Statue commemorates miners who died in explosion
BBCA statue honouring ten miners who died working in a pit 140 years ago has been unveiled.
On 10 September 1886, a huge underground explosion at Dean Lane Pit in Bedminster, Bristol, killed the workers, including a 15-year-old, and injured many more.
Gary Atterton from Bedminster Coalminers Heritage Group, said he hoped the 7ft (2.1m) tall metal minor, at Dame Emily Park in Bedminster, would remind people of a "forgotten part of Bristol's history".
"We had four major coal mines in Bedminster and thousands of workers over the years, toiling below our feet," he added.
Atterton said he was disappointed the statue was vandalised with graffiti days before its unveiling.
Volunteers who had campaigned for the memorial painted over the tags left across the mid-section of the miner.
Holding a pick-axe aloft, the statue stands next to a skate park where the entrance to the pit once stood.
It was donated by the Somerset District Miners Welfare Trust, said Atterton, "to the people of Bedminster, so we can celebrate, commemorate and think about the past and, hopefully, people in this park will start asking questions about why it is here".
At the statue's feet, a ceramic plaque has been placed, with the names of the ten victims of the explosion, paying tribute to "the coalminers and their families whose courage helped shape the community of Bedminster".
It was unveiled by Tina Huckle-Mills, the great, great, great grandaughter of William Garland, who was 29 when he died in the Dean Lane pit.
Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.
