Nature and Industry: Doncaster’s Five Minute Histories

This track is a soundscape describing the changing landscape of Brodsworth Colliery from its beginnings as a coalmine, in the early 1900s, up to the modern-day.

Take notice of the sounds in this soundscape. What can you hear? Can you single out anything in particular? Perhaps some of these sounds are familiar to you, others not at all.

When listening, notice how the soundscape eventually reverts to nature and includes the sounds of birds you might enjoy listening to in your garden today.

The site of Brodsworth Colliery was once a booming coal mine, employing over 4000 people and producing many thousands of tonnes of coal. In fact, Brodsworth Colliery was known to many as the ‘Queen’s Pit’, because much of this coal supplied Buckingham Palace.

Brodsworth Colliery closed in 1990, after nearly 90 years of mining, and this had a huge impact on the local community. For several years, the site remained derelict until, in 2001, the site was transformed into Brodsworth Community Woodland.

Produced by Rob Pearson.
Sound effects: Nature sound effects sourced via xeno-canto.org, made by Tanguy Lois, Le Roy Renaud, Arend Wassink, Tomasz Kulakowski, Bodo Sonnenburg, Mark Shorten and Simon Elliot. Crowd sound by FxProSound. Industry sound effects sourced via SoundsofChange.eu, made by Dušan Oblak, Boštjan Troha, Jens Meißburger.
Additional sound effects by Gary Hammond.