Ex-miners 'proud' of first banner in 24 years

Former miners have described the unveiling of their first new banner in more than 20 years as a "proud day" for history and their village.

An updated banner which pays tribute to the Wheatley Hill Colliery has replaced a replica which has been on show since 1990.

Former pitman Gordon Tempest said he was "honoured" to officially unfurl the pennant in front of former colleagues in the County Durham village.

It will be shown off for the first time during the Miners' Gala, also known as the Big Meeting, in Durham City on Saturday.

The first parade took place in 1871 and has become an annual tradition, with banners from former pit villages being paraded through the city centre.

The banner, which pays tribute to ex-mining leader Peter Lee on the reverse side, features a coloured picture of the mine, which closed in 1968, and a pitman.

"This banner is unique and maintains the link to the man at the centre of it all, Peter Lee," Mr Tempest, a former councillor and teacher in the village, told the BBC.

He said the parading of a banner was symbolic as it helps to commemorate those who died while working in the mines.

"Every time the banner goes up, there are memories of people in our lifetime who are associated with it - the hundreds of miners from our village who lost lives in the coal mines."

Another former miner Billy Walker started working at Thorney Colliery when he was just 15, after his father became too ill to bring an income into the family.

Working in a mine was in his blood as his brother and grandfather had also worked at the colliery, he said.

Mr Walker, who has spent the last 25 years carrying the village's banner through Durham City, called the new one "absolutely fantastic".

"A lot of work has gone into it, we've had meetings... the whole village will be proud when they see it on Saturday morning."

He admitted that although it becoming increasingly difficult to carry, he was excited to be there for the upcoming gala.

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