17 Mar: Tilmanstone

I paid a visit to Elvington & Eythorne Heritage Centre last Tuesday to find out more about Tilmanstone colliery, which was the first and longest running of the four main pits in Kent. Established in 1906 and connected to the East Kent Railway in 1912, it’s the most relevant colliery to the WW1 period of research.

I was warmly welcomed by Colin and Tony and there was loads of fascinating imagery to look at.

We also discussed plans for this year’s Kent Miners Festival, which I found out Tony is making a miners’ house kitchen scene for.

Some images from the earliest days of Tilmanstone Colliery:

  c.1907  c.1914 Map of Tilmanstone colliery & East Kent Railway line, 1914

(Image source: Subterranea Britannica http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/t/tilmanstone_colliery/)