Clowne residents create mosaic celebrating mining heritage

The mosaic panel has been installed in the Clowne Miners Chapel at Clowne Parish church, which has not been used for many years.

It is set to be revealed at a mining festival in the town.

Most residents of Clowne have a connection with mining in their families and Vicar Bryony Taylor wanted to involve as many local people as possible in the refurbishment of the space to make it a fitting memorial to those who worked in local collieries and who lost their lives in disasters.

Rev Taylor said: “We want to return the chapel to the community so that it is a space that provides a welcome, celebrates our mining heritage and offers the opportunity for prayer and reflection.”

After a successful bid to Tesco Bags of Help and working in partnership with Junction Arts and artist Coralie Turpin, a wide variety of people gathered to share their memories of mining and create a design to be enjoyed for generations to come.

The design includes an image of a miner and a nurse, inspired by Iris Pettitt a parishioner who was working at the hospital in Worksop when the Creswell Colliery Disaster of 1950 happened. She treated the injured on that terrible day.

Around the edge of the mosaic are smaller pictures of people’s hobbies and home life, including a picture of a whippet, a pigeon, a cornet (referencing brass bands) and even a pint of beer.

Sheffield based mosaic artist Coralie Turpin led the project and worked with them to develop a design. Coralie taught basic mosaic skills to the participants, including housebound residents.

Rev Taylor added: “Our mining mosaic has a bible text about miners saying ‘hidden things they bring to light’ – that is what we are also doing with this festival – bringing into the light our memories and stories of mining in our district.It’s time we celebrated where we’ve come from so that we can look to the future.”