“Hundreds of miners have marched through a South Yorkshire town to mark the end of coal mining there.

Maltby Colliery, one of the last deep mines in England, was closed as owners Hargreaves Services said it was no longer viable.

The Maltby Miners Welfare band led a parade through the town to a cemetery, where two wreathes were laid and a lump of coal buried.

MP Kevin Barron, who used to work at the pit, said it was a “sad day”.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said about 250 people were now out of work, while 150 had been redeployed.

Paul Arthur from the NUM said: “A lot of the men have worked there for 20 or 30 years, and thought they would see out their working lives here.”

Mr Barron, Labour MP for Rother Valley, said: “If there are safety problems down there the first ones who wouldn’t want to go down are the miners themselves.

“Quite a lot of them I understand have got transfers to Hatfield Colliery, which is now the only remaining deep mine in South Yorkshire.”

The pit produced coal for more than 100 years. When Hargreaves Services bought the colliery from UK Coal in 2007, mining was expected to continue until 2015.

In May 2012 the company said “unusual geological conditions” had emerged, with excess levels of water, gas and oil.

Work to seal off the mine is expected to be completed in 10 weeks.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-22051348

So, that’s the BBC’s take.

Not sure about “hundreds of miners” but there was a good enough turnout and a genial atmosphere of ‘community’.

Nice of our Kev  (Kevin Barron, MP for Rother Valley ) to turn out and march alongside the Vicar.  Rather concerned about Kevin’s attire – blue tie and blue scarf ? Wonder if he’s gone all Tory ?  Always good to have an opportunity anyway to remind folks that he worked at the pit – he started in 1962 aged 16 as an electrician and “worked in the coal industry for 23 years” (Wikipedia)

Maltby Town Councilors in attendance – Cllr Joy Bradford, Cllr Joe Robinson, Clllr Ann Dickinson (who ???? )  If I missed any councillor who was in the march, please let me know. I’d be more than happy to put that matter right.

 Cllrs Stringer and Astbury conspicuous in their absence. Perhaps they were told that there was no buffet after all, or at least not one with CAKE.  No Cllr Peter Scholey …staunch Labour man, no Chairman Cllr Jon Carratt – thought he’d have put a look in. No Cllr Jenny Andrews , Maltby born and bred and Labour supporter all her life – except for the short time she went Independant.. No Cllr Amy Rushforth – Cabinet Member for Culture & Stuff …

One might be forgiven for thinking that Labour members are storing up all their energy and event attending for elections. 🙂

An end of an era. Yes, it is, and for some that will be very hard to come to terms with.

But then again, as a young Maltby lass said yesterday, “I don’t want to sound stupid but, what’s a colliery ?  ” 

She lives in Maltby but was unaware of the word. That about sums up the situation, I reckon. 

The next generation is here now. Maltby Colliery is a thing of the past. 

Let’s hope that the future is worth looking forward to, for all generations of Maltby people now and to come.