Tribute to Burnley and Padiham miners (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Tribute to Burnley and Padiham miners

3:00pm Friday 10th February 2012 in Burnley By Peter Magill, Chief reporter

A TRIBUTE to the mining communities of Padiham and Burnley is set to become a feature of the award-winning Greenway.

Ex-colliers from as far afield as Hapton Valley, Bank Hall and Deerplay will be remembered at the monument near the southern end of the £1.5million Padiham Greenway.

And the stone arc, which will be decorated with forged plates depicting key mining tools, has come together courtesy of a team effort.

Tim Norris drew up the designs for Mid Pennine Arts, Padiham stonemason Alan Parkinson has been enlisted for the project and black-smith John Conlon will craft the decorations.

An 11th-hour funding effort has finally brought the project on track.

An initial £4,000 was earmarked by Padiham schools and another £1,000 found by Mid Pennine Arts.

But another £2,000 from Lancashire Cou-nty Council’s environment section will see plans fully realised.

Town councillors have also approved a £250 grant towards a £500 contingency fund for the monument.

Coun Bob Clark, Padiham’s town mayor and an ex-miner, said: “The people involved in this have really worked their socks off and it was a bit touch and go.

“It would have still gone ahead but it would have been a poor effort for what could be a great thing for Padiham.”