‘Craig left a legacy at Apedale... a thing very few people manage in their lifetimes’
North Staffordshire historian MERVYN EDWARDS hears former colleagues pay tribute to Apedale Heritage Centre ex-miner guide Craig Powis
SENTINEL readers may have seen the recent television offering Great Canal Journeys, which followed the water-borne adventures of celebrities Gyles Brandreth and Sheila Hancock as they made their way through Staffordshire by narrow boat, stopping off at various points of interest including our own Middleport Pottery.
The moment that really pleased yours truly was when they drank a toast in honour of the many volunteers who are the very backbone of our region’s numerous heritage venues – and today, we do likewise.
Apedale Heritage Centre, near Chesterton, boasts a gallimaufry of artefacts, documents and equipment in its archives and its exhibition hall, but the evergreen ex-miner guides who escort visitors around the site’s drift mine have really helped to bring the story of coal to life.
Sadly, this hardy group of volunteers lost one of its brethren recently – prompting me to speak to those in the know about their departed friend, Craig Powis.
David Rushton is the 55-year-old chairman of the heritage centre as well as mine and site manager.
He told me: “I went to primary school with Craig and knew him since he was seven.
“After school, we both worked at Holditch Colliery in Chesterton. I did 12 years there and I think that Craig did about eight. We both worked underground, and Craig worked days and noons on the conveyor belts.
“He was a third generation miner and his uncle and cousin were miners, too.
“When Holditch closed in 1989, he did contract work at Hem Heath and Florence, and we lost touch.
“However, when the heritage centre was short of guides, I approached Craig and he came on board as a mine guide.
“However, at that time we were opening some old workings and he helped us to do this. This was the No. 7 Pit at Apedale.
“The re-opening enabled us to extend our tours for those visitors who were perhaps physically fitter than the norm. He wasn’t afraid of dirty work and would swiftly become very dirty.
“On one occasion, he called at Chesterton Co-op without having a wash, and everyone else couldn’t stop looking at him.”
David imparts that Craig was a volunteer guide at Apedale for about 10 years on and off, operating as a guide and workman.
“When he landed a part-time job, he still managed to help us on Saturdays and Sunday,” recalls Dave.
“He was very proud of passing his mining first aid course. As an ex-miner, Craig already knew about how coal was got, supports, haulage systems, etc, so he only had to learn about Apedale itself. He’d only worked in deep mining, and Apedale is a drift mine, or walk-in mine.
“He was very happy-go-lucky and humorous, and enjoyed leading the school tours. Down in the mine, he would like to take a pinch of snuff or to chew and spit tobacco. I am pretty sure he chewed it at home too. He did have a break from the centre due to ill health, but returned.
“When Kellingley Colliery in North Yorkshire closed, we found out that they had a training gallery on the surface where first-aid incident and other scenarios were rehearsed.
“We paid £3,000 for it and some of the lads went over to dismantle it – it is almost ready to be displayed at Apedale now, and Craig was very involved in this.
“He felt that this would recreate underground conditions on the surface, therefore being helpful to disabled people – or those with claustrophobia – who were unable to go underground.”
David Bowdley also has fond memories of working with Craig at the Apedale tourist attraction: “Craig had been involved with the initial opening of the mine, the result being what you see today.
“It was after an absence when the work was done that he returned to our ranks to take on the role of tour guide and work with the other lads on underground pit maintenance.
“We soon got talking and he agreed to work with me in the Bassey mine area.
“This was the start of a friendship that has lasted even after his demise, with good memories of some of the times we had.
“The work was hard, but making a joke of it made it worthwhile and, of course, evenings in the Bradwell WMC helped.
“Craig got very involved with first aid and passed his assessments to become regarded as one of our first aiders.
“I recall how proud he was when we put his certificate on display in the lamp room – although I am sure his intention was to help others, and vanity did not enter into it.
“Craig left a legacy in the Bassey area at Apedale, a thing that very few people manage in their lifetimes.
“We were moving loose packing and old supports on the corner of the dip between number 4 roadway and the Bassey gallery when we started to uncover seams of ironstone, coal and mud.
“All of these represented a particular geological time zone with millions of years between them, and to have them so close together was unique. We made the area safe with pit props and it is now a display area for all to see.”
My old friend Bob Newton has absolutely no experience of mining, but has an interest in it that was inspired by his friend Craig.
He said: “I knew him because he was a trained chef, so I often visited him so that I could be fed.
“He had several passions – one of which was the Jeremy Kyle show on the television.
“I really didn’t like watching the show if it was on when I visited. So, knowing that he was passionate about coal mining, I would persuade him to stop watching the TV and we’d hook up to the internet and look up mining equipment, which he would delight in describing. He also used to say, ‘Before all of this lot, we’d just have the old P and S.’
“I thought he meant some sort of JCB, but of course, he meant the pick and shovel. I would listen to him talking about coal extraction and tonnages for ages.”
Craig Powis was only 54 at the time of his death and his demise has been solemnly marked by his old pals at the Apedale Heritage Centre.
“For Craig’s funeral,” explains
David Rushton, “we had some of our volunteers don their mining gear and to carry their oil lamps. The cortege then travelled from Apedale Heritage Centre – where Bob Newton read a poem in his honour – to Bradwell Crematorium and then the local WMC, of which he was fond.”
Mr Rushton doffs his cap to all those who have made the heritage centre what it is today – including the mining historian who established it: “Keith Meeson set up this museum
and it has gone from strength to strength. We’re all keen to promote our industrial heritage.
“My own grandfather was killed down the mine in an explosion.
“When you take schoolchildren down into our drift mine, and they see the coal – never having seen it before – the looks on their faces are precious. They begin to understand what miners had to do to win the coal.
“We also have our exhibition hall to further interpret the journey of coal – and you can go around it with or without a guide.
“There are fossil displays and interpretation on the Romans, etc. We receive visitors from places like Dudley, Cheadle and Cheddleton.
“Local support could be better, so we put on a broad base of events such as music festivals, a Roman event and First World War battle re-enactments in conjunction with the Moseley Railway Trust.
“Remember, we are not just a mining museum – we also present the wider heritage of our area including the local canals, brick and tile, chimney pots, the iron industry, etc.
“We like to remind people of the sacrifice that miners made.
“The annual anniversary of the Holditch Colliery disaster of 1937 has taken place at Apedale in recent years.”
Craig Powis made a major contribution at Apedale, but other volunteers have relished working with the public.
“The guides have to tell visitors about such things as there being no toilets down the mines – sometimes bringing laughter,” David Rushton tells me.
“We have 10 or 12 ex-miner guides at the moment, but for people thinking about joining us in a similar capacity, I would advise them to phone me on 07980 961744.”