Village mining heritage comes full circle as pit wheel returns home
The official unveiling of the Silksworth Colliery pit wheel has finally taken place after four years of campaigning for its return.
The wheel had stood in Albany, Washington. A plaque on its hub stated that it was used at Silks worth Colliery between 1868 and 1971, when the pit closed. But it seems Silks worthians were unaware of this until 2019.
The wheel has now been relocated close to the colliery’s site, off Silks worth Lane. Albany has been given a replacement, courtesy of Washington’ s F-Pit Museum.
The ribbon cutting was symbolically carried out by eight people: Mayor of Sunderland Alison Smith, Cllr Phil Tye, Steven Barnes who located the wheel, fundraiser Jimmy Usher and ex-miners Alan Chrystal, Ian Hodgkinson, Lynn Turnbull and Peter Shields.
A ceremonial march was held between Silksworth Recreation Park and the wheel, featuring the much loved GT Group Band Peterlee who played timeless tunes including the Miners’ Hymn.
Residents of all ages watched the ceremony, including a number of former pitmen.
Cllr Tye is chair of Silksworth Residents’ Association and spearheaded the campaign to return the wheel. His late father George Tye was a miner at the colliery.
Explaining why eight people cut the ribbon, C ll rT yes aid: “Mining communities stuck together through thick and thin;
and even fetching the wheel back and cutting the ribbon was about all of us and not one individual.
“It was difficult to take it from Washington, but the icing on the cake was being able to find and secure the pit wheel to place it in Albany.
“It took four years from originally saying that we would; from the day the Stephen came knocking on my door and saying he’d found Silksworth’s pit wheel in Albany. I thought he was kidding. Everyone had said it had gone forever. How it was there for 50 years I’ll never know.
“An example of how much it mattered was when a family came with their father who had worked there. He had dementia, but it brought everything back to him. Talking to that family was unbelievable.
“It’s really important. It’s part of what we are. It’s part of the community forever. We can never forget our mining heritage.Things have moved on, but we should never ever forget.”