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Notes
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Title
Testing for Gas
Date
2004
Medium
bronze & stone
Accession number
NG17_HC_S124
Acquisition method
funded by Nottinghamshire County Council
Work type
Statue
Owner
Nottinghamshire County Council
Work status
extant
Unveiling date
21st March 2005
Access
at all times
Access note
the sculpture is a 750 yard uphill walk from the car park
Inscription description
square plaque: A TRIBUTE TO THE MINERS OF THE NOTTINGHAMSHIRE COALFIELDS / “Testing for Gas” / Antony Dufort Sculptor / Principal Collieries operating between 1819 and 2005 (names & dates) / Commissioned by Nottinghamshire County Council in 2003 completed in 2005; round plaque 1: SILVERHILL COLLIERY / SOUTH / Testing for Gas / The Sculpture ‘Testing for Gas’ was commissioned by Nottinghamshire / county Council to commemorate the Nottinghamshire Mining Industry / and as a tribute to the Miners of the Nottinghamshire Coalfields. / It shows a modern miner testing for methane gas, known as ‘firedamp’ / which is a constant threat to the miners working deep underground. He / wears a methanometer and a self-rescuer on his belt, and is holding a / flame safety lamp to test for the presence of explosive firedamp by / observing the shape and colour of the flame. / A commemorative plaque on the plinth lists the principal coal mines. Within Nottinghamshire that were in operation between 1813 and 2005 / The sculpture was created by Antony Dufort in 2004. It was officially / unveiled by Councillor Terry Butler and Councillor Dick Anthony at / a ceremony on the 21st March 2005 Round Plaque 2: SILVERHILL COLLIERY / WEST / Silverhill Colliery 1875-1992 / The Silverhill Colliery was originally operated by the Stanton iron and / Coal Company. Two shafts 4.57m in diameter were sunk to a depth / 408m and 381m to the Blackshale seam. Five seams were worked / during the life of the colliery, each seam being about 1m in thickness. / 1952 saw the maximum ever manpower at the colliery at 1330 men. They / produced 514,311 tons of coal, representing 1.5 overall tons per man’s shift. / The maximum ever output for the colliery was achieved by its last years / 1991-92, through investment and increased mechanisation. 770 men produced / 932,000 tons of coal at 4.65 overall tons per manshift. / Silverhill Colliery held the European Record for coal extraction set in March / 1987 and also the World Record for an advancing face set in December / 1989, these records were for thin seam mining, meaning coal seams of a / metre and under in thickness; round plaque 1: SILVERHILL COLLIERY / SOUTH / Testing for Gas / The Sculpture ‘Testing for Gas’ was commissioned by Nottinghamshire / county Council to commemorate the Nottinghamshire Mining Industry / and as a tribute to the Miners of the Nottinghamshire Coalfields. / It shows a modern miner testing for methane gas, known as ‘firedamp’ / which is a constant threat to the miners working deep underground. He / wears a methanometer and a self-rescuer on his belt, and is holding a / flame safety lamp to test for the presence of explosive firedamp by / observing the shape and colour of the flame. / A commemorative plaque on the plinth lists the principal coal mines. Within Nottinghamshire that were in operation between 1813 and 2005 / The sculpture was created by Antony Dufort in 2004. It was officially / unveiled by Councillor Terry Butler and Councillor Dick Anthony at / a ceremony on the 21st March 2005 Plaque 3: (depicts directions to locations such as Bolsover Castle from the summit.); plaque 4: (Information about Silverhill Pit Wood)
Silverhill Lane, Sutton-in-Ashfield
NG17 3JL
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