To the Colliery and glorious bugs

Sunday 22nd colliery


It was a lovely lazy morning in store as The Astley Green Pit Museum didn't open until 13.30 and after a light shower first thing this morning, the sun came out beckoning to me to go bug hunting. And what a variety of bugs on offer. This place is amazing for walks, trails going off in all directions, the small ponds full of tadpoles and other aquatic life but I was a bit restricted as to how far I could go not having any sort of map with me. Still I was out for nearly two hours but maybe only covered about a mile in total.

Back on FS and just in time because that blasted rain appeared again. It didn't stop when the time came for us to go out so it was a very wet walk to the museum.

Lovely small village is Astley Green. Most noticeable is the quiet and lack of traffic. It has a fish and chip shop and no doubt their are shops elsewhere but not on the route we took to the museum. Because it was so wet we first went inside to see the displays and read the information about the place. Until 30 years ago this was still a working colliery but now it is looked after by volunteers and kept open by donations. This is a unique historical place to visit with one downside. All the loco's had been covered because the brass and copper had, in the past, been pilfered by undesirables,
unfortunately a sad fact of our time.

Entrance

Lamp Room

All covered up unfortunately

Single Deck cage carrying the men to the pit floor

Steam Crane

Man Riders carriages. We were told that from the cage at the pit floor to the mine workings was 3 miles.

Hunslet diesel locomotive

Huge Winding engine

To big for Ian's man cupboard.

And the bugs and aquatic life.

Four spotted Chaser

Blue Mint Beetle

Plant hopper

Hoverfly on Orchid????

Diving Beetle

Tadpoles

Water Boatman

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