FORMER miners will gather with other community members to mark the silver anniversary of the closure of a village colliery tomorrow.

The demise of Bearpark Colliery, County Durham, was largely unheralded at the time, as it was during the strike of 1984/85 and was unopposed by mining unions.

It ended the colliery’s 110-year lifespan, with a workforce of only 148 during those latter days, a far cry from its hey-day shortly after nationalisation of the coal industry, in 1947, when 826 miners and associated workers were employed at the site.

Overlooking the Browney river valley, three miles west of Durham, it has since been reclaimed and re-planted, with little evidence of its mining history.

Bearpark Parish Council has organised tonight’s 25th anniversary event at the village workingmen’s club.

It will feature the sounds of Bearpark and Esh Colliery Band, with a raffle and prizes.

Proceeds from the event, including a prize raffle, will be donated to Bearpark Primary School for after-school play equipment.

Parish clerk Lindsay Nicholson said it will be a night of nostalgia for villagers, whether or not they were employed at the pit.

"We’re expecting some of the surviving ex-miners to come along and we’ll have a number of old pictures of the colliery on show.

"Unfortunately the old miners’ lodge banner, which is at Durham Cathedral, is in such a bad condition that we can’t bring it over for the occasion."

* Tomorrow's event starts at the club, in Field View, Bearpark, at 7pm, with admission £2 at the door.

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