‘I would go down the pits if they were open today’ says 83-year-old former miner after memorial to Thornhill disaster victims is unveiled

In 1893 Tony’s grandmother was just a young girl when 139 people tragically lost their lives in one of the worst mining disasters of all time at the Combs Colliery.

Her own mother had told her not to let anyone go down the mines after that devastating underground explosion.

But for now Selby-based Tony, who returned to Thornhill on Saturday, July 4, to witness the unveiling of a memorial dedicated to 199 victims of pit tragedies in the village from 1855 to 1972, coal mining was a career he enjoyed very much.

Tony, 83, worked at the Combs pit for 13 years between 1959 and 1972, where one of his roles was as a pony driver. He first went down a pit at the tender age of 16 before retiring from the industry at the age of 50, 33 years ago, having also worked at other pits including Denby Grange Colliery and Manor Colliery during his career.

He told the Reporter Series: “When I told my grandma that I was going to start in the mines she asked if I couldn’t find anything else?

“But it was 10 shillings a week more than an apprenticeship scheme. She didn’t want me to go but she got used to the idea. I enjoyed it very much and once it is in your blood that’s it.

“We lived at the bottom of a lane and you had to walk up to the mine. It was always a family pit with fathers, sons and brothers. People came from places like Batley and Savile Town but we were all the same people. We all had mining in our blood.

“When you are young you have no fear. To me it was just another day, another job. Every day was a different day and a different challenge.

“If I was younger and the mines were open today, I would go back into the mines. The work was enjoyable and I enjoyed the people I worked with.”

At his home in Selby, which he shares with Doris, his wife of 58 years, Tony has a special copy of the Dewsbury Reporter from 1993 which features a four-page broadsheet-style pullout commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 1893 disaster, with actual archived articles and photos included.

One of the columns details how 20,000 people flocked to Thornhill in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, with the community coming together collectively to grieve.

That sense of community spirit was alive and well in Rectory Park at the unveiling of a memorial wheel and an information plaque which bears the names of all those people, aged between 10 years of age and 70, who were killed in the pits in Thornhill.

Reflecting on the event, organised by Thornhill Community Mining Memorial Group, Tony said:

“It was a lovely day. It was a really good day out and it was nice to meet people who were involved in the memorial. These memorials are so important to these communities. We have a lovely one in Selby and this one is just as nice. These people won’t ever be forgotten.

“It was a wonderful day, done with respect. We enjoyed the service and it was lovely to hear a brass band. I was also spoiled with people coming to talk to me.”

Diane Hinchcliffe, secretary of Thornhill Community Mining Memorial Group, said: “We were honoured to have Tony and his lovely family attend the ceremony.

“Tony recognised some of the names of the miners tragically killed in the pits on the information board. We were all privileged to welcome him.”