Imposing memorial to community's mining heritage is planned by volunteers

The mine closed five years ago – having survived the wholesale colliery closure programme of the 1980s and 1990s which saw the Yorkshire coalfield decimated.

Now an organisation called the Maltby Miners Memorial Committee has applied for planning permission to install a memorial on an area of open ground outside the town’s leisure centre, which would give it a prominent position when approaching from the direction of Rotherham.

The plan would feature half a winding wheel, mounted on elevated ground towards the rear of the site, with resin statues to be created of a miner from the 1910 era, shaking hands with a counterpart from a century later, with the pair mounted on a circular stone plinth.

At either side there would be mining ‘tubs’, the carriages used to transport coal underground, with one pushed and one pulled by a boy and a woman, to reflect the parts they played in mining as the industry developed.

The whole site would be bounded by fencing, with gates onto the High Street.

It is unclear where funding for the scheme would be found.

The memorial group was formed in 2014, with the objective of providing a lasting memorial to the area’s industrial past and members are also involved in writing a book on the topic, to help keep its history alive locally.