COAL AND COURAGE
3 NOVEMBER 2023
Animal Instinct
The Brunner Mine, located near Greymouth on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, holds a significant place in the country's mining history. Established in 1862, it was one of the first underground coal mines on the West Coast. The mine played a crucial role in the development of the region, providing coal for local industry (it used to provide half of NZ's coal!) as it contributed to the economic growth of New Zealand during the 19th century.
Coal was a vital energy source until the 1960s, fueling factories, transportation, and heating homes. The Brunner mine was a key producer of high-quality coal, bricks, and coke in 1896, but at a price. One of the most notable events in the mine's history is the Brunner Mine disaster which happened in 1896. A tragic explosion claimed the lives of 65 miners, leaving a profound mark on the local community and the mining industry as a whole. We were reading the information boards on the site and were really intrigued by one story about the day, where the pit ponies used in the mine, refused to go in the day of the explosion, so they had to coax them in backwards... it's pretty incredible to think that the horses new something wasn't right and that it wasn't safe to go in! The Brunner Mine Historic Site is a memorial to those who lost their lives on that fateful day. Miners believed that the root cause of the explosion was inadequate ventilation, while a government inquiry unfairly blamed a negligent worker for the disaster. I'd side with the miners over a government inquiry, any day, as they're the ones in and out of the mine and know it the best!!
Coal was a vital energy source until the 1960s, fueling factories, transportation, and heating homes. The Brunner mine was a key producer of high-quality coal, bricks, and coke in 1896, but at a price. One of the most notable events in the mine's history is the Brunner Mine disaster which happened in 1896. A tragic explosion claimed the lives of 65 miners, leaving a profound mark on the local community and the mining industry as a whole. We were reading the information boards on the site and were really intrigued by one story about the day, where the pit ponies used in the mine, refused to go in the day of the explosion, so they had to coax them in backwards... it's pretty incredible to think that the horses new something wasn't right and that it wasn't safe to go in! The Brunner Mine Historic Site is a memorial to those who lost their lives on that fateful day. Miners believed that the root cause of the explosion was inadequate ventilation, while a government inquiry unfairly blamed a negligent worker for the disaster. I'd side with the miners over a government inquiry, any day, as they're the ones in and out of the mine and know it the best!!
Worldschooling At Its Finest
We're not huge history buffs, but it's always interesting to learn new things around New Zealand, especially as all we seemed to learn in school was about Hitler, the Treaty of Waitangi and Captain Cook. It's been pretty fascinating travelling the country and visiting historic sites like this, and museums, to get a real grasp on New Zealand's history by seeing remains in person, as when we can visualize it, we learn so much more! This is the reason we worldschool Arabella and Sienna... they're immersing themselves in learning, rather just reading about it in a book. This place was one of the earliest hubs of industry in New Zealand, churning out coal and crafting coke, firebricks, and more from the 1860s until the 1940s and it's amazing how much is left over to see and explore.
When we arrived at the Brunner Mine site, it was a clear but coooooold winter's day! We were absolutely freezing, and confident that the sun hadn't hit the other side of the river for a few months! The South Island cold is something very new to us, as when we lived in Auckland, it got nowhere near as cold as down here in the south brrr.
We found some information boards near the carpark and beyond that we got a great view of the bridge, the river and the remains of the mine and brickworks and mine entrances on the other side of the river. If you don't have much time to explore the site, it's worth stopping in at the carpark to read the information boards, where you can get a view of the site across both sides of the river. You will need a zoom lense on your camera, or use binoculars, if you want to have a good view of the buildings etc across the river!
The restored Q class railway coal wagon, just before the bridge, was neat to look at and the girls enjoyed clambering around on it! It sits on an old railway line and is purely there for viewing purposes and is no longer in use.
