Rugeley miner’s memorial takes shape
B
ack in March Cannock Council announced that artist Andy De Comyn had been commissioned to produce four sculpted figures to commemorate miners who were killed underground at Brereton and Lea Hall Collieries. After nine months Andy is progressing well. The first figure is complete and he is halfway through the second with two more to do. The memorial in Rugeley will be located on the Globe Island and will consist of four nine foot high sculptures made from concrete resin, of in various miners positions weighing between 1500kg to 2000kg. The request for the memorial originally came from
Rugeley Team does the Country Proud!
R
ugeley Martial Arts and Fitness Centre are celebrating the success of their very talented young kickboxers. Recently six team members (aged from 9 to14 years old) travelled to Tunisia to represent their country in the WMKF (World Martial Kombat Kai Harvey with this two world titles and silver and bronze medals
Lea Hall and Brereton Collieries Memorial Society in 2011 asking for funding support from the Council. Following planning consent in August 2013 artist Andy De Comyn was commissioned to create a public sculpture to commemorate approximately 80 miners who were killed during the lifetime of the Lea Hall and Brereton Collieries. Alexander Smith, Chair of the Miners Memorial Society said: “The Lea Hall and Brereton Collieries Memorial Society is very pleased with the progress to date on the construction of the four mining figure memorial
Federation) World Championships. Every student had a fantastic tournament and gave everything they had. The Rugeley team’s youngest member, Ellie Harvey, was faced with the problem of having no other girls her size and age enter the championships, so was given the choice to enter the older boys’ category. Without hesitation she agreed and battled her way to a Silver medal. She was then faced with the same problem in her 2nd section as she was the only girl entrant. This time they asked her if she wanted to step up to the age 14-16 black belt girls section instead.
to be erected on the Globe Island, Rugeley. The four monuments will make a positive contribution to the identity of the town and act as a reminder to future generations of the part coal mining played in the growth of the town.” Installation and unveiling is planned for late 2015.
After hearing the whole audience chanting her name she took on the challenge. Here the truly remarkable Ellie made it to the final where she was beaten 17-12 by a much older and much more experienced fighter. A club spokesperson commented: “Allof our students did themselves, their club, their town and their country proud. We returned home with a total of 26 trophies and medals and amongst our haul are 10 world titles!”
Gold medal winning threeman-team competitors
Ellie Harvey with her two silver medals Page 29