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Renovation works
On 26th October work started on a program of renovation which is due to last for 39 weeks. The program will cost almost £1,000,000 and includes extensive repairs to the North and South headstocks, the South heapstead roof and the engine-house floors.
In addition, the engine-house interiors are to be cleaned and the East side windows, which are currently blocked up, will be reinstated, with the original wood and metal frames renewed.
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The exterior of the engine-houses will receive considerable attention, with missing or damaged stonework reinstated, window cills repaired or replaced, structural cracking repaired and deep pointing made good.
Mains drainage is to be provided to the site and a small toilet block connected to it allowing the Porta-Loos to be dispensed with. The cabins and shipping containers used for canteen, workshop and storage will be relocated further away from the North pit-top, freeing up the area in front of the headstocks and the engine-house.
All in all, a major step forward along the road towards the Pleasley Pit mining museum / heritage centre.
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Electrics upgrade:
After a number of false starts, the replacement of the existing installation supplied by the diesel generator with a new mains fed system looks about to take place. A considerable amount of work has gone into identifying the short, medium and long term requirements of the site and a stable picture has finally emerged.
The costs of implementing the full layout are not inconsiderable and, unfortunately, the available funding is some way short of meeting them. It has been decided, therefor, to obtain a design specification which takes into account the future requirements, to install the distribution and other essential circuits, but only implement at this stage sufficient sub-circuit provision to cater for the immediate needs of the Friends of Pleasley Pit.
Once this has been done, the installation can then be expanded to meet the developing needs on an incremental basis, as and when further funding becomes available.
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Web Site:
After having to be put on the back burner for about six months, work on the website was recently resumed. An upgrade of the operating system to MSoft Vista and a move of the source files onto another computer led to major problems but things now seem to be sufficiently stable to allow work to continue. A lot of information has been accumulated in the last year so there will be plenty of developments to the site. Unfortunately, maintaining the change log when things are evolving rapidly has become a major difficulty and some means of automating this is being sought.
Lamp Collectors:
Details to follow shortly
Open Weekend:
Details to follow shortly
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