Just watched the Secret Millionaire episode about Easington.
It was nice to see that, even in a tiny place like that, they'd put a monument on the spot of the pit shaft where the colliery used to be.
Not like Shields - no relics or markers of any kind at Harton, Boldon or Whitburn.
Did they leave any markers at Westoe?
Seems like Shields is more interested in hiding its past than commemorating it.
The Wild Witch-Wizard of Whiteleas
Was a changeling's son from Mars.
He learnt his songs
From the Cosmic Throngs
And played them on a Fender guitar - Oh yeah.
Down here at Radstock, a small town about 10 miles south of Bath we have The Radstock Museum - The North Somerset Coalfield Heritage Centre. Displays of life and history in this coalfield until the last pit closed in 1973. Outside in the Memorial Gardens is one of the sheaves from the last pit to close at Kilmersdon. Can't show you a picture as I haven't yet got the hang of including photos with these postings.
It might be of interest to some of your readers as quite a few miners came down to the Radstock area in the 1940s and 50s from the Durham pits
Try this link http://www.radstockmuseum.co.uk
Jeff
There's nothing wrong with being mediocre........as long as you're good at it!
Barney/Dekka just seen your threads but I must take a bit of an issue with them.
Westoe Crown Village is named after the Crown shaft at Westoe Colliery.
Westoe Crown Primary School is also named after the Crown shaft. This is the largest primary school in the borough. It stands where the Westoe Colliery used to be. The school badge incorporates a miner's lamp. Many of it's pupils have fathers and grandfathers and other relations who worked at Westoe.
A small stone memorial stands in Westoe Village at the site of the downcast shaft overlooking the cemetry. The ugly concreted over bit of where the Crown shaft stood is a permanent reminder.
The new Westoe banner was consecrated at Durham Cathedral on Gala day in July 2009. Incidentally, police figures put the number of people attending the Durham Miner's Gala in 2009 at over 100,000. This is the highest figure for over 30 years.
thanks for the update, but my issues are still valid.
First of all - I did not mention Westoe in my original post, but, anyway, it's kind of difficult to to "look" from thousands of miles away in Canada, and even the satellite images don't make anything clear. I am glad that they have some monuments at Westoe, and did read recently that they are planning to do something similar for Harton at Whiteleas.
I don't see any monument to the 51 miners - some as young as 9 - killed in the St Hilda's pit explosion of 1839. Seems to me all they did was dig up their bodies to build an store near the site. Nice!
Also, I looked up Boldon Colliery on Google maps. The satellite shows two mounds of earth where the shaft-heads were, but little else.
I grew up in Whiteleas, and Harton Colliery was a favourite play site. I see nothing on the new housing development there that shows where any of the shafts were, or anything to show there was even a pit there. You think folk would like to know where these things were - just so they knew their house wasn't built on the site of a 1290 foot hole in the ground - even if it has been filled in!
I, too, had grandfathers and uncles who worked down - and lost their lives in - the mines around Shields. There's even less at Whitburn colliery site - just a car park.
The Wild Witch-Wizard of Whiteleas
Was a changeling's son from Mars.
He learnt his songs
From the Cosmic Throngs
And played them on a Fender guitar - Oh yeah.
Barney, I think it is rather impractical to expect the original features of a long disused coal mine to be still standing. However, I do believe that most coal mines that were once in use have left a legacy that manifests itself in some thing good for the present day community.
The Whitburn Colliery area is now a small country park used for recreational facilties. Same with Boldon Colliery which still keeps the word 'colliery' in it's title.
A really good example is the Rising Sun Country Park in Wallsend. This park was once the s**g heaps of the Rising Sun Colliery and now is an extensive park used for many recreational pursuits.
A bit further afield we have the Washington F Pit and Beamish Museum. They both have popular coal mine exhibitions. As does Sunderland Museum.
I honestly think that the mining industry has not been forgotten.
By the way, I think a few people would get a shock if they realised that there home stands over a 1000 plus foot drop in South Shields!
Perhaps I am being a bit unfair. I forgot that the "hills" of Temple Memorial Park in Whiteleas are actually landscaped slagheaps we used to play on as kids!!
However, there should be some kind of memorial for these places - a lot of people lost their lives down these mines, and there is little in Shields to commemorate that. I don't think whole pitheads would look particularly good, but a plaque or monument here and there wouldn't hurt.
I do expect to read someday about some hole opening up under one of those houses on the Brandling estate - if that's what it's called where Harton colliery used to be. There's at least two unmarked shafts on that land, one of which was 1290 feet deep, the other I don't know. Going to be interesting there someday!!!
The Wild Witch-Wizard of Whiteleas
Was a changeling's son from Mars.
He learnt his songs
From the Cosmic Throngs
And played them on a Fender guitar - Oh yeah.
The Parkway Estate stands on the site of Harton Colliery there is a newer estate built on the land that used to belong to Harton Miners Welfare. Woodhorn Colliery Museum Ashington is the best dedicated mining museum locally.
thanks for the update, but my issues are still valid.
First of all - I did not mention Westoe in my original post, but, anyway, it's kind of difficult to to "look" from thousands of miles away in Canada, and even the satellite images don't make anything clear. I am glad that they have some monuments at Westoe, and did read recently that they are planning to do something similar for Harton at Whiteleas.
I don't see any monument to the 51 miners - some as young as 9 - killed in the St Hilda's pit explosion of 1839. Seems to me all they did was dig up their bodies to build an store near the site. Nice!
Also, I looked up Boldon Colliery on Google maps. The satellite shows two mounds of earth where the shaft-heads were, but little else.
I grew up in Whiteleas, and Harton Colliery was a favourite play site. I see nothing on the new housing development there that shows where any of the shafts were, or anything to show there was even a pit there. You think folk would like to know where these things were - just so they knew their house wasn't built on the site of a 1290 foot hole in the ground - even if it has been filled in!
I, too, had grandfathers and uncles who worked down - and lost their lives in - the mines around Shields. There's even less at Whitburn colliery site - just a car park.
there is the old Hilda colliery pit head near to Wickes here's some pics of it
Last edited by eddieg on Thu Jul 29, 2010 11:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
