THE search is on for the Coal Queens of yesteryear.

Former Coal Queens are being asked to get involved in a celebration at the National Coal Mining Museum.

The museum wants past queens to talk about their time as a Coal Queen.

Many of them went on to compete in the regional and national finals of Coal Queen of Britain.

One former queen, Connie Noble, was named Coal Queen in August 1953.

The Middles- town woman was crowned at the Grange Moor colliery.

On the sunny day, she competed against women from six local collieries at the annual field day and horticultural show.

Miners and their families watched as the Coal Queen crowning took place.

Her page boys were Douglas Wales and Glyn Taylor while Ann Sidney from Moldgreen was the crown bearer.

She was crowned as Coal Queen by Meriel McCooey from the Dewsbury Saxon Players.

The National Coal Mining Museum is holding its 20th anniversary celebrations throughout 2008.

As part of the celebrations, the museum will hold its fourth annual Miners’ gala in June 8 with a range of activities planned.

Organisers at the museum are hoping to find a few past winners of the Cola Queen to take part.

The competition was run by the National Coal Board until 1996 and each colliery was encouraged to choose its own Coal Queen.

The colliery queens from each region would go on to compete to be Miss Yorkshire with the 12 regional finalists battling it out for the National Coal Queen of Britain title.

The early competitions were staged in Skegness but later moved to Blackpool when a big mining festival was organised, where it remained until 1983.

Rachel Bannister, marketing manager at the Mining Museum, said it was an exciting project.

“I think that every colliery and every mining village used to have a Coal Queen.

“There were certainly heats to find the regional winners, like Miss Yorkshire Coal Queen and Miss Lancashire Coal Queen, and they went on to contest the national final.

“Potentially there are hundreds of past Coal Queens out there as the contest may have carried on at local level after the national finals were ended in 1983.

“We would love to hear from these women or their families. There are lots of questions we would like to ask them about their days as Coal Queens.”