Our girls love running across bridges... no idea why but they always have! So they ran ahead, glancing into the brown river below... clearly unimpressed at the colour, over to the other side we found more information boards about the Brunner Mine Site. If you are keen to learn more about history in New Zealand then it's a great place to visit when you're in Greymouth. There is a 2km loop track around the site, that takes you to all the areas of interest, but there are paths going this way and that way, so you can easily just visit a few places and not do the whole track. Bella was wearing about 4 layers on top and still freezing cold, so she wasn't too impressed about walking the track!! I must admit, I was struggling a bit too, despite all my layers!
When we arrived at the Brunner Mine site, it was a clear but coooooold winter's day! We were absolutely freezing, and confident that the sun hadn't hit the other side of the river for a few months! The South Island cold is something very new to us, as when we lived in Auckland, it got nowhere near as cold as down here in the south brrr.
We found some information boards near the carpark and beyond that we got a great view of the bridge, the river and the remains of the mine and brickworks and mine entrances on the other side of the river. If you don't have much time to explore the site, it's worth stopping in at the carpark to read the information boards, where you can get a view of the site across both sides of the river. You will need a zoom lense on your camera, or use binoculars, if you want to have a good view of the buildings etc across the river!
The restored Q class railway coal wagon, just before the bridge, was neat to look at and the girls enjoyed clambering around on it! It sits on an old railway line and is purely there for viewing purposes and is no longer in use.
Our girls love running across bridges... no idea why but they always have! So they ran ahead, glancing into the brown river below... clearly unimpressed at the colour, over to the other side we found more information boards about the Brunner Mine Site. If you are keen to learn more about history in New Zealand then it's a great place to visit when you're in Greymouth. There is a 2km loop track around the site, that takes you to all the areas of interest, but there are paths going this way and that way, so you can easily just visit a few places and not do the whole track. Bella was wearing about 4 layers on top and still freezing cold, so she wasn't too impressed about walking the track!! I must admit, I was struggling a bit too, despite all my layers!
Little To No Restrictions
The West Coast has become our favourite region in New Zealand. It's so incredibly diverse with mirror lakes, glaciers, incredible sunsets, lush rainforests, keas (the world's only alpine parrot) and snowy mountains, plus it's just so untouched and there is such a rich history here, especially with gold (we have been gold panning a few times which has been a lot of fun)!
It was nice to see the Brunner Mine site so untouched and although it hasn't been restored, there's a lot to see here without having to try and visualise it in your mine because all there is is a pile of bricks that once was a giant building! I'm most definitely a visual person, so being here was amazing and really helped place everything in my mind.
Although you can't enter the mine shaft here (I mean, why would you want to?!), you can see into it you're free to explore the surrounding area. I appreciate how little restrictions there are on the site - New Zealand is pretty PC and safety conscious when it comes to potential hazards (fantastic in some areas and compleeeetely over the top in others), so it's cool that we could go inside crumbling buildings or climb crumbling stairs! There's also a statue and remembrance plaque on the site to remember the 65 men who lost their lives in the explosion, as well as the Pike River miners who tragically lost their lives in 2010. The Pike River mine is just down the road from the Brunner Mine site and I clearly remember the day it happened... it was all over the news for months and the poor families have never been able to recover any of the men from inside the mine.
Sienna has seen many statues over her sweet little life and hasn't paid much attention... but this particular statue, she ran up to it and gave it a big hug and was chatting away to it for ages. It makes me wonder if there was more to it than just a statue ;)
It was nice to see the Brunner Mine site so untouched and although it hasn't been restored, there's a lot to see here without having to try and visualise it in your mine because all there is is a pile of bricks that once was a giant building! I'm most definitely a visual person, so being here was amazing and really helped place everything in my mind.
Although you can't enter the mine shaft here (I mean, why would you want to?!), you can see into it you're free to explore the surrounding area. I appreciate how little restrictions there are on the site - New Zealand is pretty PC and safety conscious when it comes to potential hazards (fantastic in some areas and compleeeetely over the top in others), so it's cool that we could go inside crumbling buildings or climb crumbling stairs! There's also a statue and remembrance plaque on the site to remember the 65 men who lost their lives in the explosion, as well as the Pike River miners who tragically lost their lives in 2010. The Pike River mine is just down the road from the Brunner Mine site and I clearly remember the day it happened... it was all over the news for months and the poor families have never been able to recover any of the men from inside the mine.
