Restored mining wheels to serve as memorial

A memorial to the mining industry has been unveiled at a former colliery than 30 years after it closed.

The original winding wheels from Silverhill Colliery near Teversal, in Nottinghamshire, have been restored and placed as a monument to the area's mining heritage.

Former miner Alan Batterham, from a group called Friends of Silverhill, helped organise the memorial after the wheels were found in Ashfield District Council's depot.

The wheels were unveiled at a ceremony on Saturday at Silverhill Wood, with about 100 people in attendance.

The colliery was sunk in 1875 by the Stanton Ironworks Company and closed in 1993.

Mr Batterham, from Sutton-in-Ashfield, said he received a call from a man about six years ago to tell him that he had seen the wheels in the depot, and asked him if they could be returned to Silverhill.

The 76-year-old "things went quiet" shortly after, but the project reignited about a year later when he and a few others went to the depot and found the wheel "covered in brambles".

The Friends of Silverhill group was able to have the wheels restored with the help of Annesley business Make Consulting and they were lifted into place on 14 August.

"I can’t praise them enough for what they’ve done for the ex-miners," Mr Batterham added.

"We’ve tried to keep it non-political.

"The memorial says this is dedicated to all the men and women who worked at Silverhill Colliery and the men that died working there."

The final cost of the project was about £50,000, Mr Batterham said, with £13,000 raised by the Friends of Silverhill and the rest paid for by Make Consulting.

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