After leading a nomadic existence for the past seventeen years, the life-size statue of a Nottinghamshire miner, erected by public subscription to mark the pit disaster at Bilsthorpe Colliery in 1993, has finally returned home.

Originally sited in the pit yard at Bilsthorpe, the statue moved to Haworth Colliery when Bilsthorpe closed in 1997. When Haworth closed in turn, the statue went to the UDM offices at Berry Hill, Mansfield, and now with the latter moving elsewhere, the opportunity to return it to Bilsthorpe has been taken; it now serves as gate guardian at the new Heritage Museum adjacent to the Village Hall.

Lawson Little