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22-762: It is situated close to Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern . The village is famous for its mining industry started by the Belgian company Vieille Montagne in 1857, hence the name Zinkgruvan (literally "the zinc mine" in English ). Zinkgruvan was founded around the mine in the 1860s, and the history of the village is closely tied to the history of the mine. The people living in Zinkgruvan are mostly mine workers. Zinkgruvan also contains several ski facilities, including an illuminated cross country ski track. The ski association in Zinkgruvan uses snow cannons to ensure that

44-569: A Heritage Lottery Grant of £134,500. The post office and community shop occupies the building which was once a reading room for the miners. Nenthead is around 4.4 miles (7.1 km) east of Alston , 44.3 miles (71.3 km) west of Newcastle upon Tyne , 34.4 miles (55.4 km) south east of Carlisle , 24 miles (38.6 km) east of Penrith , and 20.5 miles (33.0 km) west of Hexham . County Council subsidies have maintained limited bus services to Alston and beyond. However, in 2014 cuts to these subsidies were being discussed, threatening

66-404: A result, the workmen were not paid. The strike went on for 9 weeks. Many charities were set up by inhabitants of Mol and Balen. Jef Sleeckx , a politician, convinced the banks to cancel payments temporarily for affected workmen. Landlords did not ask rent during the strike. All kind of shops gave food for free or gave the impacted workmen a temporary job. At the end, the directors board agreed and

88-555: A wash-house for the miners and their families. Nenthead has accessible mines remaining, horse whims and a 260 feet (79 m) engine shaft in Rampghill . The mines closed in 1961 and there is a heritage centre displaying their history. The economy of the village relies on tourism. A long distance cycle route, the C2C , passes through Nenthead. The Grade 2 listed Wesleyan Methodist chapel has not been used since 2002 but benefitted from

110-523: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Vieille Montagne Vieille Montagne ( French pronunciation: [vjɛj mɔ̃taɲ] ) was a zinc mine in Kelmis (La Calamine), a town in Belgium between Liège and Aachen . The mine's name is French for "old mountain" or "old mine", and this is also reflected in its German name, Altenberg (earlier, Alten Galmei-Berg ). The mine

132-411: Is a major source of income for residents of Zinkgruvan. The headframe of the mine, containing the elevators that move miners and ore in the mine shaft, is a major landmark in the village and is well over 70m high. While some residents regard it as a unique feature of the town, it has been criticized for its Soviet-style architecture . This article about a location in Örebro County , Sweden

154-576: Is part of Alston Moor Parish Council. Since 2023 it has been in the unitary authority District of Westmorland and Furness and the now purely ceremonial county of Cumbria. Before Brexit , its residents were covered by the North West England European Parliamentary Constituency. In 2013 the Canadian mining company Minco sank 1,640 feet (500 m) deep boreholes in an effort to discover

176-482: The 21st century, with the electoral ward going to the right-leaning parties for the first time in 2018. In addition to Vättern, the area around Zinkgruvan contains several minor lakes. Zinkgruvan, as many small villages in Sweden, is popular with German tourists during the summer. Tourist attractions include the natural surroundings of the town and the elk that live nearby. Selling accessories and souvenirs to tourists

198-773: The Dutch claim to the neutral zone). The Belgian mine continued its operation until the end of the nineteenth century, when a workforce of 300 produced 8,500 ton of crude zinc annually. The company opened a second zinc mine in Zinkgruvan in Sweden , which is still in operation. It also ran a harbour in Åmmeberg to ship the zinc. The ore was shipped to another affiliate in Balen , Belgium . The Société des Mines et Fonderies de Zinc de la Vieille-Montagne company of Belgium (or ‘VM’ for short) came to England in 1896, specifically to

220-632: The London Lead Company. By 1882 the smelt mill was capable of smelting 8,000 bings, i.e., 64,000 long hundredweight (3,300 t), of ore per annum. Nenthead village in 1861 had 2,000 people, mostly Methodist and employed by the Quaker-owned London Lead Company in the Nenthead Mines - some of the most productive in the country. The Quakers built housing, a school, a reading room, public baths and

242-603: The area belonged to the French département of the Ourthe . After Napoleon's defeat, in 1816 the département was divided between Prussia , the Netherlands and the neutral zone of Neu-Moresnet, which contained the zinc mine. The Société des Mines et Fonderies de Zinc de la Vieille-Montagne ( lit. ‘Vieille Montagne Zinc Mining Company and Foundries ’) was created in 1837, after the independence of Belgium (which took over

