Mayor in Marley Hill to celebrate coal heritage

Mayor of Gateshead, Joe Mitchinson, was in Marley Hill on Thursday 6th October to celebrate the unvieling of restored coal tubs that form part of a floral display.

The coal tubs were formerly outside Marley Hill Primary School. When the school was closed in December, there was general consensus that the coal tubs should be retained as part of the heritage of the village whose mine closed in 1983.

The tubs had been used as part of a floral display at the school and it was felt that they should be used again in the same way.

The three local councillors - Jonathan Wallace, John McClurey and Marilynn Ord - arranged for the restoration of the tubs to be part financed by the Local Community Fund. Durham Aged Miners' Housing Association also covered some of the costs and gave permission for the tubs to be placed on their land, in front of the Marley Hill Aged Miners' Homes.

Restoration work was carried out during 2011 by the Tanfield Railway.

You can see the ceremony in the above video.