MP PULLS OUT OF UNVEILING COLLIERY MONUMENT AFTER PROTEST
NUNEATON’S MP has pulled out of a plan to unveil a monument to the defunct Daw Mill Colliery after a protest from former miners who claimed it would be “absolutely disgraceful” because he is a Conservative.
Marcus Jones MP was set to officially ‘cut the ribbon’ to unveil the half wheel from Daw Mill Colliery on Ansley island on Friday.
This outraged some members of the North Warwickshire mining community who felt it was inappropriate to have a Tory as the guest of honour due to longstanding resentment of the party from the mining industry.
Many miners who worked down the pit at Daw Mill and in other nearby mines joined together to help make the monument possible, and have now been making a stand against the invitation made for Mr Jones to open the wheel.
Dee Cobb brought some of the men together to call for the monument to be opened by someone from the mining community.
She said: “The miners are absolutely up in arms about it, not on a political level, this is wrong.
“There has been a lot of toing and froing, I told Marcus Jones that he should un accept this invitation.
“A lot of those miners didn’t get pensions when this mine closed, they gave their time and they are feeling very strongly against this happening.
“These miners deserve more, they had a rough deal when that mine closed, I am not saying Marcus Jones did anything personally but it’s what his party stands for.
“It’s just a big smack in the face for these miners, it’s absolutely disgraceful.
“These men need to be heard.”
The half wheel on Ansley island, at the junction of Birmingham Road, Tunnel Road, Ansley Road and Arley Lane, is part of the shaft winding wheel from Daw Mill Colliery, which was the last colliery in Warwick- shire to close. It closed in 2013 following a fire caused by spontaneous combustion, devastating hundreds of miners who lost their jobs and faced a bitter fight for their pensions.
The other half of the wheel is in the grounds of Gun Hill School in the village of Arley.
Men of all ages from the mining community have come together over this issue. 80-year-old Terry Murray, worked in the mines for most of his working life, starting aged 18 and retiring when he got cancer aged 54,
He said: “It was hard, hard work, I have had my share of nicks and bumps and bruises but you always go back.”
Now, Mr Jones has said he will not be the one to officially unveil the wheel at Friday’s event, but will still be attending.
He said: “This is an important project that I have personally supported from the outset and will continue to do so.
“I don’t wish for the hard work of the parish council and others to be overshadowed and I think it’s entirely right that a long standing exminer ‘ cuts the ribbon’, which is my understanding”.
After hearing that Mr Jones would not be cutting the ribbon, Dee said: “That’s exactly how it should be.
“These lads should be saying who is cutting the ribbon.”
Paul Reader, who worked down the mines from 1987 to 1998, and is a former Arley Parish Council chairman, said: “I am grateful that he has seen sense and withdrawn, he is the local MP but we just cannot get our heads round it, how careless can they be, have they got no sensitivity?”