Work to preserve the area’s mining history at 150-year-old Pleasley Pit has received a major boost.

The Land Trust, which manages the Scheduled Ancient Monument, will carry out important conservation work thanks to a £402,000 grant from Biffa Award.

The money will allow restoration and refurbishment on the iconic chimney and the South Heapstead building as well as the chance to showcase the history of the site through oral history recordings, video tours, historical timelines, and interactive displays.

Managed in partnership with William Saunders, the Pleasley Pit Trust, and the visitor centre manager and staff, the historic site has been rebuilt and restored into a mining heritage museum, visitors centre, and café.

The heritage museum is run by the dedicated volunteers from the trust and offers a glimpse into the mining past. The headstocks, engine-houses, and steam winders still remain, allowing visitors to step back in time to explore artefacts from a bygone era, as well as learn about social history through the Pit Trust volunteer guides.

The funding will help to preserve irreplaceable parts of the UK’s mining history and enable the museum and visitors centre to tell the story of the people who worked there for visitors to learn about and enjoy for many more years to come.

Alan Carter, chief executive at the Land Trust, said: “The funding from Biffa Award will enable us to preserve the site for future generations.

“We are pleased we can start important work on the chimney and South Heapstead building.

“Both parts of the site play an important part in the history and heritage of the colliery and house a popular part of the museum that we don’t want to lose.”