FOLLOWING in the footsteps of his great great grandfather, Robert Sopwith visited the Forest last weekend as a guest speaker at the national Mining History conference held at Whitemead Leisure Park.
His 19th century ancestor was the person who more than any other single individual shaped the freeminers' rights in modern times.
Following the 1831 Dean Forest riots, the government sought to defuse local discontent by producing a definitive survey of the coalfield and legally codified regulations for mine operators therein. Geologist and mining engineer, Thomas Sopwith was called in as a consultant.
As Robert described, using material from his original diary, Thomas's researches were basis of the 1838 Dean Forest Miners Act and 1841 Mining Commission report – illustrated by a definitive map (available from Lydney Archive Bookshop).
The twenty speakers also included Forest freeminers Mike Howell and Dave Harvey. The former described the evolution of freeminers' rights and the difficulty they are facing today with the Coal Authority's demand that coal extraction requires a licence.
Dave Harvey recalled his time at Northern United until its closure in 1965, and his work at his father's mine and other small mines following that.
Ian Standing, Community Heritage Officer for Herefordshire, presented a history of Forest iron ore mining. Conference organiser Jonathan Wright of Clearwell Caves is hoping to produce a booklet incorporating the speakers' material. Event organiser John "Mole" Hine was meanwhile leading other heavily kitted-out moles on a mega 8-hour underground exploration of old iron ore workings.