What’s On

Memorial to Ellington Colliery to be unveiled

Posted by The Journal on Oct 30, 09 04:52 PM in What’s On

A MEMORIAL celebrating the history of the region's last deep pit will be unveiled to local people next weekend.

The bronze statue of a miner and accompanying pit wheel will be unveiled at the former Ellington Colliery in Northumberland in a special ceremony and open day on Saturday November 7.

The sculpture - which commemorates the men who worked and died at the huge Ellington Combine - will take pride of place at the redundant site, which is now the subject of plans for housing, employment and leisure development.

It is the brainchild of a band of local volunteers, known as the Ellington Colliery Memorial Group, which was set up in 2007 and includes representatives of UK Coal, the National Union of Mineworkers and Ellington Parish Council.

Next weekend's event starts at 10.15am when the Ellington Colliery Band will play prior to the unveiling ceremony at 10.30am.

Ian Lavery, president of the NUM, and Jack Tubby, a former manager of Ellington Colliery, will jointly unveil the sculpture.

From 11am activities will take place inside the Ellington Colliery Social Centre and a marquee at the rear of the building. A local dance school will perform and local historian Ray Ditchburn will be providing visitors with information on the former colliery via a laptop.

Local author and Memorial Group chairman, Neil Taylor, will sign copies of a book on Ellington to mark the occasion.

The marquee will contain a display of mining artefacts and memorabilia from Beamish Museum, a collage of Ellington Colliery photographs and two memorial books to the men who lost their lives at Ellington and Lynemouth Collieries. There will be further musical entertainment from the Ellington Colliery Band, the 20,000 community song team, children from two local schools and the Ashington and District Male Voice Choir.

Organisers are hoping that as many people as possible will turn up on the day. Ellington was the region's only remaining deep mine when owner UK Coal announced its immediate closure in January 2005.

The £76,000 memorial project has secured £29,100 from the Heritage Lottery Fund and other contributions.

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