Bevercotes Colliery was the first fully automated mine. It went into production in July 1965. Located in

Bevercotes Bevercotes is a hamlet and civil parish in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England, about six miles south of East Retford and five miles north-east of Ollerton. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 28. The population re ...

to the north of

Ollerton Ollerton is a town in the Newark and Sherwood District, Nottinghamshire, England, on the edge of Sherwood Forest in the area known as the Dukeries. It forms part of the civil parish of Ollerton and Boughton. OS Explorer Map 270: Sherwood Fores ...

, the colliery was, alongside

Cotgrave Colliery Cotgrave is a town and civil parish in the borough of Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire, England, some 5 miles (8 km) south-east of central Nottingham. It perches on the South Nottinghamshire Wolds about 131 feet (40 metres) above sea level. ...

, one of two new collieries opened in the county of

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

in the 1960s. The colliery was closed in 1993 and turned into a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

Miners' strike 1984-5

During the

UK miners' strike (1984–85) The miners' strike of 1984–1985 was a major industrial action within the British coal industry in an attempt to prevent colliery closures. It was led by Arthur Scargill of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) against the National Coal Bo ...

, Bevercotes Colliery voted approximately two-to-one against strike action in a ballot held on 15–16 March 1984. During the strike, Chris Butcher, a miner from Bevercotes Colliery, became well known as 'Silver Birch' who was funded by the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'' to travel around the UK actively opposing the strike; he was also involved in organising legal action to block the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), who were running the strike. In October 1985, Bevercotes miners voted to leave the NUM in favour of the

Union of Democratic Mineworkers The Union of Democratic Mineworkers (UDM) was a British trade union for coal miners based in Nottinghamshire, England, established in 1985, after the 1984–85 miners' strike, when the Nottinghamshire Area of the National Union of Mineworker ...

by 782 votes out of 1,372 cast (57%).

References

{{Reflist Coal mines in Nottinghamshire