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264-464: The brand VMZinc, which still refers back to the historical link with Vieille Montagne. In 1971 it was discovered the workmen in the other Belgian plants had a much higher salary for similar work. The workers in Balen wanted a raise. This led to a dispute between the workmen, the trade unions and the directors board. The 1500 workmen in Balen went on strike, but this was not accepted by the trade unions. As

286-514: The coldest and snowiest climates in England, yielding a borderline subpolar oceanic climate ( Cfc ) and cool oceanic climate ( Cfb ). The average annual temperature in Nenthead is 6.5 °C; 1,095 mm of precipitation falls annually, chiefly in winter as heavy snowfall, and in autumn. In 2014, vexillologist and heraldicist Philip Tibbetts designed a flag for the village. The flag

308-544: The county of Cumbria is one of England's highest villages, at around 1,437 feet (438 m). It was not built until the middle of the 18th century and was one of the earliest purpose-built industrial villages in Britain. Nenthead was a major centre for lead and silver mining in the North Pennines of Britain. The first smelt mill was built at Nenthead in 1737 by George Liddle, and this was subsequently expanded by

330-614: The existence of bus services for the village. Nenthead is in the parliamentary constituency of Penrith and The Border . Neil Hudson (Conservative) was elected as Member of Parliament at the 2019 General Election , replacing Rory Stewart . Before April 2023 for Local Government purposes it was in the Alston Moor Ward of Eden District Council and the Alston and East Fellside Division of Cumbria County Council . Nenthead does not have its own parish council , instead it

352-418: The extent of zinc deposits beneath Nenthead. Although test drilling could go on for several years, the company believes that the village may be sited on huge deposits of the chemical element . The zinc is 490 feet (149 m) below the surface and was previously too deep to reach by old mining techniques. With a northernly latitude of 55° N and altitude of 1,434 feet (437 m) Amsl , Nenthead has one of

374-661: The lease on the zinc mines at Bentaillou in the Pyrenees , also after World War II. The name became synonymous with zinc oxide and with rolled zinc, especially for building applications. The company was the world's oldest and also largest zinc producer, producing at its peak at least 149,000 tonnes per year. In 1989 Vieille Montagne was merged into the Union Minière group, based in Belgium, which became Umicore in 2003. The group continues its rolled zinc activity under

396-432: The ski-track is provided with snow during the entire winter. An old ice hockey rink in the village is filled with ice in the winter for public entertainment. Zinkgruvan is home to a museum that documents the history of the mining industry in the town. Zinkgruvan is forming an electoral ward with nearby Åmmeberg . While historically the area has been heavily left-wing due to the mining works, this has gradually been eroded in

418-577: The small remote village of Nenthead in the Pennine Hills of Cumbria . The company survived two world wars and the inter-war economic depression, as well as fluctuations in the geological supply and market demand for zinc and lead. Then in 1949, after fifty-three years of operation, the VM sold its mineral leases, plant and equipment and left. In the department of Ariège in France, the VM company took

440-535: The workmen even got a higher wage than requested. The events in Balen were written in the theatre play and novel Groenten uit Balen by Walter van den Broeck . The book was filmed in 2012. All events regarding the strike did happen, all referenced places do/did exist, and only the family Debreucker is a fictive one. 50°36′36″N 5°36′45″E  /  50.6101241°N 5.6123829°E  / 50.6101241; 5.6123829 Nenthead Nenthead ( / ˈ n ɛ n t h ɛ d / NENT -hed ) in

462-588: Was officially adopted and registered with the Flag Institute on 11 May 2014. The green triangle on the flag symbolises the top of the River Nent valley, from which the village gets its name. The green triangle also refers to nearby Knowbury Hill as the eastern-most point of the historic county of Cumberland with the green shade used the same as that of the Flag of Cumberland . The eight-pointed star upon

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484-648: Was once a bone of contention between Prussia on the one side and the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (later Belgium ) on the other, that resulted in a piece of land that became the territory of Neutral Moresnet . After he developed an original refining process, Belgian industrialist Jean-Jacques Dony received a decree from the Napoleonic authorities in 1806, allowing him to mine the zinc ore deposit at La Vieille Montagne near Liège. At that time,

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