More should been done to pay tribute to our mining heritage, say readers

Readers call for more to be done to honour our mining heritage as “pits have been left without any sign of existence”
Ray Lonsdale's miner and cole tub statue, South HettonRay Lonsdale's miner and cole tub statue, South Hetton
Ray Lonsdale's miner and cole tub statue, South Hetton

Coal mining was once a key industry in the North East and played a big part in many people’s lives, coal was at the heart of many other industries and it was the lifeblood that fuelled steel and engineering companies.

We asked in our recent online poll: “Has enough been done in the region to pay tribute to our area's mining heritage?”

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More than 1000 people took part online and 78% of Echo readers think more should be done to pay tribute to our mining past, while 22% of readers think enough has been done.

David Haswell said: “The majority of pits have been left without any sign of their existence. That's the least that could be done as a tribute to all those whose lives were lost.”

Alan Common said: “You would never get me down a pit I have seen what happened to some of my friends.”

Mark Jansen said: “It's not just about paying tribute, it's about investing money into the area to change the fact that the mines were closed and NOTHING was added to replace them.”

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Julie Dawson said: “Most children don't even know what coal is, they have never seen a lump of coal which is sad really I remember my dad working at the pit and the big coal wagon emptying bags of coal in the shed we lived in a pit house dad worked at Wearmouth Colliery until it closed.”

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