Miner's statue unveiled at former Silverhill Colliery.

11:19, 24 Mar 2005

The County Council honoured the county’s proud mining heritage with the erection of a new statue of a miner, at the former Silverhill Colliery near Teversal on Monday 21st March.

The larger than life sculpture of a miner holding a Davy safety lamp is called ‘Testing for Gas’. It's creator, Antony Dufort, was commissioned to make the sculpture after a council-run competition, which saw local people voting for their favourite design.

It stands at Silverhill Wood - the highest point in Nottinghamshire, overlooking the Nottinghamshire coalfields. Silverhill Wood was created after the closure of the Teversal and Silverhill collieries to help regenerate the area. The views from the highest point are commanding. They include such sites as Hardwick Hall, Bolsover Castle, the Crich Monument, Clipstone Colliery Headstocks, Trent Valley Power Stations and on a good day, Lincoln Cathedral.

The statue incorporates a commemorative plaque, listing all of the principal coal mines operating in Nottinghamshire between 1819 and 2005, with their respective opening and closing dates. Harworth, Thoresby and Welbeck are of course still open

Back in November 2004, we asked for your help to provide information about some of the smaller mines. We were overwhelmed by the response, and the plaque would not have been complete without your contributions. Thank you to all who provided information about Nottinghamshire's mining past.

The reclamation of the former Silverhill colliery is part of a £13m project funded by the Coal Authority, which has restored eight former coalfield sites to public open space.

The £50,000 sculpture was funded by money from WREN (Waste Recycling Environmental Ltd) from the Landfill Tax credit scheme and the County Council.

The commemorative plaque was funded by the Council’s Building Better Communities scheme, which aims to make the county a better place to live and work.

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