Mining memorials matter: A tribute to pit workers of Staffordshire and the Black Country

And though the mining industry has almost died out, memorials of all shapes and sizes are keeping its heritage alive.

Two are currently being planned in Staffordshire, as residents seek a way of paying tribute to the workers who spent their working lives down the pits.

And others have already been installed in Walsall Wood, Brownhills, Great Barr and Hednesford in recent years.

As the 30th anniversary of the end of the miners' strikes approaches on Tuesday, the bitter dispute between Margaret Thatcher and the National Union of Mineworkers will be at the forefront of people's minds.

But these memorials will ensure generations men are remembered for helping parts of the Black Country and West Midlands become the centre of the mining industry for decades.

Communities were torn apart by the closures, with men who once had no trouble providing for their families suddenly struggling to make ends meet.

Organisers say the memorials are giving villages and towns a sense of identity again.

These are not just traditional stone plinths, though – they are eye-catching designs that reflect the way the mines dominated their communities.

The 55ft high replica pit head in Walsall Wood is believed to be the biggest mining memorial in the world.

Others bear the names of former pitmen, while the Davy Lamp memorial in Hednesford is surrounded by engraved paving slabs.

And there are also tragic tales lurking behind the fond memories, as scores of men died in accidents and disasters.

The desire to create a fitting tribute has also led to a dispute in Rugeley, with plans for a statue in the town delayed by a disagreement over the location.

Organisers the Lea Hall and Brereton Collieries Memorial Society planned for the memorial to be sited on the Globe Roundabout – saying that was where the majority of people wanted it.

But town councillors and traders wanted the sculptures to be based in the town centre to become more of an attraction.

It has now been confirmed that the memorial will finally be unveiled on Globe Island in September.

The significance of mining to the Black Country and Staffordshire cannot be underestimated, with the Cannock Chase coalfields once supporting 48 mines and the last, Littleton, closing in 1993.

Only a pit wheel remains at the site now, in the shadow of the modern design of the Littleton Green Community School - providing a stark contrast between the area's past and future.

Council chiefs commissioned artist Andy De Comyn to produce four 9ft sculpted figures for Rugeley, to commemorate 80 miners who were killed underground at Brereton and Lea Hall collieries.

The request for the memorial originally came from Lea Hall and Brereton Collieries Memorial Society in 2011.

Mr De Comyn said: "I am really enjoying this commission. It is a very worthwhile project to commemorate ordinary people doing an extraordinary job. As an artist, it's really pleasing to feel so much enthusiasm for my work and I am looking forward to seeing people's reaction when the figures are installed."

The dispute in Rugeley has not put off community leaders in Chadsmoor who are striving forward with plans for a memorial to miners who fought in the First World War.

And in Hednesford, the final of 3,500 bricks was laid at the Davy Lamp memorial a year ago, with the project ending up being more extensive than organisers had ever planned for.

Phase one of the project saw bricks engraved with the names of former miners being built into the wall which surrounds the iconic Davy Lamp in Hednesford. Bricks were then laid around the flower beds next to the wall.

The first 1,000 bricks were laid in 2012. The project proved so popular that members of Chase Arts In Public Space (Chaps) took on more applications for another two phases of brick dedication.

The 8ft tall Davy Lamp was put up in 2006, taking its name from the lamp used by miners consisting of a wick with the flame enclosed inside a mesh screen.

With a museum also dedicated to the town's mining heritage, Hednesford has plenty of pride in the role it played in the industry.

In the early part of the 20th century there were seven pits working in the area. But by 1975 only three collieries remained, providing employment for 5,200 men.

In December 1982 the last pit - West Cannock No.5 - known locally as the 'Tackeroo' ceased production and the 400 men employed there were retired or offered employment elsewhere.

Chaps vice chairman Mike Mellor said: "It goes to show just how fundamental the role of the miners in this community was. Every time we have opened applications, we have been inundated with interest. It is simply staggering."

In Huntington, the Littleton Colliery closed in 1993 with more than 600 workers losing their jobs - just a year after the Government said it would survive as it was a 'core' of the industry.

It still leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of families throughout Cannock but council leader George Adamson said it was important to focus on positive memories.

He said: "Memorials are an incredibly important part of our community. People are proud of their mining heritage and of the history of their communities. In Hednesford whenever we have open applications for more names to go on bricks as part of the memorial in the town we have been inundated with requests which goes to show what the strength of feeling is.

"There are a number of impressive memorials around and clearly people want to remember the industry by and those who were part of it. The collieries were a fundamental part of many towns."

Probably the most iconic of all the memorials in the Midlands is the 30ft steel-clad sculpture of a miner holding a lamp and pick axe that towers over Brownhills.

It was produced by artist John McKenna and has become a fixture on the landscape.

Mining was the main source of income for families in Brownhills until the last pit closed in the 1950s.

Brownhills was a hub of the industry, with at least 10 working pits there at its height.

But inevitably there were lives lost in tragic accidents. Seven miners, including a boy aged 11, died in 1861, and in October 1930 an explosion at the Grove Colliery killed fourteen miners, ten of them from Brownhills.

Doug Birch, chairman of the Brownhills local committee, said: "Coal mining was very important in Brownhills. It's a part of the fabric of the town and it's people. This piece of art acknowledges that. It celebrates the past but is also forward looking."

The deaths of 144 men also looms large over the history of Hamstead Colliery in Great Barr, where the memorial features an original coal tub on rails mounted on a brick plinth.

The worst accident was in March 1908 when a fire broke out in the pit, and though 250 men escaped, 25 perished - along with John Welsby, who was hailed a hero as he tried to save the others.

He was awarded an Edward VII medal and a local road, Welsby Avenue, was named after him.

For 100 years there was no visible memorial to the men who died, and the colliery as a whole.

But the Hamstead Miners Memorial Trust was set up in 2002 with the task of raising the necessary cash.

The £45,000 structure was unveiled in 2008 at the junction of Hamstead Road and the Old Walsall Road, after building firm Connaught built the foundations and plinth.

Two years later, another memorial was built in Walsall Wood - and this time the inventive design was based on a pit head, with a 55ft high replica now dominating the skyline.

It is designed by Luke Perry, from Cradley Heath, who is also responsible for artwork celebrating the steel and nailmaking industry.

A replica of winding gear from the Walsall Wood colliery that stood close to the site, it was a part of a £40,000 project that also included sculptures of miners.

And it has attracted interest across the globe - achieving exactly what Mr Perry set out to do.

He said he wanted to create something to make people talk about the miners for generations to come. And it proves the links with our past are showing no signs of breaking.