Back to Work

I've been off work for a little over two weeks. It is surprising how much has happened.

This chap arrived over this last weekend.  It's all part of a commemoration of the men, women and boys who worked at Salford's Irwell Valley pits, unveiled by ex Agecroft miners and their families and funded through donations they've collected. 

So here is a bench with a sitting miner, and at the other end a miners lamp (reverse of the end piece of the bench). A number on the lamp (out of sight here) is the colliery number of Adam Stott, who died at Agecroft in 1981, at a young age. Nearer this end (also out of sight here) on the ground is a plaque which commemorates those who worked at Wheatsheaf, Pendleton, Newton, Sandhole, Agecroft and Wet Earth pits.

Local history, a places past, evokes strong feelings and memories for people. And the past should be remembered. Service industries are now the biggest part of Salford's economy - the City has seen quite a transformation over 40 years.