Final brick laid at miners' memorial in Staffordshire

The memorial in Hednesford recognises thousands of miners who worked at the Cannock Chase coalfields.

Members of Chase Arts In Public Space (Chaps) started the project in 2012 and it was extended to this year due to interest from the public.

"I really think this will be the last phase, though. We've been overwhelmed by the interest from the public."

A date for a dedication ceremony has also been announced.

The special service, led by the former Bishop of Manchester Nigel McCulloch, will take place on April 26 from 2pm.

"This project has really captured everyone's hearts. When we originally came up with the idea we never imagined that we would end up in the position we have.

"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."

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. Phase two and phase three bricks were laid around the flower beds next to the wall. The final brick was laid this week.

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

Chaps has also received applications for named bricks from as far away as Canada.

One man put an order in for three bricks to remember three members of his family who worked in the coalfields.

Applications to request a brick, costing £20, were made for underground and above-ground workers of the coal mine industry, living or dead. More than 1,000 people gathered in Hednesford in 2012 to mark the dedication of the miners' memorial for phase one. The Cannock Chase coalfields once supported as many as 48 coal mines with the last, Littleton, closing in 1993.

There are also miners' memorials in Cannock and Brownhills – leaving Rugeley as the only mining town in the area without a tribute to the pitmen. However, plans for a £70,000 memorial in the town were overshadowed by a dispute over where four statues should be located.

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. A date for the installation is yet to be set.

• Do you have a story to tell about working in the Cannock Chase coalfields? Leave your comments below