Memorial for Hamstead mining disaster victims returns
A memorial ceremony to mark the Hamstead Colliery disaster will be held this week after a break due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Organisers at Hamstead Miners Memorial Trust will host the first remembrance event since 2019 this Thursday, at the junction of Hamstead Road and Old Walsall Road near Great Barr at 10.55am.
The ceremony is held to commemorate 25 miners and one rescuer who died in the Hamstead pit fire in 1908. Guests will include civic dignitaries.
The ceremony will be followed by a reception with refreshments at Tanhouse Community Centre nearby.
Vlade Novakovic was the last to leave the pit before it closed in 1965.
Tony Ward, of the trust, said: "This is a tentative start after the Covid lockdowns. It's the first event since 2019."
At the time the 1908 Hamstead Colliery Disaster filled the pages of national newspapers and more than 8,000 people surrounded the pit for days, waiting for news from the two teams of rescuers, who were trying to reach the men trapped down the mine.
During the rescue attempt John Welsby, a member of Altoft Mine Rescue team died after being overcome by the fumes and smoke that killed 25 miners.
