water. The banks have been protected around here with vegetation but the wildlife naturally are eating away at this defensive barrier. It is a testament to how well the land has been converted back to nature with the wide diversity of wildfowl that frequent the area, such as mallard, Canada geese, great crested grebe, mute swan, coot and moorhen. Water voles and a whole host of other animals also thrive in this area, including the fish species such as common carp, roach, perch, tench and bream. The northernmost lake (St John's Pond) on the opposite side of Erin Road is also a great spot for coarse angling, but a little too steep on the edges for other wildlife to utilise it much. This pond sits at the base of the other notable spoil tip reclamation. The other pond next to the main lake is Ireland Pond on the eastern side. This has more shallow banks and has allowed the vegetation to grow strong here, as well as being a good spot for carp fishing. All 3 of these lakes/ponds are visible from the top of the hill where this earthcache is located. An additional lake on the south side is more secluded and not used for fishing, this is more set aside as a nature reserve.
All in all, Poolsbrook country park is now an important site for biodiversity with its mosaic of habitats for wildlife including wildflower hay meadows, species-rich hedgerows, semi-natural woodland and new woodland plantations, wet grassland, scrub, lakes and brook. These are managed for the benefit of wildlife through funding provided by Natural England's Environmental Stewardship schemes. There are also plenty of paths to walk or cycle around and appreciate the park, as well as other facilities such as horse trails, play areas, picnic tables, toilets and more.
The park is open to pedestrians or cyclists 24 hours a day all year round but the car parks close at dusk. There is access from the Trans Pennine Trail for pedestrians and cyclists.
Logging the Cache:
In order to log this earthcache you will need to read through the information on this page, visit the coordinates and then answer the following questions. Photos of yourself or your gps at the coordinates can be submitted in the log too, although this is optional. You can log the cache immediately as long as you email me or message me the correct answers within 24 hours of logging it as found. Any logs made without the correct answers may be deleted. The best way to reach the cache is to take the path from the southwest side of the main car park and after a slight incline there is a left fork off the path which then curves around up to the top of the hill through the trees. The path should be accessible by wheelchairs although this is a bumpy path with an incline so take care.
Questions:
- What is unnatural about this hill, i.e. why is it a 'new' hill?
- Looking at the ground around the trees on the way up to the top of the hill, what clues are there that this land is not naturally formed?
- What landscape features have been created in the area to make it into a country park? (give at least 3 features that can be seen around)
- What problems do the lake banks and island banks have due to it being an artificially created landscape, and what is being done to protect this?
- Why have Alder trees been particularly useful in this type of environment?
- How many of the 4 main lakes/ponds are visible from the top of the hill at the given coordinates?
Well done to the mass FTF group for this cache, who were at the Poolsbrook Geo Ch@t event and trekked up the hill as a collective to find it. By my reckoning we had a joint FTF tally of 22 (plus guests)!
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