Author: IT Team

Hi all,

We will need to carry out a deep clean of the Visitor Centre flooring ahead of the Drift Mine Press day and of course Saturday when we reopen to the public. As you may have noticed, the floor in the Visitor Centre reacts to the salt used to grit outside and so we need to make sure that these deep cleans take place when the Visitor Centre is not in use to try and keep them looking presentable for visitors.

Thursday (In preparation for the Mine Press day): We will be closing the LG Level of VC from this evening (18^th) to enable the cleaning team to get a head start on this area so please walk around the building if you need to access the entry level. We will also be using the barriers to create a smaller walk way to the café/ toilets for staff attending the training tomorrow (19^th) so that the other side of the atrium can be treated and we ask that all staff stick to this marked walk way and try to leave VC promptly once training ends to allow the team to complete the deep clean.

Friday (in preparation for Saturday Opening): We will close VC as soon as the Mine press day is finished and the cleaning team will then clean all floors ready for opening on Saturday morning.

For staff needing to use VC before we open on Saturday, there will again be a walkway to follow to ensure minimal impact to the floors.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Our underground mine experience is back, giving visitors the chance to learn how Black Country mines were run, find out how timber props were used to support the roofs and experience the harsh reality of a coal miner’s life in the mid-19th century, especially for ‘little Billy’ who started working down the mine at just 10-years-old.

Visitor information

• The underground mine experience is included in the price of general admission.
• Tours are limited to small groups and run regularly throughout the day.
• Visitors will spend approximately 30 minutes underground with their guide.
• There are areas where the height is limited so visitors will need to bend and crouch for a short moment to access some of the tunnels.
• Visitors will be required to wear a helmet while underground and are to stay with their designated tour guide at all times.
• The underground mine experience is not accessible for wheelchairs or people with limited mobility.
• The minimum recommended age is 8-years-old. Pushchairs are not allowed.

Mining in the Black Country

For centuries, the Black Country was renowned for its mining, helping the region to earn its reputation as ‘black by day, red by night’ owing to the blackened and scarred terrain created by heavy industry and the smoke that filled the air.

The area was home to the famous ‘Staffordshire Thick’, a single seam of coal some 10 yards in thickness that lay beneath much of the Black Country. It was the thickest coal seam in the UK and the greatest energy resource of the Industrial Revolution.

As you head underground in a recreated small Black Country coal pit, you will be able to experience the darkness a miner endured, explore a maze of roadways and working areas, and hear what ‘Elija Wedge’ has to say about the world of an 1850s Black Country coal miner.

You will learn how the mines were run and how timber props were used to support the roofs, as well as facing the harsh reality of a coal miner’s life in the mid-19th century, especially for ‘little Billy’ who started working down the mine at just 10 years old.

Audio-visual techniques bring to life the sounds and feelings that would have accompanied a miner’s day, from the tapping of pickaxes to the whinnying of a pit pony and the rumble of a nearby collapse.