Star date: 25th April 2015

AGECROFT MINERS REMEMBERED

At noon today, workers from all the Irwell Valley pits who lost their lives were remembered at the Agecroft Colliery monument as a prelude to Tuesday's Workers Memorial Day.

"It's just lovely to remember all the people who worked here...there was a wonderful community spirit" said Angela Kirrane, whose dad Martin and uncle Michael worked at Agecroft.

Full details here...

Despite the harsh weather this morning, the annual remembrance of miners who worked in the pits of the Irwell Valley went ahead at the Agecroft Colliery monument on Agecroft Road.

"We gather every year on 25th April to remember the miners who worked at the pits in the Irwell Valley, to commemorate what they did for the country and to remember the great sacrifice a lot of them made" said ex Agecroft worker Paul Kelly from the Irwell Valley Mining Project, who attended with his mum Madge and dad, Ivor Kelly, also a former miner at the pit.

"We've been coming here every year since the pit closed, and we used to put a wreath on the trees before we got a monument about three years ago" he added "The monument is sited about ten yards from one of the Agecroft shafts where survivors from Clifton Hall disaster were rescued so it's got great significance.

"It's also near the spot where, in 1859, twelve miners were killed when the shaft crashed to the bottom of the pit, and some of them were just boys" he added "We have a plaque with names of those who died after the pit was reopened in 1960 but today I read out the name of a man called James Johnson who died in 1929. There have been numerous deaths in the colliery that have been lost to history, like a lot of the pits have been lost to history."

Also present at the gathering were Angela Kirrane, whose dad, Martin, and uncle Michael worked at Agecroft, and Pauline White, whose husband, Ronald, worked there.

"It's just lovely to remember all the people who worked here" said Angela "There was a wonderful community spirit down the mine, and everyone still remembers the families and what job they did. It's passed down through the generations."

Pauline added: "It's great to have something to remember them..."

Also present at the gathering were Salford and Eccles Labour candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey, Kersal Labour candidate, Harry Davies, Strategic Assistant Mayor Paul Dennett, Salford City UNISON's Ameen Hadi and members of the Irwell Valley Mining Project.

The Salford commemoration was a prelude to Tuesday's Workers Memorial Day rally at Albert Square in Manchester – for full details click here