Mining memories still so which remains proud of

Fifteen years on, Ellington is still coming to terms with the closure of its colliery. However, as Hannah Graham found out, the village’s community spirit remains strong

COAL has not been dug out of the ground at Ellington for just over 15 years – but it is still very much a mining village.

Opened in 1909, Ellington Colliery was once at the very heart of life for the people of Ellington and the surrounding villages of Lynemouth and Linton.

The last operating deep mine of the Great North Coalfield, its end came in February 2005 when water catastrophically burst out from the coalface of a new development in the mine which should have assured at least another five years of life for the pit.

Soon, the site of the former pit could be home to up to 400 new houses – but for those who lived in Ellington when the mine was still operating the site’s former use will not soon be forgotten.

Coun Liz Dunn lives in Lynemouth, close to the former colliery, and the area she represents covers Ellington and a number of the surrounding villages.

She remembers the colliery well, as her husband used to work there, and says the area has still not fully recovered from its closure.

It was once a major employer, with a workforce of more than 2,000 at the time of the 1984 miners strike, but just 340 jobs were lost in 2005 when it closed.

Coun Dunn said: “It was a way of for most people in the surrounding villages. I think we still feel the impact of it closing.

“We still have the power station at Lynemouth, which has about 150 employees, but we are still feeling the impact of losing that industry.”

Pictures show the scale of the mine when it was operational. Some of the coal board land has been regenerated through what Coun Dunn says was a “marvellous” community project on behalf of Ellington Juniors Football Club, which will provide much-needed sports and social facilities for the area.

With new homes on the way, the councillor believes what is really needed to rejuvenate the villages is improved public transport, allowing people to commute to work further afield.

She said: “Mining was a way of life and when it came to an end that was a really hard thing for some people to take.

“While there has been some regeneration in the area I still don’t think the ward as a whole has recovered. The

Ellington Colliery, Ashington, Northumberland, 1999

Miners at Ellington celebrate digging out 1,000,000 tonnes of coal. Mark Saunders, Steven Fuller, Graeme Crisps, Tom Spain, Keith Stobbart, Barry McDonald and Ray Middleton.