Plan in motion for pit wheel monument

A planning application has been submitted to put a pit wheel that was in storage for 25 years on display as a monument to our district’s mining heritage.
The former pit wheel from Frickley Colliery has been sandblasted ahead of it going on display as a monument to the district's mining heritage.The former pit wheel from Frickley Colliery has been sandblasted ahead of it going on display as a monument to the district's mining heritage.
The former pit wheel from Frickley Colliery has been sandblasted ahead of it going on display as a monument to the district's mining heritage.

South Kirkby and Moorthorpe Town Council has now asked for formal permission from Wakefield Council to create a monument from half of Frickley Colliery’s former wheel at the junction of Mill Lane and White Apron Street.

A mining tub will also be placed on the town’s green under the plans, while it is expected the other half of the wheel will go on display at Frickley Athletic FC.

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The town council will install plaques on both the wheel and tub, and is looking for suggestions of what should be inscribed from residents to best describe the town’s mining heritage.

Anyone with a contribution is asked to email [email protected].

Town council leader Charlie Robinson said: “This project has been a team effort and we want to involve the public as much as possible.

“A lot of people under 30 probably wouldn’t be able to imagine what a mine looked like because they have been wiped from the landscape. So this project is a reminder that this was an area built on coal and we should never forget that.”

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When the colliery closed in 1993 the two halves of the wheel and two pit tubs were brought to the Grove, the town council’s administrative offices, for safekeeping to save for the community with the intention to one day have them refurbished and displayed to celebrate the district’s mining history.

The first half of the wheel and the tub have been taken away for sandblasting and renovation.

A get-together for everyone involved will be planned for after the project is complete.

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