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As you approach the sites of what were east Kent's coalfields there are no clues as to the industry which once dominated the area.

The surrounding rolling hills and orchards seem an inappropriate place for an industry associated with grittier and greyer parts of the country, but beneath the green and pleasant land thousands of people once made a living.

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The east Kent coalfield lies in a triangle between Ramsgate, Canterbury and Dover. Many mines were started but only four survived - those at Chislet, Betteshanger, Tilmanstone and Snowdown.

They attracted miners from all over the country seeking new employment in the depression-hit 1920s and, as the miners settled, formed their own culture quite separate to that of the county which they found themselves in.

Since the mines closed in the 1980s some of the atmosphere and community of the old pit villages has gone and it is easy to imagine the mining days never happened.

But you've got a chance to meet those who experienced what it was like working in some of the hottest and toughest mines in the country at Fowlmead Country Park this Bank Holiday Monday.

They're holding a Mining Memories day from 9.30am until 4pm where former miners will be able to bring in old photographs to add to a database of information about Betteshanger Colliery and the Kent coalfield in general.