WORK on a monument commemorating generations of miners in Burnley is soon set to be completed after years of planning.
The Burnley Miners' Memorial Wall project has come about thanks to work done by a local committee, many of them former miners themselves, who have been determined to remember their fallen colleagues.
The monument will be placed in front of Burnley Central Library on Grimshaw Street.
Committee member Jack Nadin, 72 who worked in the Hapton Valley pit from 1964 to 1972 and spent nearly 40 hours a week underground, said: “At last after two and a half years hard work in fundraising by our committee work has finally started on Burnley Miners' Memorial recalling the names of 328 men and boys who perished in the local pits, finally they will be remembered.”
Mr Nadin has spent much of his life researching the area’s history and has written several books about mining and the communities that grew around the industry.
The committee also plans to place a time capsule within the memorial aimed at commemorating the long and rich history of Burnley’s mining communities.
Mining was one of the most dangerous occupations of its time but also one of the most crucial to the development of British industry.
The memorial wall will remember all of those who lost their lives in local pits, but in particular the committee have emphasised the need to remember the 16 men and boys killed in the Hapton Valley pit explosion on March 22 1962.
All of the casualties were from Burnley, among them a miner whose wife was expecting a fourth child, two young men who were due to have been married soon, and a 16-year-old boy whose job it was to take supplies to the coal face.
In tribute, the Burnley Mining Memorial Fund first formed on the anniversary of the disaster in 2018.
However, it is not just those who died, but all those over the years whose health was impacted for years afterwards that the committee hopes to honour, along with celebrating the communities lived amongst the coalfields.
Mr Nadin, who has written a book about the Hapton mining disaster, said: “Further research shows at least another 50 were killed in the mines and many more perished through the aftermath of industrial injuries and breathing problems.
“Bless them all.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here