{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox mine | name = Bevercotes Colliery | image = | width = | caption = | pushpin_map = United Kingdom Nottinghamshire | pushpin_label = Bevercotes Colliery | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Nottinghamshire | coordinates = {{coord|53.258|N|0.961|W|region:GB|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | place = Nottinghamshire | subdivision_type = County council | state/province = Nottinghamshire | country = England | owner = British Coal | official website = | acquisition year = | stock_exchange = | stock_code = | products = Coal | financial year = | amount = | opening year = 1965 | closing year = 1993 }}
'''Bevercotes Colliery''' was the first fully automated mine. It went into production in July 1965.<ref name="itn">{{cite web|title=U.K: World's First Remotely Controlled Mine Opened at Retford, England -- Push-Button Colliery Will Produce 6,000 Tons of Coal a Day |url=http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//RTV/1965/07/10/BGY505260570/?s=colliery|website=www.itnsource.com|publisher=ITN|accessdate=17 December 2016}}</ref> Located in Bevercotes to the north of Ollerton, the colliery was, alongside Cotgrave Colliery, one of two new collieries opened in the county of Nottinghamshire in the 1960s.<ref name="nhg">{{cite web|title=The coal industry in Nottinghamshire > Overview|url=http://www.nottsheritagegateway.org.uk/themes/coal.htm|website=www.nottsheritagegateway.org.uk|publisher=Nottinghamshire Heritage Gateway|accessdate=17 December 2016}}</ref> The colliery was closed in 1993 and turned into a nature reserve.<ref name="Edgar">{{cite web|last1=Edgar|first1=Gordon|title=Bevercotes Colliery|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/12a_kingmoor_klickr/20909768390|website=Flickr|publisher=Flickr|accessdate=17 December 2016}}</ref> thumb|Bevercotes Colliery in 1988 The mine was served by a single track, {{Convert|4.5|mi|abbr=on}} branch railway opened in June 1960.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Colliery Branch Construction in Nottinghamshire |magazine=The Railway Magazine |volume=106 |issue=709 |date=May 1960 |pages=352-354}}</ref>
==Miners' strike 1984-5== During the UK miners' strike (1984–85), Bevercotes Colliery voted approximately two-to-one against strike action in a ballot held on 15–16 March 1984.<ref name="Amos">{{cite web|last1=David|first1=Amos|title=The Nottinghamshire miners, the Union of Democratic Mineworkers and the 1984-85 miners strike: scabs or scapegoats?|url=http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/14091/1/575419.pdf|website=University of Nottingham repository|publisher=University of Nottingham|accessdate=19 December 2016}}</ref> During the strike, Chris Butcher, a miner from Bevercotes Colliery, became well known as 'Silver Birch' who was funded by the '' Daily Mail'' to travel around the UK actively opposing the strike; he was also involved in organising legal action to block the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), who were running the strike.<ref name="KM">{{cite web|last1=Maguire|first1=Kevin|title=No regrets from key players in dispute|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/mar/01/uk.tradeunions|website=The Guardian|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=17 December 2016|date=29 February 2004}}</ref> In October 1985, Bevercotes miners voted to leave the NUM in favour of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers by 782 votes out of 1,372 cast (57%).<ref name="Amos"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Coal mines in Nottinghamshire