Pucklechurch 1911

NickRaine, on January 16, 2008, said:

Hi HistoryBuff, we have recently moved into 'The Rank' and are desperately trying to locate some historic photos to display in the house. I don't suppose you know where we could source any?

Kind regards

Nick

historybuff, on October 12, 2008, said:

Pucklechurch 1911

The Parkfield Colliery - Coal mines in western England once provided the major source of employment for many families in the 19th and early 20th centuries and was the major cause for the large migration to the county of Gloucestershire at that time.

The principal colliery in Pucklechurch was the Parkfield Colliery whose construction was ordered in 1851 by Handel Cossham on a site west of a large number of abandoned 18th century workings. The Parkfield shafts were sunk to a depth of 277 yards to the bottom landing but only the upper series of coal veins were worked - the Hard vein (2'), the Top vein (2'4"), and the Hollybish and Great veins (2'6" and 3') respectively.

When Handel Cossham dies in 1890, his trustees were directed to build and endow a hospital near Kingswood Hill for the treatment and relief of sick or injured persons of both sexes. Work at the colliery obviously involved some risk for many of the miners.

The Parkfield Colliery was almost exhausted by 1936 with only odd pockets of coal left to work. Water seeping into the mines had to be pumped out and with the increased cost of pumping, coal mining became unprofitable. Accordingly on August 15, 1936, the East Bristol Collieries LTD closed the pit. Today the only evidence which remains is one tall chimney which can be seen when driving on the M4 highway. Fifty cottages known as 'The Rank' and formerly owned by colliery miners remain today at Parkfield, about a mile from the centre of Pucklechurch village.

In the hey-day of the colliery, these cottages served as a family community, lending support and help to its inhabitants of both sexes. Handel Cossham also built a school at Parkfield. After the closing of the School in 1893 and to accommodate the influx of Parkfield Children to the village school, a new school building for Infant children was built on Parkfield Road in 1895 and it still stands today.

The most notable ancient structure in Pucklechurch is the St Thomas à Becket Church built over 700 years ago in commemoration of St. Thomas of Canterbury who was murdered in his cathedral in 1170. The church construction began fifty years following his murder and was dedicated to St Thomas upon its completion. The Church of St.

Thomas à Becket has a blocked Norman doorway but is generally a large 13th. Century church and testifies to an increasing wealth, initially based on agriculture as evidence by the number of large country farmhouses of the 17th. And 18th. Centuries, both within the Conservation Area and parish as a whole.

See my website - The Changing Face of Bristol England & its People

Bristol between the years c.1900-2006 is brought to life with striking visual impact in these photograph albums. Buildings, people, fashions, customs, families, children, shops, warehouses, factories, streets now long forgotten or barely remembered, flattened by concrete or bulldozed out of sight are now collated in a readily accessible reference source.

Memories of Bristol over the past 100 years including 3000 free to view historical archive photographs on-line. This non commercial 'hobby' site, has been evolving and expanding on line since 2001 and is intended for educational and entertainment purposes only.

www.gertlushonline.co.uk

Brisfan, on March 12, 2009, said:

You may be able to obtain historic images of Pucklechurch from http://www.nascr.net/~bishop_books/pucklechurch.htm

Check out www.pucklechurch.org for more links to local history