Apedale Heritage Centre

About the museum

The Apedale Heritage Centre stands on the site of Apedale coal mine near Chesterton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, inside Apedale Community Country Park. Apedale is a drift mine, where the coal workings are reached by a walk-in incline instead of a vertical shaft. It once employed between 100 and 140 men, twice set national records for output per man-shift and is where the last coal in North Staffordshire was drawn. The centre is run entirely by volunteers as a registered charity that aims to preserve and record the history and industries of the Apedale valley and nearby communities.

The museum explains the formation of coal and its extraction, fossils, the local Roman fort and town, and the life and work of miners from Victorian times to the present day. Its collection includes a mines rescue van, a detailed model of a drift mine, tools, lamps, maps, photographs and miners' belongings, a re-creation of a 1920s miner's cottage and a mine medical room. It also remembers three local mining disasters, including the Minnie Pit disaster.

The site is also home to part of the Moseley Railway Trust collection of narrow-gauge industrial locomotives, some of which can be seen in the museum. The separate Apedale Valley Light Railway, run by the Trust, opened in 2010 and runs at weekends in spring to autumn.

Highlights

• Underground tours of a real drift coal mine
• Free museum on mining and the Apedale valley
• Re-creation of a miner's cottage from the 1920s
• Surface gallery with a mining roadway for visitors who cannot go underground
• Narrow-gauge locomotives and the Apedale Valley Light Railway next door

Permanent exhibitions

• Apedale mining museum – Exhibits on the formation of coal, Roman and Victorian times and miners' lives, with a mines rescue van, tools, lamps and a model drift mine.
• Miner's cottage – A re-creation of a miner's kitchen, scullery, yard and a later parlour showing everyday family life.
• Underground mine tour – A guided tour through the workings of a real coal mine, explaining mining methods and a miner's working life.

Operated by

The Apedale Heritage Centre (registered charity)

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Museum entry is free and donations are welcome. Mine tours are charged; group tours can be arranged on weekdays or evenings by prior arrangement for 110 pounds for up to 20 people, plus 3 pounds per person after that.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Most of the site is accessible, with a separate accessible toilet and Blue Badge parking directly in front of the centre, and a wheelchair can be borrowed on site. Wheelchair users cannot be taken into the mine for safety reasons, but a surface mining gallery with a short roadway is available at weekends on request. The reception area, lamp room and café are on one level, there is a short ramp into the museum, which is then all on one level, and the unsurfaced rear yard is level. There is no induction loop. Trained assistance dogs are allowed in the café and museum; other dogs are not, but there is outside seating.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

A family ticket is available for the mine tours, but children under 5 cannot enter the mine; they are welcome in the main centre. The railway next door runs family events such as Halloween and Santa Specials.

Getting there & parking

Use the postcode ST5 7LB, which leads to Loomer Road, and follow it to the end, where the entrance to Apedale Community Country Park is.

Amenities & dining

• Café

The café serves drinks, snacks and meals, including North Staffordshire oatcakes, and has outside seating.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit