Severn Valley Country Park is holding a family friendly event on Sunday 6 October to mark 50 years since mining ceased on the Severn Valley.

Pit at the Park will run from 10am to 4pm and will include rides on a Landy Train around the park and pit pony rides for children, as well as talks given by the Granville Miners and a chance to listen to Highly Colliery Band play.

The star attraction will be a Land Rover train offering rides between the visitor centre and the country park halt, replicating the journey that coal used to take from the pit-head to the railway line. For a small fee, you can take a ride on the Land Rover train and enjoy the peaceful scenery of the park.

Severn Valley Railway are also offering a £5 return ticket from the Country Park Halt to Highley Station, including free entry into the Engine House where visitors can see the Highley Colliery coal truck on display. Railway tickets will be on sale at the Severn Valley Country Park Visitor Centre – where refreshments will also be available, and you can sit and admire the autumnal view of the Severn Valley.

Other attractions throughout the day will include Rock and Fossil Hunts for families, pony rides (pit ponies once worked down the mine), a chance for children to dress up as miners, the showing of a short film – giving a unique underground view of mining in the Forest of Dean, and the unveiling of a new sculpture dedicated to those who worked at both Highley and Alveley Collieries. 

There will be coal shoveling competitions to get competitive with, pond dipping sessions, self-led trails for families, geology themed craft activities and more. Lezley Picton, Shropshire Council Cabinet member for culture, leisure, communications and waste, said:

“The stories of quarrying, mining and ferries at Severn Valley Country Park are fascinating and in danger of being lost as the park develops.

“Shropshire Council is proud to be delivering the Severn Valley Lives in the Landscape project to tell these stories to visitors and acknowledge the local families that have a historic link to the park. The Pit at the Park event will commemorate this important anniversary and will be a great day out for all the family.

"We are very grateful to the National Lottery Heritage Fund and The Jean Jackson Charitable Trust for their generous support.”

The event is part of the ‘Severn Valley Lives in the Landscape’ project and organised in partnership with the Alveley Mining Heritage Group. The project is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Shropshire Council and The Jean Jackson Charitable Trust. For more information, call 01746 781192.