Sienna has seen many statues over her sweet little life and hasn't paid much attention... but this particular statue, she ran up to it and gave it a big hug and was chatting away to it for ages. It makes me wonder if there was more to it than just a statue ;)
A photo of the men who worked in the coal mine
Not The Drink And Not The Drug
Our last exploration of the area took us to the crumbling brickworks and coke ovens, which were in full use when the coal mine was operating.
If you're not familiar with a coke oven (I had to research this one!), it's a big, super-hot oven where they used to cook coal to make something called "coke." Not the drink, or the drug - coke is a hard, black substance that's used to fuel things like furnaces and factories. They load a bunch of coal into the oven, then heat it up without letting any air get inside. This super high temperature makes the coal change. It loses some of the stuff that makes it burn, leaving behind this hard, solid coke. People use coke because it burns really hot and doesn't give off a lot of smoke, which makes it great for powering big machines and factories. So in summary... coke ovens are special ovens for turning coal into a useful fuel.
The area with the coke ovens in it was huge and it looks like a roof and structure has been built over and around it, to help protect it from the elements and preserve the history for longer. We weren't able to get inside and take a look around, due to it being fenced off, but there are so many wide-open spaces to look inside, so we really felt like we got the full experience.
The brick works was also fenced off, but you got to see that from all angles at different points along the path. These have definitely crumbled a lot more than the coke ovens, but there is still so much to see and learn about.
Once we were finished looking around (we spent an hour or so), you have NO idea how glad we were to be back on the other side of the Brunner Bridge in the warm sunshine! It was great to thaw out and plan our next adventure in Greymouth.
If you're not familiar with a coke oven (I had to research this one!), it's a big, super-hot oven where they used to cook coal to make something called "coke." Not the drink, or the drug - coke is a hard, black substance that's used to fuel things like furnaces and factories. They load a bunch of coal into the oven, then heat it up without letting any air get inside. This super high temperature makes the coal change. It loses some of the stuff that makes it burn, leaving behind this hard, solid coke. People use coke because it burns really hot and doesn't give off a lot of smoke, which makes it great for powering big machines and factories. So in summary... coke ovens are special ovens for turning coal into a useful fuel.
The area with the coke ovens in it was huge and it looks like a roof and structure has been built over and around it, to help protect it from the elements and preserve the history for longer. We weren't able to get inside and take a look around, due to it being fenced off, but there are so many wide-open spaces to look inside, so we really felt like we got the full experience.
The brick works was also fenced off, but you got to see that from all angles at different points along the path. These have definitely crumbled a lot more than the coke ovens, but there is still so much to see and learn about.
Once we were finished looking around (we spent an hour or so), you have NO idea how glad we were to be back on the other side of the Brunner Bridge in the warm sunshine! It was great to thaw out and plan our next adventure in Greymouth.
Know Before You Go
- The Brunner Mine site has a 2km path for walking around and it's mostly flat and easy for kids
- There are plenty of parking spots available in the carpark
- There are multiple information boards around the site to learn about the history of the Brunner Mine site
- No dogs are allowed
How To Get To The Brunner Mine Site In Greymouth
The Brunner Mine site is situated approximately 11km east of Greymouth. You can get to it on State Highway 7, or Taylorville Road, but the parking is ideal on SH7 where there is a big carpark.
Conclusion
We had a really nice time walking around the Brunner Mine Site, despite it being such a cold day! There is so much information around the place to learn from and we loved how much history you could still see and touch. The 2km walk was really easy and mostly flat which is perfect for kids!
Gallery of the Brunner Mine Site
Check out the rest of the awesomeness that didn't make it to the main blog but deserves to be shown.
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