Markham Mining Memorial Unveiling September 2021: Five more figures added to Walking Together
Beam are delighted to be able to share with you the news that five new statues have been added to the ‘Walking Together’ mining memorial by Artist Stephen Broadbent at Derbyshire County Council’s Markham Vale Business Park.
The new statues take the total of life-sized steel figures at the site to 93, and Beam are continuing to work alongside partners to fundraise to see the target of all 106 figures installed.
The most recent additions are sited at the Markham Vale Environment Centre and are dedicated to:
- Arthur Roper, 61 - contractor
- Albert Bell, 33 - road Layer
- George Cowley, 38 - contractor
- William Pickering, 24 - haulage hand
- Rowe Kirk, 60 - contractor
Derbyshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Clean Growth and Regeneration, Councillor Tony King, said, “Installing 5 more statues to the Walking Together mining memorial brings us even closer to commemorating all 106 men tragically lost in the 3 accidents at Markham Colliery.
“We will never forget Markham’s mining heritage and the memorial is a place where generations to come can visit and learn about the site’s important history.
“As we work towards completing this important memorial project, I’d like to thank all of the sponsors for their generous contributions so far, including Tesco Bags of Help, The Duke of Devonshire’s Charitable Trust, Aviva Community Fund, public donations and Beam who have funded the most recent group of figures.”
A short film celebrating the most recent installation can be viewed here
Beam have also created a handout for this most recent installation that you can download from The Storymine website. Please contact Beam if you would like a hard copy of the handout posted to you, email contact@beam.uk.net or call 07718 564 376. The team hope that you enjoy the film and would be really interested to hear any feedback you may have.
Thank you to the Markham Vale Heritage Group for their continued dedication and support to realising this important memorial.
Film and photography credits - David John King