Betteshanger
Encyclopedia
Betteshanger is a village near Deal
in East Kent
, England
. It gave its name to the largest of the four chief collieries
of the Kent coalfield
.
Betteshanger had a tradition of union militancy; it was the first pit to come out on strike during the second World War and took active part in the miners' strikes of 1972, 1974 and 1984/5.
It was the last Kent colliery to close, closing for good in 1989. The colliery was served by a railway branch which left the main line between Deal & Sandwich.
Circular Road, often known simply as 'the circle' is in fact oval in shape and is a one-way street. Houses have even numbers on inside of the circle, and odd on the outside. Northway connects the circle with the rest of the world and is a short two-way street
. As a road Broad Lane predates the coal mine and has miners houses on just one side. Additionally, the former village shop is now a domestic dwelling and although numbered as part of Circular Road, sits on an unnamed stub-road which used to serve as the entrance to the colliery itself.
(SEEDA), as part of the National Coalfields Programme (NCP) a children's play area, including play equipment and a skateboard ramp, and more recently an industrial park, have opened on the site of the former colliery.
Also Fowlmead Country Park
has been developed on a former spoil tip (on the north of the site).
Current plans for Betteshanger Industrial Park is the proposal from Hadlow College
to set up the agricultural centre, creating more than 1,000 jobs. But this is still yet to be confirmed. Local opposition to this proposal, wants to turn the site into a chairtable trust with the development of free enterprise formulas and continued growth of the site.
Deal, Kent
Deal is a town in Kent England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town...
in East Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It gave its name to the largest of the four chief collieries
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
of the Kent coalfield
Kent coalfield
The Kent Coalfield was a coalfield located in the eastern part of the English county of Kent.Coal was discovered in the area in 1890 while borings for an early Channel Tunnel project were taking place and the resultant Shakespeare colliery lasted until 1915...
.
Before the coal mine
Betteshanger parish has existed at least since Domesday times and remained a small scattered parish until the advent of the Kent Coalfield. St Mary's church sits almost alone in woodland in the centre of the parish. At 'Little Betteshanger' a cluster of houses surround Betteshanger Farm and are very close to Northbourne Primary School.Mining in Betteshanger
Betteshanger colliery opened in the late 1920s and was the largest of the Kent collieries. It had two shafts of almost 2000 feet, plaques can still be seen where the shafts were once sunk.Betteshanger had a tradition of union militancy; it was the first pit to come out on strike during the second World War and took active part in the miners' strikes of 1972, 1974 and 1984/5.
It was the last Kent colliery to close, closing for good in 1989. The colliery was served by a railway branch which left the main line between Deal & Sandwich.
Village layout
The miners' houses were laid out in three streets: Circular Road, Northway, and Broad Lane.Circular Road, often known simply as 'the circle' is in fact oval in shape and is a one-way street. Houses have even numbers on inside of the circle, and odd on the outside. Northway connects the circle with the rest of the world and is a short two-way street
Two-way street
A two-way street is a street that allows vehicles to travel in both directions. On most two-way streets, especially main streets, a line is painted down the middle of the road to remind drivers to stay on their side of the road. Sometimes one portion of a street is two-way, the other portion one-way...
. As a road Broad Lane predates the coal mine and has miners houses on just one side. Additionally, the former village shop is now a domestic dwelling and although numbered as part of Circular Road, sits on an unnamed stub-road which used to serve as the entrance to the colliery itself.
Betteshanger Park Development
With support from South East England Development AgencySouth East England Development Agency
SEEDA, more officially the South East England Development Agency, is one of a number of regional development agencies in England. It was set up as a non-departmental public body in 1999 to promote the region and to enable a number of more difficult regeneration projects which otherwise might not...
(SEEDA), as part of the National Coalfields Programme (NCP) a children's play area, including play equipment and a skateboard ramp, and more recently an industrial park, have opened on the site of the former colliery.
Also Fowlmead Country Park
Fowlmead Country Park
Fowlmead Country Park is near Deal, in Kent, England.-History:This park is situated on the site of a former spoil tip of the former Betteshanger Colliery, one of the largest collieries in Kent. The colliery opened in 1924-30 and closed in 1989. The spoil tip, was located to the north east of the...
has been developed on a former spoil tip (on the north of the site).
Current plans for Betteshanger Industrial Park is the proposal from Hadlow College
Hadlow College
Hadlow College, located at Hadlow in Kent with satellite sites in Canterbury and London, is a Further Education and Higher Education college. The curriculum primarily covers land-based subjects including agriculture, conservation and wildlife management, animal management, fisheries management,...
to set up the agricultural centre, creating more than 1,000 jobs. But this is still yet to be confirmed. Local opposition to this proposal, wants to turn the site into a chairtable trust with the development of free enterprise formulas and continued growth of the site.