30/08/2025
I was honoured to take a Remembrance Service for three miners who sadly lost their lives 32 years ago on 18th August 1993 in a tragic accident…
A day when all the world seem to darken….
They were grafting deep underground when 45 m of roadway collapsed upon them… at approximately 11 am…
Poem – written by Andy Hall
I Held Them Too Long
In tunnels deep where strata groaned,
The coal dust danced, the lanterns shone.
Three souls stood firm in shadowed light,
Their labour forged from grit and might.
But I am the Mine and I need to be heard
I never asked for worship.
Yet they came, day after day, with lamps like stars and boots that beat a rhythm into my ribs.
They carved me open, named my seams
generous when I gave them coal and cruel when I took too much.
I remember the three, Bill, Peter, David.
They moved through me like breath-young, steady, strong.
I felt their laughter echo against my walls, a warmth I hadn't known since the old days when steel held me firm and men sang to drown the silence.
But they changed me. Bolts where arches once stood, quick fixes, shortcuts.
They trusted me to stay still while they chipped away at my spine.
I warned them.
A groan. A shift. A whisper in the stone.
But they didn't hear. Or maybe they did and chose hope over caution.
When I fell, I didn't mean to crush. I meant to speak.
To say: I am tired. I am fractured. I cannot hold you forever.
Three lives. Gone in a breath.
And I, left with the echo.
Now they've sealed me, turned me into business parks and plaques.
But I remember. I remember the weight of their boots, the hum of their voices, the silence that followed.
I am the mine. I held them too long.
And let go too late.
So speak their names, and hold them near, In every sigh, in every tear.
Their legacy, a solemn flame, That burns with pride beside their name.
So let us stand, and bow our head, For those who toil where angels dread.
And honour those who gave their all,
When Bilsthorpe heard that final call.
