Village pride as new mining statue gets grand unveiling
A new statue by artist Ray Lonsdale has been unveiled in honour of a village’s mining heritage.
Hundreds of people turned out to see the sculpture unveiled for the first time at the Robin Todd Centre in South Hetton.
The sculpture depicts a miner pushing the last tub before the closure of the South Hetton Colliery in the 1980s.
Gill Rodgers, secretary of the South Hetton Heritage Committee, which raised the funds for the statue, said she was thrilled.
She said: “I am delighted with the turnout that we have had for the unveiling, it just shows the level of support we have had throughout.
“We appealed for donations, held various fundraising events, and along with the support from the parish, we managed to raise £30,000 for the statue in just over a year.
“The whole importance of it all was to create a new sense of community now the colliery has gone.”
The statue also bears the names of those who worked at the mine and sculptor Ray Lonsdale, engraved it with a poem dedicated to all those who lived and worked as part of the South Hetton Colliery community.
There to unveil the sculpture, was the first lady to ever work at South Hetton Colliery, Joyce Raymond, who was joined by the oldest surviving miner of the colliery, Bill Short, 95, and his son William Short, 53.
The statue also bears the names of those who worked at the mine and sculptor Ray engraved it with a poem dedicated to all those who lived and worked as part of the colliery community.