Proud industrial heritage
With a proud history of coal mining and heavy industrial activity reaching back more than 150 years, the Waverley site has played a major role as a powerhouse of Yorkshire industry. Coal mining began on the site back in 1851 and Orgreave Colliery rose to national prominence during the 1984 miners’ strike as the scene of a famous stand-off between police and miners. Development at Waverley will aim to provide sensitive reminders of this historic past, while looking confidently ahead to renewed progress in the 21st-century.
Waverley through the years
- 1851 - Mining on the site begins with the sinking of the first shaft of Orgreave Colliery.
- 1919 - To complement coal mining activities, a coke works and by-product plant is built, serving the needs of the region’s steel industry.
- 1975 - Surface mining begins on the site, with subsequent permissions being granted in 1986 and 1994.
- 1981 - The colliery is closed.
- 1984 - The coke works is the backdrop to the stand-off between Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the National Union of Miners (NUM), led by Arthur Scargill. Miners and police clash at the site in what becomes known as the Battle of Orgreave.
- 1990 - The coke ovens on site are closed down.
- 1995 - Planning permission is granted to restore the site and make it fit for redevelopment.
- 2004 - The Orgreave Reclamation Scheme is amended and extended, allowing the recovery of coal from the tip and sub-surface by surface mining.
- 2006 - The last coal is removed from the Orgreave site.
- 2009 - the £20 million restoration programme enters its final stages in readiness for the Waverley New Community planning applications
