A GLIMPSE into the mining past in part of Shipley has been discovered by the work of a dedicated team of volunteers.

The Northcliffe Heritage Project was set up by the Friends of Northcliffe in 2014 to carry out a two-year exploration of the industrial history and archaeology of Northcliffe Wood and Park in Shipley.

The results of the project's first 12 months research include small sandstone quarries found in the upper parts of Northcliffe Wood, evidence of coal mining around the area dating back to the 17th century and shaft and drift mining was carried out in the area, where coal and fireclay were obtained from the soft and hard beds.

The volunteers have also found coal mining finished in Northcliffe by 1880 and fireclay extraction until 1900. They have uncovered 44 coal shafts in Northcliffe and more than ten quarry sites.

A presentation was given into the project's findings at Northcliffe Church Community Hall, Hall Royd, on Saturday.

The group is now planning to carry out a dig on the top field of Northcliffe Woods to further its work.

Tony Woods, who has helped probe the historical findings for the project, said: "The work is ongoing.

"We are now in our second year. We are hoping to do an very small excavation on one of the fields in Northcliffe.

"It's been an exciting project so far.

"The plan is to spend another year of doing things on the project and sometime after that to write up what we have found."

The project started when a team of volunteers carried out a walk-over survey of the entire area between November 2014 and August last year. They mapped and recorded evidence of mining and quarrying.

Volunteers were helped by the University of Bradford's school of archaeology, who conducted a geophysics survey of the western end of the Northcliffe Park area to investigate circular marks on aerial photographs. Theses were identified as probable coal pits and the field was called Coal Pit Close on a map dated 1774.

Residents, including members of Friends of Northcliffe, learned about the first 12 months of the project through the talks and a series of information boards at Saturday's event.

Steve Bruzzese, chairman of the Friends of Northcliffe, said: "This work could go indefinitely.

"There is so much more you can discover about Northcliffe."

The volunteers have also used maps, including an Ordnance Survey from 1852, photographs and articles which suggested there had been coal mining and quarrying in the Northcliffe area for centuries.

Meanwhile, The Friends of Northcliffe will hold its annual general meeting on Thursday, January 21.

It will take place at the Kirkgate Centre, Shipley, from 7pm. Members and prospective members are welcome at all of the meetings.