Vale of Belvoir Mining Controversy

Protests mount in the Vale of Belvoir as a small corner of Leicestershire takes on the might of the Coal Board.

At Hose in Leicestershire the village blacksmith still shoes 200 horses a week but with rumours of a new colliery 'super pit' on the horizon the rural tranquility is bound to be shattered. Long term residents and village newcomers already dedicated to the rural lifestyle speak to Peter Green about this life changing development. With the Duke of Rutland's cannons trained on the NCB the battle has the makings of a long and bloody one.

The plan to build a colliery at Hose was eventually dropped and replaced by an alternative project at Asfordby. Construction work on the Asfordby pit began in secret in 1984 at the height of the miners' strike. Geological problems and a general decline in the industry caused the Asfordby 'white elephant' to be closed and abandoned in 1997.