School Tours
Sessions can be booked for mornings only, afternoons only or from mid−morning to mid−afternoon. Sessions can be arranged on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays subject to the availability of guides and re−enactors.
Please contact us school@snibstoncolliery.org.uk with your preferred and alternative dates. Arrangements are made with the volunteers and can usually be confirmed within a few days
What to expect on your visit
- Each tour is about 2½ hours, including comfort breaks, organisation and questions.
If three sessions are provided, the time required increases to around 3 hours. At present we do not charge an admission fee for children under 15. We do charge the accompanying adults £8.00 a head.
We insist on at least two responsible adults attending from the school for each group of children. This means a minimum of four adults. These do not have to be teachers but must be authorised personnel from the school such as classroom assistants and parent volunteers.
All the guides and re-enactors are volunteers and receive no payment for their work. We do accept donations to the Trust to support our educational provision. Schools can donate via a cheque made payable to the ‘Snibston Heritage Trust’, cash or card on the day or via a post-visit invoice.
For college or University visits see Group Tours.
'Into the Dark' mine simulation
As it is no longer possible to go underground at Snibston, you can experience our ‘Into the Dark’ mine simulation. An accurate recreation of a coalface at Snibston which gives you the experience of being underground without leaving the surface.
School Tour Enquiry Form
How to make a booking?
Sessions can be booked for mornings only, afternoons only or from mid-morning to mid-afternoon.
Sessions can be arranged on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays subject to the availability of guides and re-enactors. Please contact us school@snibstoncolliery.org.uk with your preferred and alternative dates. Arrangements are made with the volunteers and can usually be confirmed within a few days.
Do you undertake Risk Assessments?
The Trust makes a risk assessment for the colliery tours and Victorian sessions (available upon request) but the school will be responsible for their out-of-classroom risk assessments.
Visit times and logisitcs
A visit to Snibston Colliery takes around 2½ hours including comfort breaks, organisation and questions. If three sessions are provided, the time required increases to around 3 hours. At present we do not charge an admission fee for children under 15. We do charge the accompanying adults £8.00 a head.
We insist on at least two responsible adults attending from the school for each group of children. This means a minimum of four adults. These do not have to be teachers but must be authorised personnel from the school such as classroom assistants and parent volunteers.
The Trust makes a risk assessment for the colliery tours and Victorian sessions (ask us for details) but the school will be responsible for their out-of-classroom risk assessments.
All the guides and re-enactors are volunteers and receive no payment for their work. We do accept donations to the Trust to support our educational provision. Schools can donate via a cheque made payable to the ‘Snibston Heritage Trust’, cash or card on the day or via a post-visit invoice.
Children with SEND requirements
The sessions include the pitch-black darkness of a mine simulation as well as loud bangs which can be upsetting to some children. Our volunteers have experience of working with neurodiverse individuals. Please advise us regarding children with SEND when booking so we can discuss their requirements.
For Colleges and Universities, the team at Snibston can assist with your learning objectives. Contact Stuart Warburton group@snibstoncolliery.org.uk or telephone 07709 957 921 for a chat.
Are trained First Aiders available?
Although there are qualified First Aiders available within the site’s paid staff, we cannot guarantee to have certified First Aiders amongst the reenactor team. Ideally a teacher or responsible adult visitor will have this training.
Are you volunteers DBS checked?
None of our guides or re-enactors have DBS checks but at no time will our volunteers be left on their own with a child or vulnerable adult.
Can you accommodate SEND students?
We can accommodate children with Special Educational Needs. Email us at school@snibstoncolliery.org.uk for further information.
The sessions include the pitch-black darkness of a mine simulation as well as loud bangs which can be upsetting to some children. Our volunteers have experience of working with neurodiverse individuals. Please advise us regarding children with SEND when booking so we can discuss their requirements.
Are toilets available on site?
There are three toilets on site. Children’s bags and coats can be left in the Studio on arrival as this space is always monitored. If the sessions take place over lunchtime children can eat their own packed lunches in the Studio.
What about College and University visits?
For Colleges and Universities, the team at Snibston can assist with your learning objectives. Contact Stuart Warburton group@snibstoncolliery.org.uk or telephone 07709 957 921 for a chat.
EDUCATIONAL SESSION 1.
Tour of Snibston Colliery
Led by former miners, the tour takes in the surface buildings. This includes the lamp room, control room, medical centre, winding house, pit top and explosives’ store and takes around 1 hour. Although it is not possible to go underground, we are currently developing an ‘underground’ experience on the surface that gives the feeling of being underground.
The guide tells the children how the pit worked in the 1970s/80s. Many local children have family connections such as grandfathers who worked in the local mines around this time. The tour encourages children to open up a dialogue with family members about their time in the local pits. This session takes around 1 hour.
EDUCATIONAL SESSION 2.
Children of the Dark - Victorian child labour in the coalmines
A ‘classroom’ session (in the Colliery Park’s Studio building), re-enactors explain how coal was got in the Victorian period, and especially in the 1830s/40s, when children worked underground. The session involves handling the tools a miner would use and hearing about the work and home life of a child miner. The children are given the chance, through role play, to experience what it was like to work as a Trapper, Putter and Hewer in a specially constructed ‘coalface’. This session also takes around 1 hour.
EDUCATIONAL SESSION 3.
A Miners’ Wash Day – clothes and personal washing during the 1930s – 1960s
By interacting with historic artefacts, children find out how the process of washing clothes and bodies changed from the 1930s to the 1960s with the widespread introduction of electric washing machines and bathrooms. The artefacts children interact with include flat irons, wash tubs, a tin bath, different types of soap, a posser and a mangle.
Our miners’ wives will tell you about what their life was like as ‘housewives’ responsible for the upkeep of the home and raising the children. This was just as hard a job as being a miner. The session is led by re-enactors in period clothes and takes between 45 – 60 minutes. It is delivered in the colliery buildings.
EDUCATIONAL SESSION 4.
Where I Live: Exploring Historic Environments through Maps and Photographs
This session is intended to make children aware of their built and historic environment through old maps and photographs (and when possible old films). Comparative maps from the 1880s and 1930s are used in conjunction with old photographs to show how the place where they live has changed.
Other local industries, including brickmaking are explored and the story of children in these industries investigated.
This session is delivered in collaboration with the Coalville Heritage Society and can cover the following areas – Coalville, Ravenstone, Hugglescote, Bardon and Snibston.
How to find us
We are situated on Ashby Road, Coalville, Leicestershire LE67 3LN. Our what 3 words is afford.army.look.
Coalville is 15mins from junction 22 of the M1 to the south and 15mins from the A42 Ashby turn-off to the north. When using a Sat Nav please following post code LE67 3LN.
Parking
Parking on site is to the right when entering Snibston Colliery Park. The car park is behind the Café. It has an ANPR system, so please pay on exit. Current fees will be displayed at the pay station.
There are disabled bays as well as car charging bays.
Accessibility
Most of the tour is on a flat surface with ramps going into and out of the main building. However due to its size the ‘into the dark’ experience is unsuitable for wheelchair access. Part of the tour is by some 14 then 5 steps. Assistance dogs are welcome but in the powder magazine there is a explosion demo which is unsuitable for dogs.
Facilities on-site
A mountain bike trail, nature reserve and heritage trail can all be found on site with the country’s best preserved colliery site located in the heart of the National Forest.
For general information only. Opening times, events and restrictions may change without notice. Please check each venue’s website or contact them directly before visiting.