A VILLAGE aiming to mark the 50th anniversary of the closure of its last pit with the unveiling of a new statue will hold a fundraising event at the weekend.
Wheatley Hill pit closed on May 3 1968 and in order to mark the occasion the village have been raising money for the last four years, to commission a Ray Lonsdale statue of a miner. The Last Shift will be unveiled on the anniversary next year in the Wheatley Hill cemetery.
A fundraising event for the Last Shift Fund will be held at the Wheatley Hill Community Centre from 10am to 2pm on Saturday.
The event will feature a raffle, tombola, cake sale and photographic display by the Wheatley Hill Heritage Society.
Commemorative pit tokens, costing £10 each, will be available.
Residents of the Wheatley Hill have raised much of the £22,500 needed through fundraising events and donations from people who had or still have a connection with the village. It has also got help from The Sir James Knott Trust, County Durham Community Foundation, the Freemasons, Co-operative Society and Durham Miners Association.
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