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The small
town of Hednesford lies north-east of Cannock on the
borders of Cannock Chase. For
over a century Hednesford was an important coal mining town.
The oldest
parts of the town are its hilltops, while the lower areas
developed with the mining industry.
An Army
base was established at Hednesford during World War I, with
a quarter of a million British and Commonwealth troops passing
through on their way to the Western Front. In 1938 the RAF
built a camp at Brindley Heath to the north of the town to
train technicians in the maintenance and repair of engines
and airframes. RAF Hednesford was later used as a resettlement
area for Hungarian refugees fleeing the invasion of Budapest
by the Russians in 1956. Today
the camp is part of the Cannock Chase Country Park.
Following
the demise of the coal industry in the late-20th century,
Hednesford's commercial life has declined and the town has
lost out to neighbouring towns and cities.Recently
there have been plans to regenerate the town.
The history
of the area and its coal mining tradition is illustrated at
the Museum
of Cannock Chase visitor atrraction in Hednesford. The
museum stands on the site of the former Valley Colliery, a
training pit where thousands of young men were taught mining
techniques in simulated underground conditions before beginning
their working lives in the local coal mines. The former corn
store of the colliery (where the feed for the pit ponies was
kept), now houses the museum. One of the highlights is the
'Coal Face Experience', which gives visitors the chance to
don a miner's helmet and find out what it was like to work
a narrow coal seam. The museum is set in 30 acres of green
open space at the gateway to the Hednesford Hill Nature Reserve.
Hednesford
Hill Nature Reserve is an important lowland heathland
habitat on Cannock Chase is preserved and enhanced by the
encouragement of bracken and heather.
Since
the mid-1950s the town has been home to the famous Hednesford
Hills Raceway. Located on the site of a disused reservoir,
this bowl-shaped stock car track attracts many thousands to
its major events.
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Hednesford
