Plans stored in the Coal Authority’s historical records linked to Anne Lister’s Shibden Hall estate.

Television’s latest great Sunday night heroine – ‘Gentleman Jack’ – would have found her life a great deal easier if the Coal Authority had been in existence.

Based on Anne Lister, the West Yorkshire landowner who defied the social conventions of the time, the BBC 1 series shows her battling with neighbours over her coal mines. This was in the 1830s – at a time when coal mine abandonment plans were not centrally held.

Today, the owner of Shibden Hall near Halifax, could have checked on any local underground coal workings by visiting the Coal Authority, the non-departmental government body that’s working to create a better future from our mining past.

Over 120,000 abandonment plans are held in temperature-controlled rooms in its Mining Heritage Centre in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. Dating from the 1760s, these are still used and accessed on a regular basis today to help protect people and the environment.

Problems encountered by Anne Lister in the programme – such as coal seams at different levels and the management of underground water – are all still relevant, with abandonment plans continuing to play an important role in managing Britain’s coal mining legacy.

Abandonment plans for the country’s former coal mines feature on rolls of parchment, linen and aluminium boards, with some measuring 6 feet high. Among them are the original plans for the Lister family mines around Shibden Hall.

Often labelled “the first modern lesbian”, Anne Lister was a highly intelligent woman operating in what was then a ‘man’s world’.

She opened a pit in the area after she inherited Shibden Hall in 1836 from her aunt. Although Anne’s original plans are not held by the Coal Authority, it does hold a total of 7 different abandonment plans of collieries owned by the Lister family in the Shibden area.

These early coloured plans for the Lister pits name several of Anne’s relatives, such as John Lister, Esq. Another plan dating from 1886 is marked with the name of Mr. Lister and Mr. N. Brooke.

You can see the Lister plans close up at our Mining Heritage Centre or contact us for more information

Responding to the confirmation of Ebola cases in Uganda, International Development Minister and Minister for Africa, Harriett Baldwin, said:

It is devastating to hear that cases of Ebola have now been confirmed in Uganda and tragically a child has lost their life.

The UK government has been the leading donor for Ebola preparedness in Uganda, training health workers on the ground and providing medical equipment to deal with this virus.

We stand ready to provide further support, but are also calling on the global community to step up. It is more important than ever that we work together to end this deadly outbreak.

Background

• The Ugandan government has confirmed three cases of Ebola in the country. A five-year old boy has died as well as his 51-year old grandmother. The authorities have also identified eight contact cases.
• Since 2000, Uganda has had five Ebola outbreaks. In the last outbreak (2012), there were 24 reported cases and 17 deaths. Efforts to strengthen Uganda’s health system to be prepared for such outbreaks, including through UK support, means Uganda should be well placed to manage and respond to these new cases.
• UK aid has funded Uganda’s preparedness effort since the current Ebola outbreak began in August 2018. This has involved training for health workers, the provision of eight ambulances and sixty-three motorbikes to support the management of suspected cases, including in refugee settlements.
• As a leading donor, the UK is coordinating other international donors to support Government of Uganda’s plans to limit the possible spread of Ebola. This has included working closely with the EU, US and Ireland.
• UK experts have provided on the ground briefing to donor partners, using extensive knowledge of the disease to advise and guide the use of resources to prevent the spread of the disease.
• Public Health England (PHE) continues to assess that the risk to the UK from the outbreak is negligible-very low, even after the confirmed cases on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
• DRC is battling the second largest Ebola outbreak in history and the first-ever in a conflict zone, with more than 70 armed groups operating in the east of the country. The number of cases has surpassed 2,000 and the death toll has reached 1,390.

ENDS

International Development Minister comments on the cases of Ebola in Uganda, near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Waste site operator Barry Connally, director of Rhino Recycling Limited, was given a suspended prison sentence after operating the site in Pershore illegally.