There is a small collection of shops, Post Office, a garage and the Three Lions public house. The River Meden flows through the village alongside the main road. The village has a rugby union side which plays in the RFU Midlands 5 East (North) division.
Former colliery
The economy was based mainly on Welbeck Colliery, which started up when two shafts were sunk between 1912 and 1915. It was determined by owner UK Coal for closure in 2007 due to limited reserves, with the last coal produced 11 May 2010. Most of the working-age employees from the 410 total transferred to other collieries operated by UK Coal, including Daw Mill near Coventry, a daily round-trip of 140 mi (230 km) for some. When closed it was one of the last remaining deep mine collieries to operate in England, and at its peak employed 1,400 men and produced 1.5 million tonnes of coal yearly.[2][3]
The headstocks were demolished by explosives in April 2011.[4]
Explosion
Two security guards were badly injured in an explosion confined to a surface electrical substation at the Colliery site on Saturday 31 December 2011.[5]
^Goodbye to Welbeck pit. "Production stops at colliery after nearly 100 years of coal". Chad, local newspaper, 12 May 2010, p.20. Accessed 18 September 2015.
